Need sleep HELP!!!!!!!

 I NEED SLEEP!!! Okay now to explain.... Bella has never been the best sleeper, she has never slept through the night completely. She has slept 8-4:30 nurses then sleeps til 7am a couple times. Usually it's 7:30-8 to 11:20-12 then 2-3 then 6-7. I took her to the Pedi for a check up the other day and he said now that she's eating baby food and cereal she SHOULD be sleeping through the night. ZZZZzzzz sorry I fell asleep( haha)  He suggested C.I.O for a couple nights and see how that goes. I HATE hearing her cry. Bella is a BIT (I say that loosely) SPOILED!! So last night she woke up at 1am and I let her cry for about 15 mins then she fell asleep but only to wake up 20 mins later screaming!! I finally went in there and got her and fed her. She then went to sleep and slept til 4. I don't think she is magically going to start sleeping through the night, I am hopeful! Any tips????
Jessica 

Emma was sttn by 4 months... Micah still wakes 1-2 times to eat. I have tried cio, but he is genuinely hungry. He has been eating cereal since 4 months and has been eating 3 meals a day plus bottles for awhile now. (he is 8.5 months now) I don't know what to tell ya. Some kids just need the food in the night. As for the sleep...smack the hubby occasionally and make him let you sleep in! LOL I am totally sleep deprived myself....but knowing this is my last baby makes me really cherish our alone time at night. Shari

Oh my gosh Jessica I feel so bad for you!!  As you know Anberlin has been sleeping from 9pm-630/7am since she was 3mo old. So Im not an expert on this problem but what if you just stopped feeding her when she wakes up? When she cries go in and rub her back and soothe her, maybe even pick her up for the first few nights, but don't feed her. She is at the age where she doesn't need to eat at night. She doesn't need that nutrition like she did when she was a new born. There is absolutely no reason that she should need to wake up during the night so she is just doing it for comfort and maybe because of separation anxiety. This is just an idea because luckily for us we haven't had this problem so I don't know if this will work. GOOD LUCK MAMA!!!

-Ashlie

I completely feel your pain- My 'little' girl is absolutely insistant to get up during the night.  Everyone once in a while she lets us get a nights rest- but its rare.  She is 8 1/2 months old.  My dtr who is 2 loves to go to bed- but she only sleeps til 5:30-6. (She goes to be at 8pm).  So- we have learned to turn in to bed early to get the amount of sleep we like.  I am a sleeper- so it KILLS me to be awake...luckily DH actually does the feeding- but I hear the whole event.  So while my lazy bones are in bed- I am still awake.  With dtr who is 2 we were 'scolded' to let her cry it out till she slept..which we did by waiting no longer than 15 minutes.  But since they share a room, I cant let the 'baby' scream...so rock hard place.  Plus- since she is about 20 pounds there is in my mind a good chance that she is actually hungry.  I hope you get some sleep.

I am sure you already know how I feel about CIO, so I would have told that doctor to take a hike LOL Get your hands on a copy of the "No Cry Sleep Solution"! Great book, and she has lots of great info on her website! 

http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/books/0071381392.php

I agree with the PP above me. That book is great, and if you don't have a miracle blanket, try one. It really helped our daughter. That pediatrician needs to understand that saying a baby "should" be sttn is rediculous. Babies are all different and in no way is there an instruction booklet or warrenty.  I am NOT a CIO person. I do not understand depriving a child of food in the middle of the night if that's why they wake. I could go on and on, but I won't. My kiddo is one on Wednesday, and she STILL wakes in the night for a 6oz bottle. She weighs 24 lbs and is totally normal. Then she goes back to sleep for another 4 hours. I feel sleep deprived a lot, but it's a 24/7 job. I know it's hard to get up and feed her, but it isn't forever.

Jessica,

Some kids do things differently. Tristan is 10 months old and just started sleeping through the night. My Pedi said it's not a big deal and not to worry about it as long as he's not sleeping all day long. He wakes up hungry, eats and falls back to sleep. If she were waking up for attention and not needing to eat, then sure... let her fall back to sleep on her own... but she's eating. All children mature at different rates. My sister didn't sleep through the night until she was 3.

My advice (and what i've done) is just go with their schedule. I do try to keep him up as much as possible in the evenings but it doesn't always help. she will sleep through the night when she's ready.

Good luck,
Victoria

http://www.babycenter.com/404_are-we-damaging-our-baby-by-le tting-him-cry-himself-to-sleep_2644.bc

I thought this was interesting! I am sooo confused on the whole"crying it out" idea and after you posted this question I looked into it more. I found the article interesting but also the comments. I am still up in the air about it though! lol!

-Ash

That was a pretty good article, I am going to bookmark it for the future, (although some of the comments made me want to puke LOL) I like to use this one to show people why we don't CIO.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/handout2.asp