Mums share advice with a ‘guilty’ mother who wants to sleep train her baby

It can be a difficult time.

As Prince William put it this morning, he wants to welcome his brother Harry into the "sleep deprivation society that is parenting." Yes, there are days when you will feel like you haven't slept for an entire year, and there comes times when you feel guilty too. Guilty about your little one crying and there is nothing you can do to help them (even though you try, so hard). This mum wrote into Mumsnet saying that she needs advice as her baby won't settle at night. Her child is now 9-months-old and she can't take the sleepless nights anymore. She wrote:

"We have decided we absolutely have to do something to help our 9-month-old sleep better. "Has full bedtime routine, bath etc, goes to bed about 7, normally takes about 2 hours rocking him in the pram to get him to sleep, wakes about 5 times a night for feeding and then awake for the day at about 7am. Naps for about 2 hours during the day. "We're trying 'pick up, put down' and 'stay and support' but he is crying lots and it's breaking my heart. Is it normal to cry so much with these methods? "Any help/wisdom needed. We feel so guilty that he's not getting enough sleep, and feel guilty about the sleep methods too."

Many mums replied to the post, saying that she will get there and gave suggestions on books to try. One said:

"There's a book called the No Cry Sleep Solution which I thought was quite good. I would work first on the getting him to sleep in the first place. Two hours every night of rocking is crazy. Are there any other problems, eg reflux?"

While another commented:

"When I was at my wits end the health visitor recommended the book Teach Your Child To Sleep. It has some different methods which you pick depending on your lo and your family. We needed to do a very structured gradual retreat/ withdrawal method with our ds. It did involve some crying but I never left him to cry."

Do you have any words of wisdom for this mum? Or any tips and tricks that might come in handy?