Hi
Vincie has sleep through the night for most of his 7 months, apart from a month or so at 4 months.
I have been away to see my parents and my partner has been away on a residential course and now a residential work contract. During this time our routine has been all over the place and so has his. I am finding single parenting very hard and am also finding it very hard to establish any sleep routine for him.
He does sleep well through the night and during the day he generally naps well. My problem is that he will only sleep when b/f and next to us in bed. He isn't at all impressed with the cot and seems unable to go to sleep in there, self soothe or even have downtime and play with toys. If I give him a dummy he either starts chewing it or spits it out.
We are very lucky as he is active happy baby but the hours when he naps I could really use to get things done rather than lying with him, making sure he's still sleeping. He also now lies on his side and rolls onto his front and wakes himself up. If he's lying with me I can hold him and soothe him back into sleep but if it's a time when I've managed to get him in the cot he just wakes up and either cries or starts crawling around.
I really don't know how to go about this or get any routine started. There is so much to read online. I did try the crying method today and he was so worked up, being sick etc that I gave in and cuddled him close. I also think I genuinely don't have any faith in the crying method so am not sure it's right for us. I think maybe the mistake I am making is actually snoozing with him instead of consistently trying to move him to his own sleep space.
If anyone has any pointers I'd really appreciate it. I know this may be a slow process but I just don't know where to start. Do I slowly introduce bath, story, bed, sleep, transfer to cot etc or do I go in for the harsh crying himself to sleep?