Sleepless nights......STILLL!!!!!!!!

Natalie - posted on 09/20/2010

MY 6 MONTH OLD WAKES ONCE A NIGHT AT 3 OR 4 DEPENDING ON WHEN SHE WENT DOWN. USUALLY 7 HOURS AND THEN SLEEPS WITH ME FOR TWO MORE. SARAH, CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUTH THE CONTROLLED CRYING METHOD YOU USED?

Janice - posted on 09/20/2010

Some babies (my daughter included) need a little help in learning to sleep. Although, I don't believe in just abandoning you child while they cry, I helped my daughter sleep by refusing to nurse or hold her during the night (except when she got sick last week). I would stay with her and hum songs. If she got really upset I would give her hug while she was standing in her crib and then lay her back down. At7 mo. my daughter was eating 5x during the day & 2x during the night. by 9mo. she was nursing 4x per day and 1x per night. Now at almost 11 mo. she eat 3 meals and nurses 3x and sleeps through the night 8pm- 6:30am. It wouldn't have happened if I didn't push her a little.

Rebekah - posted on 09/19/2010

All of my kids were breastfed, and all had completely different sleeping problems and patterns... I think there are probably a multitude of factors which contribute to how a baby sleeps. I had one who woke once in the night, and had two two hour day sleeps from early on, was easy to put down (feed, burp, put into bed!!!!!!! can you believe it?) and another who was up every two hours at night, wouldn't sleep unless she was touching me, stopped sleeping in the day from ONE YEAR OLD!!!, another who slept pretty well for a month at 4 months (before that was random) then started teething, and woke every hour at night, only breastfed to sleep, no real pattern during the day, we started 'sleep training' at 14months, took until 18 or 19months, and now sleeps 12 hours most nights, one 2 - 3 hour day sleep, goes to sleep without breast (is still breastfeeding though) is now just turned two last week, and my 9 week old has 20minute sleeps during the day, with the aid of a dummy (to my shock and horror!) and usually 1 or 2 hours a time at night, still fully breastfed...

All of my kids were fed only breastmilk untill at least 6 months, my earliest weaned was 11months (the 'easiest' baby) my latest is the two year old who still tandem feeds with my newest 9 week old.

All were demand fed for quite a while, although i'm having to 'stretch' my 9week old out to every hour, if not he'd be feeding all of the time. I intend to stretch him out even longer as he gets older, and will do it gradually. I believe his wind problems to be related to over feeding, the common thing of he gets sore so he wants to suck, so he sucks millk which makes him more sore so he wants to suck more... etc... So a dummy is really helping with that.

Aicha - posted on 09/19/2010

my daughter is a year and she still wakes up at night we co sleep and some nights she will sleep through the nigh other nights she wakes up a few times she is cutting some teeth right

Rebecca - posted on 09/18/2010

I have a 9 month old also the longest he has slept is 4 hrs. On a normal night he wakes every 2 to 3 hours. He is also breastfed. I wonder if the other kids that are not sleeping are breastfed? Love him so much, just really tired. :)

Donna - posted on 09/16/2010

lol i hear ya. yur lucky to have gotten 6 hrs out of yur kid, mine wakes after atlest 3 hrs in the middle of the night then wakes up to eat. She normally falls asleep and takes forever to unlatch.

Melissa - posted on 09/16/2010

Son is 12 months and still not sleeping through the night. He is breastfed and cosleeps, he gets up about 3 times a night for rearrangement and to suck.

