"We are definitely in crisis mode, our baby will be 8 months old next week, and she is a cat-napper, only napping at times 45 minutes a day, and is up probably on average 8 times a night. We try to do everything right, get her back to nap about 2 hours after she wakes up, get her to sleep early in the evening, but she just doesn't stay asleep. We need to rock her, hold her, and put her in her swing in order for her to sleep, she will not sleep in her crib, and occasionally ends up in our bed which we do not want to do. If we try to let her cry it out and soothe herself back to sleep she becomes quite hysterical and quickly vomits everything up in her stomach (very large amounts). We are at our wits end here and I am going to try your book for some advice, but am wondering how we should go about trying to get her to sleep in her crib since she is getting bigger and will be reaching the limits of her swing soon. Do you have any suggestions for us? Our pediatrician has been absolutely no help. Please, we are desperate!"
- Jessica

Your baby does sound like she is very sleep deprived. I've worked with other families in your situation and I know you can handle this. Here's what I advise.

Your daughter is probably too sleep deprived for the 'cry it out' method to be successful. This is best attempted in a fairly well rested baby.

At this time I advise you to focus on daytime naps. You mention that you put her to sleep about two hours after she wakes up. Attempting naps is good, I applaud you for that, but I advise you try a different timing: try starting naps either at 90 minutes after she wakes up or 3 hours after.

Try to be looking for her signs of sleepiness at those times, too, at 90 minutes or 3 hours after she wakes up. This probably sounds bizarre if you haven't read my book, but just trust me on this.

Before you re-attempt the 'cry it out' you want to have a very good sense of your baby's nap schedule and her signs of sleepiness. In your situation it is probably very difficult to pick out her signs of sleepiness, because she is so tired, almost all the time, and so are you! Both of you are doing your best, so please don't blame yourself. It's not your fault.

Most 8 month olds have a fairly predictable nap schedule, so your daughter should have a morning nap, an afternoon nap, and depending on her bedtime, possibly an evening nap. Once you are confident in the nap schedule and in her signs of sleepiness, then you can re-attempt the cry it out approach--- or you can try one of the other self-soothing approaches.

Please check back in with me and let me know how things are going.