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Help! I can't get my 8 mth old to stay asleep in her crib, her naps in there will only last 30-45 min and then she is just nasty. She will only go two hrs at night and then needs to be moved to get sleep. She doesn't lay on me and I do not brig her in my bed. She will sleep through the night in my room in this sleep and play thing that she is getting too big for and I think the reason she sleeps in there is because she likes her back and not her belly and because it kind of cradles her and I think she likes that feeling. I'm at a loss of what to do, she just got up from only a 30 min nap and will be grumpy till bed time. I am not one for the cry out method either.

Do you run a white noise machine or humidifier in her room? This always helped keep my kids asleep because they didn't hear every little noise in the house. Maybe that would help.

My oldest would not sleep in a crib. He would scream all night long and make himself throw up. So we switched to cosleeping and everyone got a good nights sleep from then on.

Our first wouldn't sleep in her crib around the same time. She woke up more than she slept. We finally put her on a mattress on the floor in her room (after we completely baby proofed everything in there).

Have you tried moving the sleep-play-thing into the baby's room? It might help her get used to being in her room.
My 10-month old won't nap in her crib or peacefully play in it either. Last time she was trapped during the day in her crib, she threw up. She does fairly well sleeping from 1AM-8AM in her crib, although there is some complaining when I put her in. I remember her older sister would wake up happy, read her board books, even though she didn't nap in the crib either until she was over 12 months. We do a little bit of co-sleeping in the mornings and for naptime.

I have used a sound machine since she was an infant so the noise of the boys playing and other things hopefully don't wake her, but they still do lol. I can get her to go till midnight in her crib and then I'll repeat the put down three or four times and she instantly wakes up, so that's when I transfer her to my room. She likes to stay on her side but rolls in the crib and I'm pretty sure that's what wakes her. I borrowed a video monitor from my sister till I buy one myself to see if that's what the problem is. I just got her to sleep for her morning nap and she falls asleep in my arms on her belly do I finally got the out down right on the belly in the crib and I am giving that a shot today. She normally hates her belly but I figured she falls asleep on it, and hey I'm running out of ideas here lol.

I just wanted to throw out two more things, that might help with cry-it-out. My older girl ( 3 1/2 years) rarely (or never) gets woken up by her screaming younger sister. They go to bed at different times (preschooler 9:30; baby 12:30).

30mom--thank you for the extra advice with waking the siblings. My boys and her usually go to bed around the sane time, between 8/8:30. Tonight she went down first though and I made sure she was asleep before the boys went to bed, so far she got up an hr later and I had to put her to sleep again and then two hrs later and I just had to give her her binky. I am so tired by 11 lol and your little one goes to bed at 12, you must be tired!! :)

Ahhh!!!!! I can't do it, she just won't sleep! I've tried waiting 20 min before putting her down when she is completely passed out and she's back up again. I have been trying her morning nap since 11 and it's already 1 in the afternoon! I have an overtired miserable baby, I got her to sleep twice and she woke up within two min of being in her crib, I tried letting her cry for 20 min and that did nothing but make matters worse, I made her a bottle and thought yes shes finally out, and she's up again. I feel helpless and at the same time I have two other kids to take care of and this is really really getting me upset.

I honestly JUST went through this with my 8 month old. He would stay asleep once he was in there, but I felt like I was putting him to bed for 2-3 hours because he'd wake every time I put him down. Last week I let him cry (I knew he wasnt hungry, wet, in pain or anything else, he just wanted me to hold him:()and he fell asleep after crying for 21 minutes, heartbreaking minutes. The next night it was 15, the 3rd night it was 20 minutes, and then the 4th night it was less than 4 minutes, the 5th night less than a minute and now not at all. Surprisingly he didn't wake my sleeping 2 1/2 year old at all. That was a huge concern of mine too. I'm not a fan of letting them cry. I actually lean a bit towards attachment patenting in many aspects, but for some reason with Silas i knew this was what would work. I wouldn't do it before they have object permanence. Every mom and every child is different but it worked for him :) He was previously in our room (not our bed) until he was 7 months old. We use white noise, I'm a huge fan if that. Funny you say that you waited 20 minutes... I always felt that the longer I waited the harder it was. I had better luck moving him right away :) Hang in there. I know how tiring it is. You'll figure it out!