Jeannette - posted on 09/14/2010

My son just finally started sleeping 12 hours a night when he turned 9 months. (He is 10 months now.) He still basically breastfeeds every 2 hours during the day and usually eats 2 to 3 "meals" (applesauce for breakfast, veggies for lunch, oatmeal for dinner...) a day. I will usually give him Cheerios, Puffs, fruit... while I am eating, to keep him entertained. 2 weeks before he started sleeping through the night, my husband and I decided we would wait 10 minutes before going in his room to get him. The first couple nights he woke up 3 times, and fell back to sleep (on his own) one of the times. After that, he either woke up 2 to 3 times a night and he would need to eat to fall back to sleep. Finally 3 days in a row, he only woke up once to eat. Then he started sleeping through. I still hear him sometimes, but he falls asleep within 10 minutes.
So I would just say that as long as you know you daughter is full (technically babies this age SHOULD be able to sleep at least 8 hours) I would just let her go for 10 minutes. I'm not a fan of CIO, but as I said, 10 minutes has always been my limit. Also, I usually try to BF at 4:30 PM then he has some of our dinner at around 5:30/6, then oatmeal at 6:30, then I give him a "drink" of breastmilk at around 7. He then usually sleeps from 7:30 to 7:30. I know that seems like a lot of food, but I was surprised when I took him for his 9 month check up and his weight percentage, which has always been in the 50% dropped to 30%, so I guess it is fine.
I hope this helps.

Rhona - posted on 09/13/2010

Hell, yes, dad helped make baby so he must help put toddler to sleep!!!! :o)

Misty - posted on 09/12/2010

Sweetie, my little angel is almost 13 months and still does not sleep through the night. He wakes up now and at least I do not have to nurse him back to sleep which has just changed in the last month. I have a 6 year old who slept through the night from 2 weeks on: he was bottle fed and a 2 and a half-year old who was breastfeed exclusively who also slept from 2 weeks on. I think it just depend on the child. Keep working at it and good luck. You are not alone!

Rebekah - posted on 09/12/2010

In my experience, that is all good if you can handle it, but if it's too much for you (and we all have different limits, just like we have different fingerprints) I think it's important that you find a solution rather than just living day to day in a bad situation. I also think that my second baby (and yes, a shock and a dream - wonderful!) was a good example of how when a baby is gettting enough sleep, they keep sleeping well, whereas my third was an example of when they aren't getting enough, it affects lots of sleep issues. I left him to his own devices untill 14 months, then (when it was too much for me) we tried some stuff. What I'm talking about is things like: putting him to sleep earlier; having a strict simple routine; taking him off the breast just before he falls asleep, and seeing if he'll fall asleep without it (which he did). It was a whole lot of things like that, which helped us guide him to better more restful sleep and wake periods.

So, while I do believe it's best to follow your babies rhythm and hope they set their own routine, I also am aware of the stress it causes when it's just too much to handle, and I think it's wise to see if you can help baby change their habits to suit you a bit better in a gentle, understanding way.
As far as crying is concerned, my belief is that this is not necessarily a bad thing for a baby to do. While I would never leave a baby to cry, I also believe that babies are capable of dealing with their problems, far more capable than we generally believe them to be. If baby is crying and not hungry, or in pain, then maybe you could try letting them figure it out rather than solving it for them? Make eye contact, place your hand gently on them to let them know you are there, their face or heart, and just be with your baby, just wait... see what they are capable of! If they are distressed, that's a different situation, and they will need to be picked up... But I think we rescue our children far too often, and don't let them succeed. It is important to listen to our childrens cries and help them when they need it, and equally important to be there with them and let them sort it out when they can.
Parenting is such a hard thing to do! And we do try our best, don't we? I am constantly challenged, my beliefs, the way I do things... I hope that my experiences and observations (and a little bit of research) will maybe help someone else in their situation.
My husband says that when someone puts forward an idea of the only way to do something when it comes to babies, he discredits it immediately! Of course! We are all so different, and so are our babies...
But we can still try!

Laura Zoey - posted on 09/12/2010

Rebekah, that sound awesome with your second! What a shock that must have been! I think in general the best advise is

don't do anything that upsets your baby,

don't do anything that feels wrong deep in your heart, and don't try to change who your baby is.

