Sleep training - when can you start?

[cherrybug]

Hi - hoping for some help as i'm starting to really struggle with co sleeping.
DS is 4 months old - has never slept for more than 3 hours at a time at night. I feed him, he falls asleep and if I put him in his cot he's awake again soon after and so the cycle continues. He is EBF.

If i instead feed him and bring him in bed with me he sleeps a lot better but it's really killing my back lying on my side feeding him through the night and I wake up in the morning with my whole body aching.

I really thought by 5 months he'd be sleeping longer than 2-3 hours at a time (DD was through the night by this stage). I dont think its always hunger thats waking him up - he often only feeds for a few mins then drops back off.

Should I be starting some kind of sleep training? I dont want to use controlled crying and think he's far too young for that anyway but should I be doing something? I have always fed on demand, never timed feeds or timed naps but I'm wondering if I should set up more of a schedule.

Any advice?

IME, I've only ever bottle fed so I knew to expect when it was hunger and when it was waking from something else. Does he self settle at all i.e. during the day for naps or is it always as a result of you feeding him? I would say it's either genuine hunger because he's started feeding more at night and this is subtracting from the amount he's taking during the day OR it's a sleep association i.e. he needs you go back to sleep every time he stirs in the night.

Controlled crying is not recommended for babies under 6months and I feel its very unfair on the baby when the exact reason for the poor sleeping has not been established. IIWY, I would set up a schedule but you have to be the sort of person to want to do this.

6 months will come around soon and you can think about putting your LO in their cot in their own room - do you have a DP to enlist? Me and DH took a week to focus on transitioning our DS to his own room when he was six months, sharing the nights in shifts. We still have sleep problems but aren't cosleeping anymore, which I also found very uncomfortable.

Will your LO take a bottle? Until six months is up (and it really will come round quickly) can your partner do one night a week? He could take the midnight - 7am slot and bottle feed, expressed milk or formula. He probably won't get much sleep but one night a week is more than fair

I found even one night a week where I could sleep for 7 hours in whatever position I liked (on sofa cushions on the living room floor) made a difference and when I was feeling particularly exhausted I could look forward to it.

We have different issues now - well a continuation of the same theme really!

I recommend checking out "The no-cry sleep solution", lots of tips for babies under 6 months old.