god, ok so i admit that elijah is not a great sleeper – never has been. i have come to terms with the fact that his natural rythm just won't let him sleep before 11pm...i can even accept that he seems to just 'work' better with a couple of naps, going to bed late, but then sleeping late...

but the past couple of weeks he a) wakes up the second you try to put him down and b) seems to have forgotten how to put himself back to sleep and is spending most of the night on either one of us and waking every 30min-1 hour.

we are knackered - it's like he is a newborn again! we have tried moving up to 3 meals a day but no real difference, nothing else has changed - i thought it was teething (he sleeps really well with calpol but i cant do that every night!) but it's gone on too long really....

argh, any ideas? we are going to attempt a routine change in 3 weeks when we move. (e.g bath, grobag, bed and maybe back to a bottle?)..i am shattered!

Arwyn never used to go to bed/sleep til about 10pm but since we started a bedtime routine she goes out at 8 now. she still wakes in the night but she's much better now

he was doing so well, going to bed about 11, sleeping til 5, then til 8 then til 10....lovely! I don't know what happened. I don't think he's hungry, hot, cold...all I know is he will sleep for up to 4 hours in our bed, but I can't be doing with that!

you'll need to just be mean mummy and stop letting him in or it'll get worse. a lot of the time i just leave Arwyn to cry it out

i really would try a bedtime routine, we do bath , supper, storytime, milk and bed, Ava goes at 18:30 and sleeps through until at least 6.30- 7am, i'd like her to go a little later on the evening but shes always shattered.

yeah i think the key will be the routine - i think it might start tonight - he does get his bath in the evening now, but then he is really hypercheerful and giddy which in some ways is harder to ignore than crying!

i feed him in bed at night and tbh if i manage to stay awake i put him straight back to bed but i am guilty of falling asleep - sometimes its the only way i can get some sleep, then i wake up sitting up with a reaaally sore back and im in a huff cos elijah wakes up when i put him down again argh........

just keep going with it! Arwyn loves her bath and is always happy after it but now she wilts really easily and we can give her her bottle in the bedroom and put her in her crib. sometimes she's asleep but if she's still awake i put her down anyway and switch the light off. if she cries i usually just leave her and she falls asleep

we will try, i think we are going to get some formula tonight and see if he will still take a bottle - think a beaker will be too messy haha

I think your gonna have to work out a routine in your mind (a whole days routine) and try and get him into it.. the sleep between 8 and 10 is a nap not part of his night time sleep so he's only getting between 11 till 5.

Does he have lots of naps in the day to make up for the lack of night sleep? I think he just has his times confused and is getting too much day time sleep.

It's probably not going to be easy to change it and he probably will get upset about it but he will learn pretty quickly.

I would start by trying to move his bed time to say 9... it's still quite late but if you can do that, with a bath, feed then into bed... and into bed awake so he learns to settle himself, dont pick him back up once he's there etc.... then take it from there.

at 7 months he should have two naps a day of about 3 or 4 hours max (total not each nap) then should get 11 or 12 hours at night.

awww i know how ya feel hun benjamin is still waking once a night, but he has got a routine...and before that he woke up 3 times a night, but now its once (about 4 or 5am) sometimes he does wake at 3 aswell (if he has fallen asleep not hving a full bottle) but that happens rarely now...he goes to bed between 630 and 7, and wakes up @ 4/5 then if its 4am i go down and heat bottle then he has bottle and sleeps til6am...if he wakes at 5/6 i come downstairs as he is wide awake, then by 730 hes asleep again and sleeps til 830/9...
i have kept benjamin up later on an evening thinking hed wake later in the morning...he stayed awake til 9pm the other night, but still woke @ 5 :/
night routines are hard, but im sure he'll get there soon good luck hun xx

yeah i agree with jade. it does seem that he has got him routine all mixed up. i also agree that his sleep between 8-10 is a nap not his sleep. and i really dont want to sound cheeky but you will prob be the first to admit that you prob dont mind hiom staying up later as you secrety quite like a sneaky lie in ( again i dont wanna sound cheeky!).

I really really think u need to stick it out with his routine. Afie goes upstairs at 7 every night and has bath, pjs, cuddle, bottle, bed and is an ace sleeper and sleeps through till at least 7.30 every morning.

I think babies actually thrive on aroutine. Change it and your knackered. I know its tiring but i think u need to persist for a few days. If he does get cheery and playful after a bath then maybe just replace it with a wash down??


Good luck! x