5 1/2 Month Old Difficult Sleeper

ooooooh this is a tough one. Its so easy to pop that awful I'm-a-horrible-mom hat on. I think what you need to do is visually make a routine and stick it on your fridge. This way you can mentally wrap your head around how long to let her work it out.
Say she wakes up at 7am. She was still pretty young, so we'll say she should probably have 2 good naps a day. Say from 7-9 you have breakfast and play for a bit. When 9am rolls around, change her diaper and lay her down for an hour. Now,if she's not used to it so she'll probably cry. But soothe her the best you can before you lay her down and she may do better than you think. During that time she is safe in her crib. Turn your monitor down so that you can here her if she's in BIG trouble. You need the peace in order to be a good Mom for her while she's awake. Give her an hour for the two of you to rest and try again. She may not do it, but she may sleep longer. If all goes well say 10 or 11am. Get going again. Feed her if she's hungry and play or cuddle a bit. Make sure all her needs are met and then at 12-1pm. put her down again. Same as before, make sure you can hear her, but honor some time for you. When she wakes at 2-3 offer bottle or breast whatever you do. Spend some time playing, errands, whatever until dinner. Say dinner is 5:30 or 6pm. Afterwards start to wind thing down, By 6:30 or 7pm give her a bath (lavender oil drops in the water might help relax her.) I also find massaging my little boy with lavender scented lotion both to be enjoyable and relaxing to him. Read he a story and give her a bottle or breast before bedtime. Lay her down for the night.

Hopefully this will give you some time with your other kids as well as time for yourself. If you get a schedule going like this repeat it for say a week. Babies take a little time to adjust, but I bet after a few days of having a regular schedule, she'll respond by resting better for you. My prayers and best of wishes to you.

Jaime

Hang in there! Be consistent and her sleep habits will develop.

Jamie gave some great advice. In addition to writing down a routine, I encourage you to really devote 1-2 weeks to making sure you stick to the routine (ie making sure you're home for naps and bedtime). Yes, I know this can be hard with your 4 and 6 year old - but give her this time, and later she'll be able to be a little flexible to accommodate the sibling's activities.

We, too, read Weisbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and found him to be right on the mark with so many points. The biggest being that if they are overtired they will actually sleep less! Give her a week or 2 to catch up on sleep with a good routine, and she will most likely fall into better patterns.

Hi there
I, too, have a 5 month old who is a horrible napper. Her longest nap ever is about 40 minutes. The only way she will sleep longer is if I lay down with her and continuously nurse her, but that's rare since I have a 3 year old who also needs my attention. I am about to start nap training, too, and it was very successful with my first who was an equally horrible napper and became a stellar napper. For now, here is what gets me 4 short naps per day. I put my daughter down 1 hour after she awakes in the morning and every 1 hour and 15 minutes after she awakes from her 30 minute naps. I watch the clock and begin soothing 5 minutes prior (soft blanket on cheek and pacifier). If I catch her window, there is no crying. If there IS crying, I let her go 20min, soothe her again briefly, and walk out. Another 20 minutes of crying, and the nap is over, wait an hour and do it again. My girlfriend has a 5 1/2 month old and she suggested it. It's been working well combined with a 6:30pm bedtime. Her daughter goes to bed at 5:30pm and sleeps nearly 13 hours with 1-2 night feedings. Try this to get your babe a little better rested and then go on to sleep training when she is ready. Hope this helps. Each day is different and I, too, so desperately want a schedule! My neighbor cried to me today about the SAME issue with her 7 month old. That is why there are so many books about it-it is SO common! Hope this works or that the sleep training does and QUICKLY!
take care,
J. (mom of 2 sweet and sassy gals)

First of all, forget about Weissbluth. If you've already tried it then give it a rest. Your daughter is still very young and crying it out is not the answer ESPECIALLY if it's not working. Have you had her tested for allergies? Are you formula feeding or breastfeeding? Is she able to fall asleep with you and stay asleep? Is she able to fall asleep in the car or in a swing? If the only time she is not able to fall and stay asleep is when she is in the crib then maybe you might want to rethink your expectations for her sleeping. She might have different sleep needs than your other children and need more comfort. Good luck!

My youngest (who is now 8yo) literally never napped. She would wake by 7-7:30am and was asleep by 8-8:30pm. She was allergic to milk and colicky. I thought I would never survive her but by age 18mons she started taking one 3 hr nap mid day and by age 4yo she was done taking naps.
During the first 6/8mons. I would put her in her crib and then go stand out on the front porch twice a day for 10-20 mins for a "ME" break. Those times helped me but did not change her habits, I just somehow managed through them.
Wish I had better results for you but I leave saying, "This too shall pass."

Holly M gave fantastic advice! When you say the Weissbluth techniques don't seem to be working, how long have you been trying them? It could take up to two weeks and you need to be very consistent with them to help your child recognize the pattern.

My baby would only nap for 45 minutes at a time and at random hours of the day. In the evening, he would be cranky as hell - an indication to me that he clearly was not getting the necessary sleep for proper growth and development. With him going to daycare soon, I needed to do something to help him.

I read the book and followed the techniques to the letter. I resigned myself to having no life for two weeks while I gave it a chance. Much to my surprise, it took about 3 days for him to get with the program. Once I finally started to respect his natural body clock and need for sleep at regular intervals he became a much more pleasant, happy, energetic child. He transitioned from only taking a long nap while being held in a recliner to taking a morning nap of 90 minutes and an afternoon nap of 2+ hours. I couldn't believe it!

Are you doing the following:
wake up between 6:00 and 7:00?
consistent soothing routine of at least 10 mins prior to AM nap?
morning nap attempt around 9:00 or so?
keeping child awake and engaged after 1st nap?
repeat soothing routine prior to the PM nap?
afternoon nap attempt around 1:00 or so?
bedtime between 6:00 and 8:00?

Just hang in there - it does get better. And...Dr. Weissbluth is not the only one out there who has had success with sleeping strategies. If after giving it a fair chance it still isn't working, then find something that better suits her needs!

Once she is asleep for the night, does she sleep through? My son (7 months) doesn't nap much at all, except little 20-30 minute stints at unpredictable intervals, but he sleeps 10 hours straight at night. I had similar problems getting him to settle in for the night because he was over-tired. So, I started getting him ready for bed an hour earlier. That works for us now. He falls asleep on his own within minutes. Before bed, we either give him a bath or freshen him up, nurse, rock him for a few minutes with his soother on and put him in bed. Nothing unusual. . . except starting this an hour earlier than I used to! Good luck--I know it's frustrating!