Thread: my daughter is 7 months old and she wakes up in te middle of the night screaming?

only thing that calms her is sleeping with me

sounds to me like she has night terror. it a brain thing it like really bad nightmares all the time i would take her to the Doctor and get it checked out.

it could be night terrors i would talk to the doctor

We went through the same thing with both of our boys, and even though we learned a lot from the first, we made similar mistakes with the second since we were either too exhausted or too busy to learn from previous mistakes!

Anyhow, here's what worked for us with both kids (and hopefully you too!).

We used to award our son with a pick up, a cuddle, or a bottle to soothe him when he woke up, which worked for awhile, but then he just expected it and would screech if we tried to leave him. We started weening him off of the bottle until he didn't need it anymore - an ounce a night until it was gone - which worked for that.

Then came the tough part...

When he woke and started to cry, we would wait five minutes to see if he would settle. Then we would go in, lay him down under his blankets, soothe him, and leave. WE DID NOT TALK TO HIM OR PICK HIM UP - VERY IMPORTANT!!! If he did not settle, we would wait five minutes, then repeat. Every time we left his room, we would leave for a little longer (first time five minutes, second time ten minutes, third time fifteen...). The key is not to award them for waking - let them learn to soothe themselves. If they know they will get something out of their scream, why would they stop?

Be ready for a few tough nights. This rountine was HELL for three nights, but it worked both times. Now they sleep 12 hour nights and sometimes longer.

Remember that when your daughter is crying (and you are crying too because you feel cruel!), you're helping her learn to settle herself and become a better sleeper. It's better for all of you!

It could also be teething ...

Good luck - this parenting thing is not easy, but after you get through these little milestones, it feels good.