Hi - looking for some Mumsnet wisdom!
So my littles boy's sleep has been really disrupted since the 4 month regression, he's now 6 months. We started bedsharing after the first wake up as this was the only way to get some rest, but it's not a setup I want long term. I miss my husband, selfishly I miss having a glass of wine and when things return to some semblance of normal we love camping and I can't imagine a camping mattress is safe for co sleeping so I really want to get him comfortable in his cot/travel cot.
He was in a Chicco next to our bed (with the side up) and we would occasionally get a decent first stretch but he grew out of it and started sitting so we've moved him to his big cot, still in our room, and since then as soon as he stirs slightly he awake and crying and can't be resettled in there. Some nights even in bed he is waking every hour but the last few nights has done longer stretches next to me. I want to try and get him to settle to sleep in his cot in the hope that will make him more comfortable sleeping in there.
I had a consultation with a sleep consultant who talked about gentle methods and I thought she would help me make a plan for a personalised kind of gradual retreat, but actually she was only advocating controlled crying in various forms and told me I need to night wean. I've not ruled out cc and don't judge anyone who does it, but I feel like I need to try and help my DS settle more gently first and it's just not right for our family right now.
So I'm trying to come up with my own plan for a gradual retreat and looking for opinions, here's my thoughts:
- Move from feeding to sleep to rocking and patting (tried this last night and worked fine, was asleep really quickly)
- Then stop rocking and move to just patting
Here's where I'm not sure what to do next, should I then lie him in bed with me and pat him to sleep in bed so he gets used to falling asleep not in arms?
Then pat to sleep in cot?
I'm not too worried about the disappearing chair bit yet, if I could pat him to sleep and he would settle that's fine.
Considering turning the cot into a sidecar so he can get used to being in his own space but still can have a cuddle if he gets unsettled.
He doesn't have a dummy but I'm starting to use a comforter. He also only contact naps which I'd like to tackle but that's a problem for another thread!
Any thoughts? Anyone else who has successfully moved their koala baby into a cot?? Thanks so much for reading if you've got this far!