Rollypollies--thanks for the advice! I go back and forth with the crying thing, it didn't work for her nap yesterday, she actually got up played and stayed up till 3 and then I finally got her down but only for an hour, then she actually was pretty happy till bedtime, the whole 20 min thing I tried for a few nights because I read it online as a method where your child is into a deeper sleep and won't feel you put them down as easily as when they first fall asleep. I know I could just always give the crying it out a shot tonight, but what about naps? That's what really drives me crazy because I can't leave the boys unattended while I'm upstairs trying to get her to sleep twice a day everyday, do you have to get the crying thing down at night first and then it makes naps easier?? How does that part work?

I don't have advice, but I can tell you that you aren't alone! Both of my kids did this. We put some serious time and stress into the cry it out thing and it did not work for either of my children. I know it works for a lot of people though. I told myself that if we had a third child, I would just accept that they wouldn't sleep well until the age of 2 and even then, I wouldn't be able to have it consistantly until the age of three. I think my main thought process in that sad statement would be to reduce my own stress. Me being upset and stressed by the baby not sleeping didn't help things. Of course, when you are sleep deprived, staying calm and relaxed about it all seems impossible. That's one of the reasons we aren't having a third.

Well, I had been nursing Silas to sleep for nap (it is so hard to nurse him for 20 minutes each time during the day while my 2 1/2 year has all access to the whole house!)

The "Cry-it-out" thing doesn't work for some kids. But don't give up! The worst thing you can do after putting the baby down is peeking in at her or going in to try and settle her. It will only make matters worse and she will know that if she cries long enough, you will come in. Be strong. It really is hard to hear your baby cry and know you could just go in there to stop it, but the second you go in there you are starting over.

• Ok help please, I gave in and attempted the cry it out method, it was heart wrenching and I wanted to cry myself! If it went 30 min I was done, she went on and off for 26 min and is out..... Now what happens if she wakes up again?? In a couple hrs or in the wee hrs of the morning?? I posted this on the welcome page too.

Get her right away if she wakes :) I get him. Silas wakes once usually to eat and goes back to sleep. I'd concentrate on just bedtime at first. He is now doing naps just fine, didn't even cry when I put him down awake :)

Ok so if she wakes get her and put her back to sleep and then back in the crib? Don't make her cry again? Sometimes she does wake for a bottle, so I could feed her, and then get her to sleep again and back in crib till she gets used to the whole bedtime routine, correct? Ugh I already know naps are going to be hard! Thanks again!

That's what I did. It only took 4 days for us and now I can put him down the same way each time (i sing the same song everytime before putting him down) and he may let out a whimper for a second, but then by the time I close the door he is fine at night, during the night and nap. Personally I couldn't have let him cry multiple times per night. Maybe someone has other advice?

We did it a little different. We would just go in her room, tuck her back in and rub her back a minute, and leave. I was afraid that if we brought her back out of her room she would know that when she cries, we will get her. That's what worked for us in a few days. But every baby is different, so find what works for you! And also, at 8 months old, she might not need a feeding this late at night anymore, so if she wakes up don't feel like you have to feed her.

I should add that at first when we would leave her room it was like starting all over- she would cry for about 20 minutes. We just left her be since we knew from earlier that she could settle herself in.

She normally would go till 7 without another bottle but lately she has been waking around five for one, that bottle and her night bottle are the only ones she will drink the whole thing of. All day long it's three ounces here and there, I don't know why she's changed up her eating habits, but I was thinking of weaning her off the 5am bottle, lower the ounces down etc. I am on the fence, don't want her to cry at 5 or almost 5am and also don't want to mess things up by going in there. Well I'll know by trial and error I suppose! Thanks ladies for all the advice! Will post tomorrow on how the night went.

So she didn't wake untill 4:30am and I fed her a bottle and put her back in her crib not completely asleep and she put herself to sleep with just moving around a little and her binkie, but no crying :). She was out by 4:45 or so and slept untill 8 this morning and is happy! I am going to try and get her to eat more during the day and maybe a bigger bottle before bed a d maybe soon that early morning feeding won't exist anymore. Now the hard part comes, nap time!!!! I am dreading that one! Well seeing a couple of hours how that goes!

:) good! I was wondering how it went! Good luck with nap, hope it goes well. The first night is the hardest,. I am also planning to feed Silas a ton all day so he will skip the night feeding :) That worked with my older guy.

Yeah, this morning nap went awesome!! She was showing that she was tired at 9:45 do I layer her in her crib awake with her binkie and her blanket and only once ten minutes later she whined for about two seconds and then was out. She slept untill 11:30!! Awesome nap!! I'm so excited! :)

Horray!