first time poster to these forums, go easy on me.
im a dad of 2, first child is 3 (girl) second is 9 months nearly (boy). daughter was an absolute dream, slept through at 6 weeks, never really had issues, except the dummy love went on until she was 2.5 years. anyhow, our little lad is the complete opposite.
born 2 weeks over due just before xmas, was rushed to intensive care, mum was hospitalised for 5 days meaning we had a rubbish start to life especially when we missed christmas day.
we got on with life, as you do, struggling through the first few weeks, heavily sleep deprived, regrets about the second child, baby blues, you name it. little lad had reflux so we tried all different products under the sun and is generally much harder work than our first.
hes now 9 months old and is perfect during the day, sleeps 2 times daily for average 1-2 hours and goes to sleep about 7pm. over the last 2-3 months though, hes constantly waking up during the night, anything from 1-10 times a night. he wakes and sits up or stands and then cries for the dummy. if you get in quick enough you can put the dummy in he remains asleep. if hes bolt upright he needs comforting to fall back asleep. if you put him down half awake he realises then bursts in to that painful screeching cry. by time you know it youve had 5-6 hours sleep and its morning again. He will then wake fully around anything from 4-6 am and he needs feeding and sometimes will go back to sleep, but in our bed.
Its really taking its toll on me and my wife, and we are both knackered. little one is at preschool so the wife can catch up on a bit of sleep if she sleeps with him during the day for an hour. i cannot as i work. we argue during the night, often heated, and its taking its toll on our relationship. I slept on the sofa last night as a result.
We take each night in turns, 1 puts our little girl to sleep, the other puts the lad down and then at night we switch roles. we try this so each other gets a bit of rest bite every other day, but its not working.
really need some advice or bit of reassurance that we are going through could be completely natural or not.
thanks all :)