If your baby needs more comfort, then you need to give more comfort. If your baby cries, you know every mom has the instinct to attend to the baby, NEVER teach yourself to ignore that instinct. It's your babys lifeline. And "sleep training" is such an awful term, sounds like boot camp, or dog training. Babies need to be cared for, guided, taught, loved, cuddled, attended to. Not trained, forced, or made to do things!

Rebekah - posted on 09/12/2010

Laura, I agree with you regarding the crying it out part, I too believe that it isn't good to do that to our babies for many different reasons. And Jessica, the only set back is having to hear your baby cry? That point of view does not consider your baby at all!
But there are many different ways to train babies when it comes to sleep, and while the cry it out method is the easiest for the parent (and most difficult for the baby - like many of our parenting practises) there are other ways to encourage babies to learn better sleep habits which are harder for parents (more work and a lot more time) but much better for our children. In order to do this the parents need to be committed and very aware of what their baby needs.
I have four children, my last one is 8 weeks old, and he is by far my most difficult baby. He cried whenever he was awake for at least 4 weeks, and if I put him down he couldn't sleep. He still cries a lot, but after Osteopatic treatments, and an elimination diet (which I had to go on) he no longer has eczema, his wind is much much better, and his reflux is improving. (The culprit was dairy...)
My third son was up every hour until we started the "no cry sleep solution" suggestions. It then took 5 months for him to be what most people would consider a good sleeper. We started this around about when he was 14 months. It was a lot of effort, but I do believe that we helped him sleep better, and now he's much happier and sleeps more than he's awake!
My first baby, I co-slept till she stopped, about 3 and a half. She was up every two hours untill 18months, when I abruptly weaned her as I wasn't coping, and I didn't know any other way. After weaning it was about every 3 or 4 hours. When she was 4 she finally managed to put herself to sleep without us there.
With my second (dream!) baby, she was so content that she did it all herself, and preferred to sleep alone from the beginning. I found this out by accident, thinking she'd sleep with us like her sister, but after three days of not much sleep, I went out to have a shower and left her by herself, heard her go quiet and when I checked her she'd gone to sleep! After that, I'd feed her, burp her, put her in her basket, and she'd smile and look around and go to sleep... what a dream!

Laura Zoey - posted on 09/12/2010

Just be cautious of sleep training, anytime your child learns that you will not respond to them just might cause them to lose emotional faith in you. By ignoring babies crying all the baby learns is that we won't come no matter what. This can be detrimental to their emotional health and will cause you to lose the strong connection with baby. Be very careful, look up cry it out or sleep training online and you can find all the psychological reasons it's a bad thing to do...... But in the end if the benefits outweigh the risks for you, and you are comfortable with the risks, then go ahed with the training.

Kayla - posted on 09/12/2010

It's normal for kids up to 3 to not sleep through the night.

Jessica - posted on 09/11/2010

i was in you EXACT same shoes and then i found myself sitting in my sons peds office in tears when he asked how my little guy was doing in regards to sleep. early on my son had a great sleep pattern and then around 5.5 months old he (and I) got a cold and all that went out the window. weeks and weeks went by and nothing was changing... he was waking up 4-5 times a night! the ped said it was age appropriate to begin sleep training him. i cringed because of all the bad things i had heard about sleep training. i went home and spoke to my hubby and we decided to give it a try. we agreed on a plan before we went to bed that night, put in ear plugs and went to sleep. it was difficult but now he sleeps from 7p until 5a, nurses and then goes back to sleep until around 7a. he's also napping TONS better than ever before.

if i can share this, i think that sleep training, done in the right way, is great for baby and for mommy. the biggest set back is hearing him cry for the first few nights but the ear plugs really help. and as soon as they realize you aren't going to come into the room *for any reason* then they sleep and they sleep really well.

if you have questions, lemme know. i wish i had the support back when we decided to do this. most my friends where anti but they are now the ones that have kiddos that are up all the time and are sleep-deprived momma's.

