Sleep advice please! Waking baby ruining all of our sleep!

[CottonMummy86]

Hi all.
Im new to this but I am reaching out for some advice. I have a 8 month old who is awful at sleeping now!
We have a solid bedtime routine in place now where he has his dinner at 5-5.30pm and is in the bath by 6.15pm. We then have quiet time with a book and a lullaby.

In the past week, he has now decided he won't self settle to sleep at night - which he had been doing beautifully.

His day naps are ruled by him. I aim for a nap approx after 2hrs of awake time but he often doesn't go off then and has stretched to 5hrs of awake time. His naps range from 30mins to 2.5hrs. I am unsure wether to wake him from his naps to regulate them as he can be a nightmare to get off for a nap. I forgot to mention - if he doesnt have me laying next to him for his day nap, he often wont go off. Ive tried putting him in his cot for a nap.....that has been a no go as he has screamed the house down and gets so worked up.

Once he is asleep at night, he will often wake at 11pm or 1.30pm give or take half hour.
At these times we have tried everything! Nappy change, cuddles, feeding, temperature check, teething powder, calpol.....the only thing that settles him is co sleeping.
This part of his sleep has been happening for approx 2 months.
He has only slept through once in this time!

We need help as we have to send my husband downstairs to the sofa as there isnt the room for all of us to sleep safely especially as LO likes to roll around...alot!

He is on 3 x 6oz formula a day with 3 meals and snacks.

Please help! Advice needed!

It sounds like maybe separation anxiety is creeping in to affect his sleep.

When he wakes in the night, try not to engage with him unless he's really upset. I'm not telling you to leave him to cry but just try and resettle him without speaking and leave quietly. For us that means popping dummy in, tucking back in and giving the comforter, those sorts of things :) if you pick him up or change his nappy etc you'll just be waking him more. Also, he won't need to be fed through the night, from 6 months they're able to biologically go the night :)

With regards to naps, I'd just let him nap when he wants to. I've always done that with my DS and thought he'd never get into a routine but he did, of his own accord when it suited him! He was a catnapper until I put him in his cot for daytime naps and now he has 2 one and a half hour naps. As a guide they say an 8 month old should have abut 3/3.5 hours of nap time a day, however that is split. Saying that my DS coped on 2 hours and still slept through the night so it really varies baby to baby! I wouldn't wake him for the sake of a routine though. I really wanted DAS in a routine but we left him to get into his own rather than trying to implement one and it seems to have worked thus far!

Good luck x