Until he was about 8 months old, I co-slept with DS. DH slept in another room because he was worried about squishing him. For various reasons, I do 100% of the night care. This is not a problem for me.
I used the baby whisperer technique to help DS sleep in his cot, which he already used for naps, and it went relatively smoothly, taking about a week or so. He did however always wake at least once or twice in the night, and just needed my presence to help him back to sleep (usually all I'd need to say was "ssh, sleepy time").
At 13 months, he got a nasty virus that landed him in hospital for a week.
The week prior to being in hospital, he was in bed with me because he was so clingy, ill and unhappy (DH again vacated the bed). During the hospital stay, DS wanted to be in my arms almost constantly.
Since coming back from hospital, he won't even consider sleeping away from me. He's reverted - one of the things he did as a young baby was stroke my face, using it like a comfort blanket. He now does this again to get himself off to sleep. He often snuggles closer to me if he decides he's not being cuddled enough. Last night he actually rolled on top of me and fell asleep there. He wants his face millimetres from mine if possible.
Now, I've been lazy - the hospital trip was exhausting, emotionally and physically, and DS has otherwise slept better than ever before. He is now going between 8pm and 6am with no fuss at all, although he will sometimes reach for me once or twice in the night. So I've been putting off getting him back in his cot, because, frankly, I've really enjoyed the sleep. It's not great long-term though, because we're going on holiday at the end of the month and I like staying over with people, so I really would like him happy in his cot again.
He will nap in his buggy, which is the only time he will sleep if not being cuddled. Is that a positive?
I want to do the baby whisperer technique again, but I know it's going to be a lot harder this time around.
Any tips/advice? He used to happily play in his cot in the day. Now he can barely manage a minute in there (even with plenty of toys) without wanting to come out.
I keep putting this off but I need to start the process now! Help massively appreciated :)