Julie - posted on 09/11/2010

My 27 month old still wakes up once in a while but when he was a baby i did the cry it out method and it worked fairly well as long as you are consistent. But every time something changes you have to start over, like moving to a bed. It was hard to listen to him cry but it doesn't last long just a few weeks or so and every night it is less. I swaddle my ten week old and she is sleeping eight hours. I'm going to slowly get her used to sleeping un-swaddled and she'll already be used to not nursing at night.

Jasmine - posted on 09/11/2010

all babies are different
my first son who is 2yrs 8month, is a great sleeper and does 7-7 since 11wks old and was bf till 6mths
my 18month old girl is still waking at night was bf till 8mths
and my 8weeks old boy does a 6hr sleep over night is currently only bfing

Jessica - posted on 09/10/2010

I tried something diffrerent last night.... Charlotte went to bed at 7:30 after feeding for around 45minutes. Woke at 10:30 and started sucking less after only 4 minutes of being on the breast so I popped her off and put her back to bed. Obviously wasn't hungry enough to crack up at me. I did the same when she woke at 1:30 but she fed for around 10 minutes this time and then when she woke at 3:30, I did the same!! I was worried that she would wake more than what she has been by popping her off but it didn't change anything... didn't make her wake more often or less. I am hoping that it will train her into not waking so often if she isn't getting lots of milk - see how I go. If it works, I will let you know! I had heaps more sleep though as each feed usually lasts around half hour so in total, I was only awake for around 20 minutes last night... heaven!! lol

Ashley - posted on 09/10/2010

ummmmmm....I have no idea when it ends. It is very normal. My 2 year olds rarely sleep through the night and never at the same time. 6 hours is a good start and better than most. I would give my boys some banana a little before bed and that would help a little. But it is something they have to grow into. good luck. Sleep when you can and enjoy the nights that he does sleep.

Anna - posted on 09/10/2010

OH yeah. My LO isn't much of a sleeper either. I'm so happy that I cosleep otherwise I wouldn't be getting ANY sleep, I swear. That has worked really well for us. People (babies) just need different things and its our jobs as parents to adapt to our own little person's needs. I think about how many needs I have as a fully functional adult and how different every person I meet is and how their needs differ from mine then I wonder why we get surprised by how individual and plentiful and demanding our babies needs are. This too will pass and you'll be on to the next phase of neediness and JOY! Best wishes!

Casey - posted on 09/10/2010

15- 18 months! And actually, 6 hours is considered 'sleeping thru the night'! My son started sleeping all the way thru from 8pm- 6am when he was around 17 months, my daughter was a bit earlier at 14months 8-5am- BUT any little thing will trow it off- teething, colds, when she started talking. I have learned to just bring them to bed with me- it only lasts a few days & they get back to sleeping when they feel better. I never let my kids cry- I always responded & still do. My kids nap well & sleep well & both still nurse before sleep. Hang in there, it'll happen. Your baby needs you now & it sounds like you're doing fine. Don't get jealous of other moms either- they're probably not telling you the whole truth anyway! Your baby will eventually sleep- promise!

Alexa - posted on 09/10/2010

Co-sleeping will help. Please do not let your child cry!! It is cruel and harmful! Look at the research. Would YOU want to be treated that way?? I think not. Parenting is a 24/7 job.

Alexa - posted on 09/10/2010

It's really not normal for babis to sleep through the night and safer for them to wake up a few times a night. It's hard but be patient, she will be grown before you know it.

Karen - posted on 09/10/2010

My daughter is 22 months. Last night she was awake about 4 times ... I think. We co-sleep so I'm never really sure how many times she wakes up because I'm barely concious at the time. I know last night was a bit worse than usual (she usually wakes up 3 times) because I ate too much dairy in the last few days. The only way I can tell that dairy negatively affects her is that she wakes up more often.
Have you considered food allergies?

