9 mo v unsettled from 3am onwards, help!

[watermint]

Does anyone have any ideas how I can help my 9 month ds's sleep please?!

The problem is this-he wakes around 3.30 am and dp has been Going in to offer water & resettle. He picks him up so he falls asleep over his shoulder and then lays him down asleep. Dp gets back into bed and then 10 mins later he cries again.. This pattern continues usually til 5ish when I go to give him a bf. He is not really that hungry and comfort sucks for a couple of mins before lightly dozing on me, if I try and put him in his cot he screans and wakes up. If I bring him into our bed so we can feed/doze lying down he also wakes up properly wanting to play.

He self settles amazingly for naps and bedtime, why not at 4am?! Im shattered as have not slept beyond 3.30 for last few days.

I think maybe we just need to not pick him up at 3.30 but try and comfort in his cot, but this will involve screaming, just dont know what else to do! Any advice?

What happens if you feed him then? Would he go til morning? If he takes a 5 min feed and sleeps til morning I know what id chose! Being up for hours in the night is exhausting. You could always try and push this a bit later as he gets older.

Or if you lay him next to you or DP? Maybe he just misses you at that time as he isn't so tired to just pass out into a deep sleep but is tired so needs the extra cuddles and security. Again you could push this later if you don't want to co sleep long term.

9mo is a bad age for teething, separation anxiety and developmental leaps. Hope you get more sleep soon x

Got to go and get dd from school but have a 9mo ds. Google the 9 month sleep regression/developmental leap. Chuck in teething and separation anxiety and it can be a humdinger. My honest advice is to do what you need to do. It will pass. DS is awful from 3am onwards. He's often up and on his feet before he's even awake and crying before his eyes open. His body is trying to make connections about how to get up and walk and when asleep is the perfect time for his little brain to practise strengthening those connections.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I think I had vaguely heard of 9 month sleep regression but was in denial. Show of hands-the sitting up before even awake is v familiar. If he wakes early evening he will uaually have pulled himaelf up and be crying, but basically still asleep!

Part of the problem is me though, Im often unable to fall back asleep after 3am even though im exhausted. Think I need some sleep training!

Halo, am happy to feed him then but he just doesnt settle, he dozes on me and even if I wait half hour he still wakes when I put him in his cot. If I bring him into bed with us, again he is hard to settle. I think he just sleeps v lightly at this time.

Thanks for your reply, you have helped me realise we just need to do what gets us through this time and try not to worry about bad habits!