Need sleep :(

[Fishsmagic]

Hi all my 17 month old son has not slept through the night yet - not even once!! And lately his sleeping is becoming unbearable (I'm pregnant again and need some sleep so badly) he will insist on getting in our bed around 1am and still doesn't sleep for the rest of the night anyway, I'm not against trying the whole controlled crying business but he has figured out how to climb out of his cot so if I don't lift him out he chucks himself over the top - a problem I never had with my other children and am not too sure how to work around. He is obviously missing sleep he needs as he now spends all day whining and being miserable - he used to be such a happy baby and he will even only nap for an hour during the day which doesn't cheer him up at all :( any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated at this point

The problem I find with sleep problems is having enough energy to deal with them. I would say keep putting him back to bed but I would struggle to have the energy for that. How about putting him back to bed and sitting next to the cot until he is asleep. The book 'teach your child to sleep ' was my saviour when ds1 was a terrible sleeper. Instead of controlled crying I did the gradual retreat. Method. Much longer but gentler and easier on everyone.

Thanks for your reply, however I'm already in the same room and bed is right next to the cot - until I move to a bigger house this is my only option, will certainly continue trying putting him back in the cot but as you said energy levels are flailing at best and sitting up half the night repeatedly putting him in his cot for him to launch himself straight back out is becoming extremely hard :( as I said thank you though and may well invest in the book you mentioned :)

That is a difficult one.

Have you thought of something more radical - him on a mattress on the floor or settling him straight into your bed. Might be a very bad idea but who knows. My cousin's DD would never sleep in a cot so they put her on a futon and she was much better (also easier to put straight back to bed instead of lifting them back into the cot which is never fun when you are pregnant)

Sorry to have no solution for you - it must be exhausting