7 mo cries whenever he is put down in own cot - HELP!

[catgirl1976]

DS is 7mo. We have some how ended up co-sleeping but it's not what I want

He has no routine really which I am going to start today (bath, wind down, story eyc all at same time each night) but the real problem is that he will fall aslepp on me or DH but the moment his head touches the mattress in his own bed he screams

If we pick him up he stops instantly and falls straight back asleep. Then screams the minute he touches his own bed - this goes on ad infinitum. We have tried putting hm down as soon as he drops off and waiting till he is dead to the world - doesn't make a difference. He won't self soothe

HIs own cot is in our room next to our bed.

How do we break this cycle? I am loathe to do CIO and tbh don't think I could

Try getting him to play in his cot during the day? It might make it a happier place for him?

How his he lying flat on mats, prams etc- might ge be uncomfortable?

He's fine lying in his travel cots, pram or mats

I think he just knows he is going to be left on his own in bed and panics.

He does play happily in there in the day if I am doing something in the bedroom - I think he just knows what it means at night IYSWIM. If we pick him up - straight back to sleep. Put him down - screaming blue murder

We've been through the exact same thing with ours. I was (am a bit) co-sleeping and DS was screaming as soon as lowered into cot. Fine in pushchair etc. He wasn't unhappy in it during the day. Followed all the advice. Then suddenly at around 10 months or so, the cot-hatred stopped.

Don't get me wrong, he is still a poor sleeper but it is MUCH better than it was. He will go to sleep for a few hours now and has actually slept through (11pm-5am) once or twice.

I honestly think it is a developmental thing. By all means try the suggestions of daytime play in cot etc which may all play a part but one night DS just started to roll over and sleep in cot when I put him down. No more screaming.

He is late at crawling but is progressing towards it and I'm sure a lot is to do with this. It's like he 'got it' one night about how to roll over properly and push himself up and once he was happy with that, he settled better in the cot.

I don't know if this helps or not as it might just mean riding it out for a bit but actually the last couple of monts have gone really fast so fingers crossed things will get better soon.

Sorry for long post, I'm rubbish at not rambling!

Thanks Root

Fingers crossed he will just get there like your DS

I feel your pain....my 7 month dd was exactly the same until this week! She has always been either feed or rocked to sleep and then we ended up co-sleeping as it's the only way to get her to settle!
She would also scream the moment her head hit the cot...actually it was usually on the way down to the mattress she would start!

After swearing I would never let her cry i started sleep training her this week to teach her to self settle. I never left her longer than 4 mins without going in to comfort her and yes the first night was hideous and i shed a good few tears but tonight (night 4) she went into her cot awake and after a few minutes with no crying she fell asleep! For her this is nothing short of a miracle! Since night 1 she has slept from about 7:30 to 6 waking once for a quick feed. This is also a massive improvement!

Anyway I know it's not for everyone and only do it if you can stick with it. I know how exhausting it is so I hope you find a solution whatever you decide to do. Good luck.