CO-SLEEPING TO COT & OTHER SLEEP ISSUES WITH BREASTFED BABY BOY (8 MONTHS) - HELP!!!

[MamaTama]

I'm a single 1st-time mum, am currently co-sleeping with my 8 month-old DS (& have been ever since he was born) but am now faced with a predicament which relates in a lot of ways although not exactly to phlossie's previous post (15th May). Please respond if you have any constructive comments...
A bit of background:
we recently moved from a bedsit to a 1 bed flat & he's still in my double bed but I'm totally exhausted due to being woken up anything from 5-10 times a night after being with him all day long. Sometimes I know he's hungry & he's also teething (he mekes a specific noise when he has that kind of pain & I give him homoeopathic Chamomilla immediately) but other times it's like he just wants me cause I'm there!
So here I am at 1am in the living room instead of in bed where I should/need to be (again) & he hasn't woken up since I put him down (breastmilked out!) at 9.30 when I really want to go & lie down. This has happened several times so I'm assuming he must be able to smell me when I'm in the room & this is unsettling him from his sleep.
In desperation I got a cot to place at the foot of my bed & am in the process of painting it but am apprehensive about what will happen when I try to move him out of our cosy nest & into an unfamiliar space - should I take him straight out if he doesn't react well (my heart says 'yes!') or leave him to cry for a while in the hope he gets over the initial shock of this new enclosed, seperate sleep environment (my sleep-deprived head says 'please, do whatever it takes to get me some rest!")?
I've procrastinated a bit over getting it all ready to use if truth be told, but he's just begun to crawl & I'm feeling like it's unsafe to have him napping or sleeping in my bed without a rail/guard now. TBH part of me would like to continue to co-sleep with him but I also feel a strong need for a little space. It's really intense being his sole carer & day & night closeness in reality is becoming a bit claustrophobic for me, much as I love him & have been applying many principles of AP in my interactions with him, including carrying him in a sling for the 1st 6 months almost exclusively (although I now alternate with buggy), breastfeeding on demand etc.
Living in the bedsit for a few (6) months after his birth & then gearing up for/actually doing the move has meant we don't have a solid set routine for bedtime in place, save an orange glowing salt lamp in the bedroom after dinner & breastfeeding to sleep, the other things we do are variable from day to day, which I'm aware is probably not helping. He can sometimes just drift off to sleep by himself if he's really tired or resettle without some form of attention/comforting from me if he awakens briefly, but not often.
Any suggestions on easing the transition from bed to cot & encouraging him to sleep on his own for longer periods would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your contributions!

Hi MummyQuin.
Nice to hear from you.
It's almost a month since I 1st put Jahleel into the cot & for the most part it's been very positive for both of us. I won't pretend he's miraculously started sleeping through the night or anything, but I'm finding I feel better rested, even with night BF wakings for having my own space in the bed to stretch out & sleep 'properly' (it's all relative!).
A couple of times he's wailed the house down to be taken out of the cot no matter how many times I've tried to re-settle him & put him back to sleep in there, but I couldn't say for sure what it was all about (he's going through a bit of a clingy period lately though so maybe just that).
Co-sleeping IS lovely in a lot of ways but for me, being with DS 24/7 365/365 was getting claustrophobic. I now allow us both the luxury of snuggling up in my bed together in the early morning time (if he wakes between 5 & 6am I just bring him in with me for another hour or 2).
No great advice to offer you though I'm afraid, I understand about the 'don't feed to sleep' principle, but I still do it the majority of the time & he doesn't seem too distressed when he wakes up in the cot, here & there he cries a bit yes but generally it's fine.
Have you read the whole thread?
Someone (in fact a couple of people) suggested placing something which has picked up your distinctive scent over a few days (e.g. a sheet, item of your clothing or some other soft object) into the cot where your DD can smell it to reassure her & make it a more welcoming environment, offering a sense of familiarity & security even if you aren't in there with her (you don't mention whether the cot is in your bedroom or another room, or may be you do & I've missed it). If it is in another room, maybe bring the cot into yours & place alongside the bed in co-sleeper position so your spaces are connected but still essentially seperate & see how she reacts to that (easier to get her out for feeds as & when necessary that way too) & take it at her pace. Just an idea...
Good luck with it anyway, I'd be interested to hear how you get on!

MAMJ: hi again! Glad you got the article & that it proved useful to you & your family - I told you it was scary, I can't believe that the information isn't common knowledge!
How are you & DS doing?