[familyequalslove]

Almost 8mo DD is really difficult to get to bed each night. She cries and cries and then often gets so worked up she ends up power chucking. I don't know if it's cos I BF her too much? As she might sleep 20 minutes but then wakes up, so I feed her again and then the power chuck happens.

I've made her bedtime later as previously suggested which I thought helped, but she still screams and screams and takes ages to settle to bed. I've been using CC and from everything I've read, babies learn how to settle by at least a week into it, but she is still the same weeks and weeks later.

But the thing is, I know she can self settle as she wakes up once a night at least, sometimes twice, and for her day sleeps, I can leave her to grizzle for 3 minutes and she will go to sleep.
I don't know what to do!

[familyequalslove]

Anyone? She's done it again tonight, and is still screaming two hours after putting her to bed.

[KnightsofNi]

My DD was a power chucker. All the time. Turns out she was cows milk protein intolerant. Within 2 weeks of stopping dairy, she chucked no more.

Just something to keep in mind. Just in case.

[Roobear]

So you are leaving her distressed so she cries until she vomits? If that is the case obviously CC is not working. Try a gentler method. Your poor DD

Edit: Ooops teach me to read the OP properly! Maybe instead of feeding her, try a hands on method of settling her? You might be overfeeding her? If you are leaving her to cry though she can make herself so distressed that she will vomit. Maybe look into reading her cries so you can actually go in when she is distressed and avoid the power chuck if you are insistent on leaving her to cry.

This post has been edited by Roobear: 16/02/2013, 11:23 PM

[WinterIsComing]

I read that developmentally, CC should be implemented at specific ages - and 8 months isn't it. If you haven't done it by 7 months, then you need to wait untill 12 months.

And if your child has been screaming herself to sleep for hours for weeks now, isn't it a sign CC is not working? I heard it should take max 5 days, definitely not weeks.

[BabyZ]

Do you have a bedtime routine in place like bath, reading, bottle etc? Have you tried using a dummy instead of feeding again so soon?
This might stop the power chucks if she is really full.

[SemiRuralGirl]

My kids both power chucked until I COMPLETELY eliminated cows milk protein and soy from my diet. Took 6 weeks to realise the problem with DD, 3 days with DS lol. We saw a massive change quite quickly after FULL elimination (no cheating!). Slept through the night within 3 days, only small spit ups.

Also, I feel a bit sad for your little DD crying it out when she may be in significant pain. Do you think the crying is making her vomit or some sort of other problem? Either way, CC does not seem to be a good option at the moment.

I hope you get some answers soon. It's tough stuff to deal with.

[familyequalslove]

Sorry my OP was a bit confusing, I don't just leave her to cry until she vomits. I give her a few minutes each time to give her a chance to settle, which she does not. The thing is these power chucks are new. Normally she would always take ages to settle anyway but never vomit?

She has had cows milk in her cereal since six months and seems to be no problem.

[SemiRuralGirl]

How new are the vomits OP? Could she have a tummy bug or something like that? I'm thinking not if she's ok during the day.

Maybe the extra feed is too much in her tummy? Does she vomit if you don't feed her any extra also?

Maybe you could try the "shhh shhh shhh" and patting her bottom in rhythm with the shhhing to settle her and see if it makes a difference?

It may sound silly, but I know when I'm emotional I vomit, so I guess I wonder if that could happen with your little one too? Maybe you staying in the room will help alleviate some of her anxiety. It might have nothing to do with food at all.

You're her mum, you know best. Follow what your intuition is telling you. If CC isn't feeling right, don't feel pressure to do it. She'll eventually learn to sleep without you there, but just may need you there for a bit longer. If you feel CC is the way to go, then keep trying.

I also second the consistent bedtime routine. Dinner, bath, bed (with or without BF). Soft lighting and noise can help some overstimulated LOs settle.

Big hugs to you

This post has been edited by luvmy2bubs: 17/02/2013, 12:05 AM

[Felix101]

No advice on the super spew, but I totally feel you on the screaming front.
DS is 9 months and has gone from the textbook perfect sleeper (although he never slept through) to day and night sleep times being the dread of my day. He started around the same age you dd is now.

All I can tell you is what everyone keeps telling me - its a developmental phase, it lasts a couple of weeks for some, a couple of months for others, but they grow out of it. We're a month in, and I think starting to get a little better.. But I get through each bad sleep like I did contractions... Haha! It's one more sleep done that I don't have to deal with again, and it's one sleep closer to him growing out of his little 'phase'.

We handling it by tag teaming at bed time - DH sits on the floor next to the cot and pats and shhuhs while I clean up, cook, whatever. Once he's done with the crying we swap. If ds gets really worked up we take him out, cuddle him til he's settled, then back in to the cot and the same all over again. Gradually it's taking less time to get to sleep, and he's getting less worked up.

During the day when DH isn't around, if he starts fighting sleep its into the ergo on my back while I do whatever I need to do. He usually is asleep in 5min and happily transfers half awake to the cot.

Given your breastfedding, I doubt your over feeding - some babies just work themselves up so much that they make themselves sick. I'd address the working herself up part, rather that the food part

Good luck