Almost 7mo distraught at bedtime
My baby is almost 7 months old. She sleeps about 1.5-2hrs during the day, and we try to maintain 3/3/4. Bedtime is 8pm and we wake her at 8am if she’s not up already.
She wakes about 3-4 times most nights and I nurse her back to sleep, which mostly feels manageable. She mostly falls asleep independently for naps.
The trouble is bedtime. Her father gives her a bottle between 1 hr and 45 min before bedtime, which she takes happily. We then read some books, change her and put her sleep sack on, and during this whole time she is happy as can be.
But recently, she has started wailing the second we move to put her in the crib. A month ago we were hopeful that we could begin to move towards independent night sleep; now it feels impossible. She is distraught and must be held and sung to until she calms down and eventually falls asleep, every night. She often has false starts and calming her can take an hour on a bad night.
What’s wrong? Is it possible she needs even LESS daytime sleep? (I’m not sure I will cope if so lol). We’ve also tried encouraging more daytime sleep, but it’s hard work and doesn’t seem to come naturally to her. Thanks so much for any ideas or insight.