I am at the end of my tether

[sleepdodger]

7mo is a bad sleeper, always has been, we only got 'evenings' from 5mo and had seemed to be making progress however 3 weeks ago he seemed to be teething again and things were baaaad, waking hourly etc however now he wont even do that and will wake after a couple of hours. And that is edging it
Last night he slept 730-1030 bottle 1139-1230 settled 1-3 I rocked hushed ssssshhhhed till 5 at which point dh took him downstairs and sent me for sleep- but this keeps happening, dh has work in week and can't help me then
The only way I cab settle him is boob yet I stopped night feeding weeks ago successfully as I need him to be fully on bottle shortly before I go back to work in 5 lousy weeks
I'm so fed up of bring this shattered
I'm past crying though typing this makes me realize how ridiculous it is
I don't expect him to sleep through, but I was actually better when he was a newborn and waking two hourly for feeds
What can I do?
I tried to get advice from hv but she wasn't v helpful
I know some babies don't sleep well but honestly out of a large group of various groups friends etc I don't know of any this bad. It's almost become a standing joke & I'm sick of it. Ive mentioned it to dr who was sweet but gave me a kind of knowing look, of first time mum iyswim?
I know I'm ranting but I'm at the end of my tether and don't know where the light at end of tunnel is :-(

Didn't want to read and run, all I can say is that you're not alone. My 7mo is the same, except that she doesn't wake to feed, she just stirs and can't seem to settle herself back to sleep. So I have to shh/pat her or put on her side (even though she can roll and crawl independently) and she usually goes back to sleep.

She's had a cough/cold on and off since the beginning of October when I went back to work part-time, and she started nursery two mornings a week, so I thought her sleep was disrupted because of illness. [Although she was up many many times from 3-4 months when I was still breastfeeding.]

I keep thinking things will settle down (ie when she's feeling better, when she's not teething, when it gets warmer) etc, but I think I'm kidding myself. On a good night she's up only once or twice, and goes straight back to sleep with a little intervention from me. On a bad night, she's 'up' properly for over an hour or up 4-5 times. Makes me cry on those nights. She almost self-settles at the start of the night pretty well; just don't know why she can't self-settle in the middle of the night.

Probably not that helpful, but you somehow manage to cope with work and lack of sleep ... it becomes the new norm for you.

Sorry you are having such a difficult time. Have you thought about just bringing him into bed with you? We did this with DD from 7 months - she started the night in the cot then transferred in at about 11pm. Over the last 6-7 weeks she has started sleeping longer and longer in the cot and now she wakes usually about 5am (last few nights have been different but that's another thread!) and I put her into into bed with me and she nods off again until about 6.30am. I had always said I wouldn't co-sleep but if it gets everyone a nights sleep its worth a try. I cannot cope at work if I haven't slept!!!

Thank you fir your replies
I'm sat in the spare bed with DS trying to persuade him to sleep but nothing!!
Randomly had amazi g night last night so whilst tired can cope so far lol
He's been awake since 2& it's now nearly 5 surely he'll drop off soon....
I'm getting to the stage whereby I might pay for a night nanny at 140 a night for a few nights to see if a professional can do something to break the cycle