Anna - posted on 09/10/2010

well, unfortunately not all babies sleep threw the night early on. My LO didn't until he was 13 months old. We tried everything. Even read two different books and tried most of what friends and relatives suggested. At about 9-10 months of age we just decided to go with the flow and relax. We realized that he would sleep threw the night when he was ready. It will happen, just on her own schedule. Don't worry, it will happen!!

Kimrose - posted on 09/10/2010

Just another "You're not alone" and "Hang in there" reply. We used to half-laughingly say about our DS "Yeah...he's not really big on sleeping at night". We co-slept and nursed on demand - honestly co-sleeping helped at least that I didn't have to be "as awake" as getting up, etc., but he probably didn't sleep through until geez, maybe 3 years old...hard to remember, but seemed like forever. On the older side, he'd just happily wake up once a night and come out and see us and we'd trek him back to our bed. As tough as it was, you do get used to things and it does go by and someday will suddenly be gone. "Crying it out" and such just wasn't my thing - we've done everything by instinct and my son just turned 5 and is a super independent, creative, bright little boy - too much "attachment" only seemed to make him more so - he was so "sure" of us I think :) Good luck - I KNOW it's tough to hear all the wonderful "sleep through the night" stories". Hang in there!

Cristiane - posted on 09/10/2010

My daughter is nine months and still wakes up many times during the night, dont sleep more than 3 hours, and she always wake up crying, seems some pain, the doctors say first were colics, after reflux, and now the teeth, i dont know what is sleep anymore cause once i woke up i cant sleep soon. My first one use to sleep all night long after the third month without problem. I really dont know when this will end.

Cassandra - posted on 09/09/2010

My son was well over a year old before he stopped waking to feed. He's 19 months now and occasionally will wake and want to nurse. Hang in there. Eventually she will get there.

Joanna - posted on 09/09/2010

By the time my son was 10 mos old and not only not sleeping thruogh the night, but not going to sleep on his own, I called in a sleep coach. I was still nursing over nightonce or twice and still BF 6 times during hte day. She helped me wean the night time feedings, since by hten they should be able to sleep through the night without any nourishment. It only took 3 days for him stop! 3 days and he was sleeping through until 5! From 8pm. eventually he pushed it through until 7. he still didn't consistenly sleep perfectly through the night until a couple of weeks ago (he's 16 mos now) and now he sleeps pretty much from 7:30/8pm to 6:30/6:45am. By 12 mos though it became more full nights than sleepless nights. Do you nurse her to sleep? that's a big reason some LO's have a problem at night since they only know how to go to sleep with a boob in their mouth. We make so many crutches for them so they don't learn to go back to sleep on their own when they wake up. At this point too, I think she should be able to go a little longer on eating. how much solids are you giving her? Are you on a fairly regular routine with meals and naps and bedtime? Once I got that down, things seemed to run a bit smoother. By 11 mos I cut out nursing between wakeup and lunch. If he was hungry I have him a solid. That seemed to help at least give me a break! Hang in htere. The first year is pretty rough and after 9 months, you really do wonder if it will ever end! It does! Good luck!

Rebecca - posted on 09/09/2010

Depends on your definitoin of sleeping through the night. 6 hours at one time is sleeping through the night for a baby. When people say they slept like a baby it makes you wonder if they have ever actually been around a sleeping baby, lol. She will start too sleep longer around a year. Hang in there.

Diane - posted on 09/09/2010

When my little brother was born (he is 2 years younger than me and I have a brother who is 1 year older) my Dad asked my Mom 'When do they stop waking up in the night?' So it can go on for quite a while but it doesn't mean that it will. All babies are different, my son slept through the night at about 6 weeks and my daughter was almost 2 1/2 when she started sleeping through consistently, my twins are 13 months and they wake up about once each night but a month ago they woke up at least 3 times in the night so that's quite a change in a very short time. I don't know if you've tried co-sleeping but it definitly makes night wakings easier in our house. Good luck, you will get sleep someday, I promise!

