My dd has always been a higher needs baby since birth, we were never able from day one to put her down either when awake to settle to sleep herself nor asleep as she would startle awake immediately.
We have tried so many tricks- the swing, using a hot water bottle to warm her Moses basket a bit, putting one of my shirts down so it will smell of me, a white noise teddy bear etc. the best we can get is sometimes 10 minutes of fitful sleep if not being held.
I'm all for cuddling her as she's still little but at night I sleep upright in bed with a neck pillow with her on my chest and it is so uncomfortable and lately it seems like dd is sleeping worse than even usual. She tosses her head and kicks her legs, fidgeting constantly so I don't sleep but instead have to jiggle and shush her to keep her asleep. I wouldn't even mind basic cosleeping but she won't even go on the bed next to me unless she is feeding/sucking at the breast and doesn't release and roll over like most babies would.
Any suggestions of how I can encourage her to sleep next to me on the bed without my nipple having to be in her mouth the entire time or even in her Moses basket? I'm not willing to let her cry to sleep buy really struggling for ideas and 2 months of 2 hours of broken awful sleep is starting to really drag me down!