baby wont sleep alone at night

[golemmings]

He's 6 weeks. He has mild reflux. He's unsettled following the death of my mum last week. He will sleep happily in a sling for 6 hours +. He will co-sleep at night for extended periods. He is currently asleep in my lap. All of these positions involve sleeping upright or on his side.

However during the day he will sleep on his back in his pram. Today he has spent 3 1/2 hours and 1 1/2 hours asleep in his pram when we've been out

SO WHY WON'T HE SLEEP IN HIS BED AT NIGHT?

DD IS 2 and we can count on one hand the evenings she has not gone to bed at 7ish. We've followed the same routine with DS and can count on one hand the number of times he has gone down in the evening.

Tonight he wad put to he's at 7.30vseconds butwas so distressed that he spent the evening down stairs and u put him back down at 1 because I actually fancied a.bit of sleep and he lasted 17 minutes.

So here we are; he is happily fast asleep in my arms, I am sitting here with numb bum wondering whether I'm going to get to lie down and.counting down the hours until 5 when I can wake DH and send the pair of them downstairs and grab 3 hours horizontal sleep.

Any advicei? Is it worth doing anything until after he funeral and things are a little less emotional?

So sorry to hear about your mum
You say that co-sleeping works - just go with that for the moment.
Your DS is still so tiny- of course he wants to be close to you.
And maybe he is feeling your distress because of your mum and so being held close will make him feel secure.

Also you shouldn't compare your second baby to your first - they are different people with different needs. Mine were the other way round (DD being the Great Non Sleeping Baby) and DS sleepIng anywhere and anytime

Again, go with what works for the moment and in a few weeks try the cot again - he may surprise you by being fine with it ina couple of months

Hope you are OK (hugs)

Really sorry about the loss of your mum OP, it must be an incredibly difficult time for you. I would say having had 2 very average sleepers, that not sleeping in bed at night at 6 weeks is really normal. We co-slept off and on with number 1 and every night with number 2 so that I could sleep lying down which really helped and it wasn't until they were about 5 months or so that they regularly slept in their cribs.

Can you not take him to bed and sleep with him so that you can have some rest?

7 ish is also quite an early bed time at this age for lots of babies and many don't get into this habit until much older. We used to have both of ours downstairs until we went to bed even if they were asleep so that I could feed them again at 10ish and then get some sleep. Have you tried having him in his buggy with you downstairs so that you can at least have some freedom from sitting with a numb bum?

I would try your hardest to go with the flow until things settle down and you will find that he does start going to bed earlier and sleeping more as he gets a bit older and is able to eat a bit more.

It's tough so sending you ((hugs))