Hi
I'm a ftm and I'm struggling with my 4 month old daughter's sleeping habits.
She's never liked being put down to sleep, I think at first because she had bad reflux. She is now being medicated for this and it has improved a lot, and as she's got older she's OK with being put down while she's awake and happy to play.
However she still won't sleep without me and its getting more and more difficult to deal with.
For a while I could put her in her cot around 10 and she'd sleep well for the first half of the night in it, as long as I was close by. I'd usually bring her into bed with me around 5am as she got restless. Now she is restless and difficult to settle earlier in the evening so I bath her and put her down between 8 and 9pm, but I still can't leave her and even if I don't leave the room I have to bring her into bed after about an hour or she cries.
She still sleeps on me during the day, but she's also harder and harder to settle anywhere else but at home. She gets too distracted and wakes easily.
She won't settle in the car or the pram, or anything except in my arms or on the bed next to me. She's currently feeding a lot in the night.
I'm starting to feel a bit shackled. I'd really like her to sleep on her own for a couple of hours in the evening so I can go downstairs and then stay in her co sleeping cot all night. I don't mind her sleeping a little bit in our bed but I like to have a bit of space.
I'm not sure how to deal with this. All anyone seems to suggest is cry it out, but I don't think it's a good idea. I'm considering talking to a sleep consultant to see if that might help, but could use some advice.