My son is just over 14 months old and we’ve been co-sleeping since he was around five months. It worked really well for us at first and we were both getting long stretches of sleep.
Around six months he started holding and gently pulling my hair when settling to sleep. As he’s got older, this has become something he relies on to fall asleep and resettle during the night. He now wakes 4–5 times and immediately reaches for my hair. He’s much stronger and his grip is better, so he’s pulling out chunks of hair and it’s becoming painful.
If I move or redirect his hands, he wakes fully straight away. I’ve tried covering my hair or his hands, but then he gets frustrated, he’ll hit my face/head or wake upset because he can’t grab anything or put his dummy back in himself.
I’m feeling a bit stuck and exhausted, and I’m worried the behaviour is becoming a strong sleep association. I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences on how to gently stop this altogether.