Lori - posted on 09/09/2010

I had a really rough time transitioning my son (now 27 months) into his own room and his own bed (we had a co-sleeper connected to our bed for the first 6 months). I was in his room almost every hour or more throughout the night since I wouldn't let him cry it out. My biggest help was the book "No Cry Sleep Solution" (http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0...). Some of the advice I didn't need to use, but most of it was SOOOOO helpful. I guess the biggest thing for us was routine at the same time every day no matter what. It seriously impeded on our social life for a while, but now our son sleeps 12 hour nights and 2 hour naps during the day. He is confident and he LOVES his crib and sleeping in it. He has a few special toys in bed with him all of the time too (glow worm for light, blankie, stuffed Nemo fish, a baby doll which helped him wean off the pacifier, and then whatever else he wants in there so he is comfortable). He knows that we are out here if he needs us. It took some serious commitment, but it is totally worth it in the long run. Good luck!

Heather - posted on 09/09/2010

My daughter sleeps for 3 to 4 hours, wakes up, nurses, then sleeps for 6 to 8 more hours a night. Very rarely does she ever sleep through the night, and she is 14 months old. My son didn't sleep through the night without waking up for some milk from a sippy cup until he was 16 months old.

So yes, some babies will wake up at night to eat or nurse, even 9 month olds. It just depends on the baby. Sorry. :(

Jennifer - posted on 09/09/2010

My daughter rarely slept through the whole night (8pm-6am) till she was about 4.5. My son is nearly four and still wakes about midnight, goes for a pee, and comes into my bed. Usually nurses and goes back to sleep. My daughter would sleep 6- 8 hours during the day when under a year, but breastfeed throughout the night like yours. Some kids are just night owls.

Autumn - posted on 09/09/2010

I breastfeed for 14 months & she didn't sleep a night through till I quit breastfeeding. Good luck!!

Chellie - posted on 09/09/2010

My son is 14 months and has never slept through the night, I've been wondering the same thing myself. I'm lucky to get a 3 hour stretch at night. You are definitely not alone! I work part time and am a full time college student. It is so exhausting to not get good sleep at night and be busy all day, I briefly considered weaning him. Breastfeeding is just SO good for babies and he loves it so much that I decided it's worth it. Besides, it's great bonding time I think it would break my heart to stop nursing! :O)

Michelle Carpenter - posted on 09/09/2010

I would give money for 6 hours of non-interupted sleep! Ethan is 12 months and has never slept through. My daughter was the same...she didn't sleep through until she was 25 months...after adnoidectomy and tubes...every kid is definitely different!! Ethan is up anywhere from every 45 minutes to 2 hours...and yes, we are chronically exhausted...but, I know it will end...it did with Emily!! Best wishes!

Laura Zoey - posted on 09/09/2010

I'll let you know when it ends for me and Eric, when it does! He is almost 1 1/2 now he wakes 1-2 times a night to nurse, he nurses about every 2-3 hours in the daytime. He also eats table foods too. If you think about it, they won't be waking up to nurse forever, and we can look back fondly on these nights of cuddling them. They will get to an age where they don't want to hug us, we can remember these nights and days and feel good that we loved on them as much as they needed. She needs your comfort at night, try to make peace with it and understand that she loves you and just needs your comfort. Yes you can train it out of her, but the kids I know who were sleep trained are much less snuggly then my son. Their moms say how they wish their babies would be so affectionate, I just know it's because I never taught him that he doesn't need me. I want him to know he DOES need me for emotional support. I don't want him to think he is fine without me. That only leads to over independence in teen years. I'd rather him think the world revolves around me until I start seeing he is mature enough to be self sufficient.
Yes I think into it this deeply, but it makes perfect sense. If you push them to grow up so fast and to self sooth and be independent can you really think they will ask your opinion later on? They will just assume they are independent and don't need your help.
Stay strong, think of the future, and remember we can sleep in our nursing home one day, but we will wish to be back here with our babies :) :)

