Did you go back in and check on/comfort them until they stopped crying? Or, did you just lay them down and let them cry it out until they fell asleep?
Also, if the baby woke up during the night wanting a bottle, did you oblige?
My daughter is eight months old, if that makes a difference. She's been co-sleeping with me and her daddy since around two and a half months (he worked out of town until she was six months, so in the beginning, it was mainly just me and her). But she fell out of the bed a couple nights ago (thankfully, she wasn't hurt, it just scared the bejeezus out of all three of us, lol), so we're looking at getting her in her own bed pronto.
LizB2020-01-14T21:28:41Z
Favorite Answer
I've never left my babies alone if they were truly screaming, but if it was more fuss-crying then I'd let them cry a little, go back in and check/sooth, wait a little longer, go back in and check/sooth again, etc etc until they fell asleep. Most of the time they were asleep before the second check. If they were still awake even after a 3rd or 4th check, that's when I started to think that something may be wrong and would try to figure out what it was.
I never co-slept for multiple reasons, but if you're wanting to crib-train, I recommend starting with whatever sleep period it's easiest to get baby down for. For us it was the first long stretch of night sleep, while daytime naps were the hardest and took the longest. For other babies, the exact opposite will be true. Basically you want to help encourage your baby to see that her crib is a safe and comfortable place, and create a strong positive association with her crib and sleep.
As for night feeds, it is 100% normal for an 8 month old to still need to eat at night. Many babies aren't yet reliably sleeping all night at this age, and if she's waking up for a bottle then she does actually need one. My kids both started STTN fairly reliably by 10.5-11 months, though some babies are still waking up for a feed even after a year. Night weaning doesn't need to be rushed or forced, she'll STTN when she is developmentally ready to do so.
Get her into a fix time schedule, preferably a paid schedule that have high ratings and good reviews. This is to ensure your baby has optimal wake time and nap time so she won't be overtired or undertired when she go to sleep; is not too hungry or too full. Introduce good bedtime routine starting 1 hour before bedtime. Stick with it every bedtime Starts getting your baby used to taking more solid food. By 10 months old, she should be having 3 meals, 2–3 snacks with decent amount of carb and protein so she doesn't get hungry at night. Once you get the fixed schedule going smoothly, you can start some sleep training if she cannot self-settle. Some gentle methods are: verbal reassurance, gradual withdrawal, cuddle until calm and drowsy and put down drowsy but not asleep, etc… Now remember, even with all of the above going, your baby might still not sleeping through the night. Baby's sleep is the one thing that is easily affected by uncontrollable factors: teething, drop nap, mental development, growth spurt, cold, illness, etc… One thing goes wrong and all can turn to custard. So it's better that you don't expect anything when it comes to sleep. Who knows, thing happens when you least expecting it. Get some comfy baby sleeping bags or blankets for your baby's sweet sleep at kimibear online shop, great price and free shipping worldwide!
u dont, they sleep all night when they are ready. u dont let them cry it out--crying is her way of telling u something..my gawd she is 8 months old stop acting like the world is gonna end if she doesnt do things to make ur life easier. and stop trying to rush her to grow up. Give that demon seed a bottle and comfort her!
I'd start with baby steps if she has never slept in a crib. Set up a crib next to your bed. That way, you can comfort her or coo at her and she can sense you. When that's going well, move the crib to her on room or wherever you plan for her to sleep for the next couple of years.
Start a bedtime routine (probably what you're already doing) except that you add in putting her down in her crib. Consider turning on some music. If she cries for more than 5 minutes, go to her. Try to calm her without taking her out of the crib and don't make a big production number out of it. If you do, she'll learn what to do to get out of bed.
Focus first on going to sleep and staying down at the beginning of the night. Then work on the middle of the night. At this point, you should be weaning her of any feeding during the night. Same routine as if she cries at 8 PM -- let her cry for a few minutes. If she doesn't settle or escalates -- check in and be calm and soothing but try to keep the whole thing low key and quick. She needs to learn that she's okay.