7 Mo Old Stands Without Falling Asleep in Crib

Standing up is much easier than sitting back down! She may be afraid she'll fall. Go in and quietly lay her back down, then leave. Don't say a word (except maybe "night night"). She may stand back up again-- so you may need to do it several times in a row until she gets it that at bed time it's pointless to stand when all that will happen is she will be laid back down by mommy. Eventually she'll get more confident at laying down herself from a standing position and it won't be as much of an issue

A music mobile or soft music in her room. A new musicial stuffed animal in the crib wound up. One of those soft noise machine that plays ocean waves or rain continuously will help.

Well, mine used to fall asleep standing up leaning his arms over the rail. When I would go to lay him back down, he would wake back up and start all over again. The poster who wrote that she may need help learning to get back down again may be onto something though... they learn to get down from standing AFTER they learn to stand... so, maybe she just isn't comfortable with that part of it yet. Do remember to be LOW KEY whatever you do. You do not want to unintentionally reward her behavior. No eye contact, no lights, nothing to indicate anything other than "it's time for sleep"... Gently help her down to sleep position and walk back out. After a few nights of practice, she should be able to do it on her own and then she will ... (after she realizes you are not coming to play). Just be patient. This too shall pass.

Just be sure that if you haven't already, that you raise the rails (lower the platform) of the crib so she can't fall out. You should remove any bumpers (she can stand on these) and mobiles too... and anything else that she can reach out of the crib and grab onto , for safety reasons. I don't recommend a wind up toy, but if you want to play music in her room I think that's a grand idea. We did that for ours from the time they came home from the hospital... just keep it very soft and soothing... we used a celtic strings CD... like strumming harps.. very quietly...

She'll get past it eventually, and you'll be on to the next challenge.... remember these days... they'll be gone in a flash!

I've read Dr. Wiessbluth too and that's a great book!, but he doesn't advocate any one "style" of teaching your baby to sleep on their own. He kind of just says you can either let me cry it out or have a family bed, etc. His book is a great reference but I found doesn't give you any advice on techniques.
I would recommend checking out "Good Night Sleep Tight"
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Night-Sleep-Tight-Helping/dp/1...
Which is a nice balance between just plain letting them cry it out and the no-cry methods. It's a great companion book to HSHHC, and will help you implement everything Dr. Weissbluth recommends.
Good luck!
W

Oh, I remember those days well (I have a 4 yr old and 7 yr old). But, music has always helped us too. Even now, the girls cannot go to sleep without music playing in the room. When you put the babies in their bed, they feel like they're missing out!! So you have to make the room inviting for them. Trust me, there were and are many times still that I have to say, "if you don't stay in your bed, I will take away your music" and they don't like that idea very much. Good luck!! Reading a book before bed ALWAYS helps, at any age!! (Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Gorilla are great for that!!)

Good luck!

I also had the same problem at 7 months and my son is now 9 months. I read both books and love watching the supper nanny. You may just have to use a combination. We would have this problem going to sleep and again at 4 am. Even after his 4 am feeding he would stand right back up and cry. I was not so worried about him falling,because he has fallen on our wood floors and been ok. I would let him cry it out for 10 min periods and then go back without saying anything or any eye contact and gently lay him back down. The crying tired him out and by the third or fourth time laying him down he would fall back asleep. After two weeks of being persistent he falls asleep on his own with a little bit of whining for 5 min. My husband didn't want to hear him cry and he almost got up at 4 am to play with him. But Then he learns that he gets attention. It was work on my part to stay up and time the intervals and loose sleep but it worked-good luck

My son (now 12 1/2 months) did the same exact thing. I guess he was just excited about this new thing he could do. He would be so tired but wouldn't lay down, he would just stand and cry. I would go into his room and lay him back down several times (with a few minutes in between each time) scared that if he dropped down he would hit himself on the side of the crib. I soon realized he was getting into the habit of expecting me to come back so I had to let him cry long enough w/out getting himself into a terrible fit. Once I let him go a little longer (I guess it tired him out even more) I was able to lay him back down once, give him his pacifier and he would go to sleep. After a few nights of that and waiting a little bit longer he eventually stayed down and puts himself to sleep. He has become wonderful at night time and goes to bed without crying.

It's always tough to hear them cry but as long as he didn't get himself too worked up I felt like it was ok and it has seemed to pay off in the long run.

J.,
The music (oceans or harps) is what I hear works very well.
Sandi