control crying at 7 months...advice

Rachael - posted on 09/20/2010

its hard but in the end you will know whats right for your baby and to suit you both = ) have a look through the other catergories from the link i posted it has alot of great stuff. Attachment parenting has helped me alot and kinda come to peace with knowing im doing the best for Ryder and there is a group on here with other women who chose gentle parenting ill put that link up too.
i know the feeling of id get more done if i slept more! luckily i have the privledge of being able to be a stay at home mum and not having to go to work early each day. and have the one child you would be worn out chasing your other child around aswel!

Emily - posted on 09/20/2010

Amy, my baby wont take a dummy or a bottle and sometimes wants a comfort feed (as i call it) every 2 hours through the night so my partner feels helpless and i get exhausted. Thanks for sharing though. Its hard because the advice i was given in the early weeks was to feed feed feed and not to introduce a dummy or bottle so obviously she's not going to take one. I have carried on feeding every few hours so i guess i hav set the pattern.

Emily - posted on 09/20/2010

Thanks rachel. Im glad you dont agree with cio because i rarely get that responce from people i encounter. My family promote it and so do my health officials. Its a tough decision to make since i love the little cuddles we have at night but it has to be the right decision for my baby not just me. I dont want to hurt her. I bottle fed my first child and did cio with him at 8 months because i could see he was having loads of milk and solids and he was a very chubby thriving baby. He also took a dummy which helped soothe him. My baby on the other hand is bf (obviously) and wont take a dummy but uses me instead i think. Its soo hard to know what to do for the best. I feel i could do more in the day if i got more sleep.

Amy - posted on 09/20/2010

My daughter is 6 months old and I allow her to self soothe to go to sleep. I only do this after we've done our bedtime routine and I've filled her belly. She usually doesn't cry but fusses, I've learned when she's fussing and when she "needs" something. If after a minute or two she is still fussing I go in and adjust her blanket and give her back her pacifier. Some nights I have to go in 3 times other nights she falls right to sleep. My daughter also sleeps through the night most nights however if she does wake in the middle of the night I feed her. If she is waking I know that she needs something and I would never use the cio method in the middle of night, because like Rachael stated babies have needs and aren't trying to manipulate you. When she used to wake up multiple times a night my husband and I alternated feedings, he would give her the middle feed so that I could get a longer block of sleep. I found that by doing that I functioned much better the following day, good luck!

Rachael - posted on 09/20/2010

Hi Emily I my self dont practice CIO or believe in it. My son is the same age and wakes 3-5 times a night still for a little feed or a cuddle as well. we co cleep so makes bf at night really easy for us. If your child is drinking at night she is obviosuly hungry so i dont think not feeding her if she wants it would be a great idea. an infant does not cry for no reason it is different as a behavioural cry in a toddler but stil then there is always a reason, we as adults dont cry for no reason there is always something wrong it could be the tiniest thing.
A few things from Attachment Parenting-
.The cry is not just a sound; it's a signal – designed for the survival of the baby and development of the parents. By not responding to the cry, babies and parents lose. Here's why. In the early months of life, babies cannot verbalize their needs. To fill in the gap until the child is able to "speak our language," babies have a unique language called "crying." Baby senses a need, such as hunger for food or the need to be comforted when upset, and this need triggers a sound we call a cry. Baby does not ponder in his little mind, "It's 3:00 a.m. and I think I'll wake up mommy for a little snack." No! That faulty reasoning is placing an adult interpretation on a tiny infant. Also, babies do not have the mental acuity to figure out why a parent would respond to their cries at three in the afternoon, but not at three in the morning. The newborn who cries is saying: "I need something; something is not right here. Please make it right."
View your baby's cries as a communication rather than a manipulation tool. Think of your baby's cries as a signal to be listened to and interpreted rather than click into a fear of spoiling or fear of being controlled mindset.

2. Better early than late. New parents may be led to believe that the more they delay their response to baby's cries, the less baby will cry. While this may be true of some easy, mellow babies (they become apathetic), infants with persistent personalities will only cry harder and in a more disturbing way. Learn to read your baby's pre-cry signals: anxious facial expressions, arms flailing, excited breathing, etc. Responding to these pick-me-up signals teaches baby that he doesn't have to cry to get attended to. Again, forget the fear of spoiling. Studies have shown that babies whose cries are promptly attended to actually learn to cry less as older infants and toddlers.
The cry is a marvelous design. Consider what might happen if the infant didn't cry. He's hungry, but doesn't awaken ("He sleeps through the night," brags the parent of a sleep-trained baby). He hurts, but doesn't let anyone know. The result of this lack of communication is known, ultimately, as "failure to thrive." "Thriving" means not only getting bigger, but growing to your full potential emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

But if you want to change the patterns this page could help its NIGHT WEANING: 12 ALTERNATIVES FOR THE ALL-NIGHT NURSER. i hope this helps. also check out the attachment parenting link might hep relax you knowing you doing the best.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070800...

good luck xx