Jessie - posted on 09/09/2010

My son did not start sleeping throught the night until 10 months and then it took awhile longer for him to do it regularly. he is almost 14 months old and still gets up once in awhile for a nurse or just to be rocked back to sleep. typically however he now sleeps from 8:30 to 6 am or longer. it will come in time I promise. Does your baby eat solids during the day? enough of milk and solids will ensure baby is getting enough to eat during the day (although not all babies are eating solids at 9 months old it helped us) we have developed a good routine and try our best to stick to it every night. that means we have to be home every night by bedtime in order to go throughthe routine or he gets all out of sorts, LOL. Good luck!

Summer - posted on 09/09/2010

Well it ends when they say its over, lol my son is 21 months and i do get that still all now.

Stephanie - posted on 09/09/2010

This phase does pass. Breast babies tend to really like that comfort and warm feeling at night. My youngest was 18 mo before nights became better and even now loves that comfort when she has a bad dream or is cold. There are so many different reasons they want our cherished milk. You might try putting him in your bed after the first wake. Sometimes they just want to be close.
Also breastmilk digests at such a high rate that most everything is gone in about an hour. You can do it! Try a mindset that this is really a special time and when they are done yes sleep is great for sure, but that special time will never come back. It will end sooner than later.

Karla - posted on 09/09/2010

My son spoiled us in the beginning, sleeping 8 hours a night at one month old. But then around 5 months of age he started waking up several times throughout the night and that still continues to this day. I haven't had but a handful of uninterrupted nights since he was 5 months. I think what started the whole mess was teething and now we are stuck in what seems like a never ending rut. Then I have people asking me all the time, "so does he sleep good for you?" I mean really, what a fools question that is. Do you really want to hear me complain about or sleeping patterns at night? Because I really don't wan to tell you, jackass! lol
Hang in there, Anneke! It can't last forever!
Does your daughter sleep with you or in a crib?

Jessica - posted on 09/09/2010

I like the sounds of dad getting up!!! hahaha Might try that but the only problem is that he has to work the next day whereas I can have a nap if need be!!! I seem to be able to function on little sleep whereas for him, it would be much worse.. thanks for the advice though!!

Rebekah - posted on 09/09/2010

Well, from what I can tell, no matter how bad your situation is, there will always be someone with a worse situation! I read in a sleep book of a woman with a child who woke (seriously here!) every ten minutes! That put my hourly waker to shame... And you can also be in parent coffee mornings or similar, and find yourself staring in disbelief at the woman who complains because her 5 month old still wakes once during the night...
Every baby is completely different. I have 4, and they all have needed different things when it came to sleep.
Also, every parent is different. I can survive on pockets of sleep (although I do find that i need at least 2 hours at a time to feel slightly sane) whereas others may need a full night to be able to cope.
There are things you can do to help babys sleep habits. "The no cry sleep solution" is the book I would recommend. It is a lot of work, and you may have to work on more than one thing, but generally the suggestions they have are pretty realistic, make sense, and you choose the ones that suit you and your family. For example, with my third son he wouldn't go to sleep without breastfeeding, so that was one issue we tackled, but he also slept for an hour max at a time, so that was another issue altogether. And we also decided to tackle one issue at a time, because the effort involved to address more than one was too much for my sleep deprived mind!
It does seem like forever while you are in it, and if it's too much for you then a little change slowly will work, for me it took about 4 months. The change was gradual. It wasn't like I changed something, and immediately he could put himself to sleep. It was more like I changed something, and a few weeks later he could do it once a week, and then twice etc etc.
I'd say the keys are:

