I’m looking for some help troubleshooting sleep for my 8-month-old. Overall, she’s a pretty happy baby during the day, but sleep has been really inconsistent and tough to figure out. She often has great, content wake windows, but that last stretch before bed is almost always fussy no matter what we do. Bedtime itself is hard. she cries and screams as soon as we start the routine, especially when I try to feed her, although she seems to go down more easily for her dad most nights. It’s like she knows the routine is coming and screams. Had to change routine slightly since 4m sleep regression hit bc of the same stuff.
I used to LOVE special bed time. Now I feel scared and anxious any time I do anything with her regarding sleep or feeding. She’s hate being held by me to feed. Everyone else seeks to feed he fine. I am a small person but not every small
Person who has ever had a baby has just not been able to feed their baby
We usually bounce her to sleep and transfer her (asleep, drowsy but awake have never worked for us), but nights are rough. She wakes frequently..sometimes every 1–2 hours. Some wake-ups seem related to discomfort (she’s had stinky gas, and occasionally leaks through her diaper overnight).
I know she can sleep through the night bc she has done it a few times. She can also get sleep stretches of 5hrs. Idk what is happening. Also no matter what do she wakes up at 530am on the dot and had to be soothe to sleep until 6-630.
Naps are inconsistent too. The third nap is especially difficult, as she often fights it hard, and when she does take it, I’m not sure how long to let it go because it impacts bedtime. Some days she ends up overtired, and other days it feels like she’s undertired, and I can’t find the balance. We’ve tried stroller/carrier naps when she refuses, but those don’t always work either. We are in process of transitioning to 2 naps.
I feel like we’re stuck in a cycle of overtiredness, frequent night wakes, and a baby who resists sleep even though she clearly needs it. Would love any insight on schedule adjustments, wake windows, nap lengths, or how to make bedtime less stressful—especially if anyone has dealt with similar crying at the start of the routine but otherwise a generally happy baby.