If you are in a sleep emergency and your baby isn't directly breastfeeding, ask another loving adult to take over completely for a couple of nights (at least)

These six topics in the It's an emergency section of The Possums Sleep Program are the place to start if you're in a baby sleep crisis. To really turn things around over the next couple of weeks, so that the days and nights are as enjoyable as possible, and you're no longer so utterly exhausted and sleep-deprived, please go to the whole of The Possums Baby Sleep Program, starting here. Or you might like to go to the Brief & simple version first, starting here.

It can be helpful to know that

• Excessive night waking is typically caused by disruptions to your baby's circadian or body clock settings. Your baby isn't waking because she's learnt to expect the bottle, though you might hear that said. (If your baby is a newborn or very young, make sure she is gaining weight adequately and not waking excessively due to hunger.)

• Working through The Possums Sleep Program mostly helps excessive night waking return to normal night waking within a week or two.

If you are the primary carer of a bottle-feeding baby, and you find yourself in a sleep emergency, ask another loving adult to take over in the nights, if you possibly can. Then you – as the primary carer – would need to sleep in a quiet place, perhaps with earplugs in so that you cannot hear your baby if he starts to dial up.

You can find out about paced bottle-feeding here.

If you are using expressed breast milk, you might consider waking your baby up and offering your breast when you wake up, rather than getting up in the night to pump if your breasts are full. It's easier to offer the breast than to pump in the night - unless you have underlying breastfeeding problems which have not yet been resolved.

Regardless of who does the bottle-feeds going forward at night, it’s still vitally important important to deal with the underlying problems which resulted in your baby waking excessively at night in the first place. This means working through the steps of The Possums Sleep Program.

If you have an older baby who has been taking the bottle in the night, this may not be the time to wean from the bottle. (Certainly that's true for younger babies.) Teaching your baby something new in the night (e.g. there's no milk when he wakes) can take a few nights at least, depending on baby's age, often with lots of crying. We don’t want to add to your family’s challenges right now.

But when you're in a sleep emergency it might be time, if you possibly can, to ask another loving adult take over for at least a few nights and hopefully more, while you experiment with the changes suggested in this program.