Find out what you want to do, what suits you and your family.
Make a plan, try it out, if it doesn't feel right, stop.
Be consistent, do exactly the same thing every night, even down to the words you use. I say "sweet dreams see you in the morning. " nothing more, nothing less... exactly that.
Keep a record of sleep patterns, before you start, and then a few weeks after you introduce something - see if it's working.
Introduce one new thing at a time to keep it manageable for you and baby.
Keep it realistic: if you are trying to cut out night feeds, don't go from 8 at night to none, decide which ones to cut first, make them the easiest, and go from there. Also decide what you will do when you cut them: we found it easier if Dad went instead of me, as I smelled of milk...
I hope this helps, there's nothing like being sleep deprived! She's a very lucky girl to have you as a mama, breastfeeding is so good for her! Well done for persevering!

Jessica - posted on 09/09/2010

I am in the same boat as you! My little one is now 5 months old and slept through when she was about 2 months old and it only lasted a few nights.... I just consider it as time for extra hugs!! haha I don't talk to her when she wakes and nor do I turn on any lights, have tried the boiled water instead of milk and she just carries on until I put her to the breast!!

Ashlee - posted on 09/08/2010

My 14 month still hasn't slept through the night and he is fully weaned! He wakes up at least 3 times a night...but all it take is a drink of water, dummy back in, and cover him up and he goes straight back to sleep, but it'd be nice if he didn't even need that! Sometimes he wakes up to 5 times... so you're not alone! My baby sleeps in tho, so thankfully I can too most morns to make up for it :)

Sarah - posted on 09/08/2010

Sounds like my little one a few weeks ago. She's almost 9 months old and she's been sleeping through the night (from 7pm-6am) for two weeks now. I'll tell you what though, it's been a long time coming!!!

Since about 4 months she would wake up anywhere from once (on a really good night - rare!) to FIVE times! Talk about exhausting!! She's also breastfed and I used to feed her quite often during the day, although when I started her on solids at 5.5 months, I also slowly stretched out her milk feeds during the day so she got used to lasting longer without the boob.

Next step was to help teach her to go back to sleep by herself whenever she woke during the night. I used to feed her each time she woke up simply because it was the easiest way to get her back to sleep and I could go back to sleep too! Mistake!

Anyway, I started by cutting her night feed down to once a night at 3-4am. If she woke before then, I used a controlled crying method to get her back to sleep (if you want more info on what I did, let me know), and after just a few nights she'd caught on and we went from 4-5 wake-ups a night to just one. So that was great, for a few more months at least.

Then she started waking up more at about 8 months and wouldn't sleep longer than 4-5 hours at a time. At this stage I was still giving her one night feed, even though I didn't think she really Needed it (she eats plenty during the day!). So I decided it was time to cut out the night feed altogether - I was nervous and anticipating some sleepless nights, but it had the complete opposite effect to what I expected! The first 2-3 nights she protested of course, but after that she slept solidly from 7pm-6am without making a single PEEP. I was / am amazed! To be honest, at first I was really nervous and had to keep popping in to check she was still ok! But I just love it now - and I'm planning to make the most of it!

So hang in there - it doesn't last forever. You might just have to do a bit of research into different ways to help her sleep better at night and a bit of experimenting to find something that feels right for you. But when you decide what you're going to do, make sure you're consistent with it, because that's the key. Baby will only get confused and upset if you keep doing different things! Good luck!

Jessica - posted on 09/06/2010

I had the exact same situation as you. I co-slept with emma and she was up multiple times every night. I had to let her cry for a few nights to get her out of my bed but I didn`t try that until she was 1. She started sleeping longer after that, since the boob wasn`t right next to her all night. She is now almost 2 and she goes to bed without an fuss and sleeps all night. Just in time for us to get preg. with the next one! ;)

Rhona - posted on 09/06/2010

My daughter is 17months and still wakes in the night. Not for a feed but, I am guessing she just likes having mom or dad sleep with her in the bed. Even when you sleep with her she is restless and can be wakeful (not fully awake) & moan hourly. Any suggestions.