Rocking HEAVY baby to sleep-help!

[crystallilac]

Really need some advice on what to do!

My ds is 10mo, he has had a consistent bedtime routine since 3 months, goes to bed at 6.30-7 after bath and bottle.

Up until recently, he would fall asleep with his bottle and I would put him in his cot, same for morning nap and usually naps in car for 20 mins or so in afternoon.

Every bedtime and naptime now, he falls asleep with the bottle then suddenly pushes it away and sits up laughing! I try putting him in his cot awake but he jumps up and down, laughs, throws his comforter on the floor etc etc.

I try laying on the bed with my eyes shut next to him, but he gets very upset (as he is really tired!). If I try to leave the room he cries hysterically, which I can't stand.

The only thing that works is rocking him to sleep. I'm finding it really hard as he is and always has been a heavy baby, my arms and back hurt pretty constantly and the fingers on left hand have started to feel numb most of the time. I wake up in the morning and hurt all over.

This seems to have coincided with separation anxiety for him, he used to be totally unfazed but it now very clingy with me, which I don't mind at all generally but finding the sheer physical labour involved in getting him to sleep very draining.

I'm finding it very hard, I'm in the process of a very acrimonious split with ds dad and he doesnt and never has put him to bed or really took practical any care of him (another story!).
Maybe I am being self-indulgent but I'd just like a break from feeling physically crap and really tired all the time.

Thanks for any advice xx

Can you buy/borrow a rocking chair and sit in that with him?

Try sitting on the edge of a seat with nous ds sitting on one knee but laid back into your arm as if you were carrying him, then rock sitting down so the weight is off your arms.

Thanks, these are good ideas, I will have a go with the sitting down and if that works maybe get a rocking chair-I wonder if he will be fooled by this though as he seems to like a walking around the room vigorous rock to sleep.

How long are his naps?

Does he need to have his sleep in the cot? A bouncy chair is great for getting them to sleep, or can he have his sleep in the pram? Ie put him in pram/buggy and go for short walk to get him asleep then leave him in it when you get home. Or just walk up and down in house with him in it.

Hi I haven't had the same problem as you but my DD needed a lot of rocking until 5.5months when we did a bit of sleep training which worked for us and I was gallon apart so I can't imagine how much your shoulders arms wrists back etc must feel.

However, we did gradually cut down on the rocking before the sleep training. We have a poang chair from ikea which has a fair bit of spring in it and is cheap thank heavens because now it's b*ered. Sat in chair holding DD and to begin with we still had to rock, then gradually reduced the vigour, and then let the chair do the rocking, and finally reduced the bouncing too until she was just lying on a cushion in our laps (I appreciate DS won't fit horizontal on a cushion but I presume he's kinda over your shoulder). It took about 45 mins of vigorous jiggling to get her to sleep at the start, but after about six weeks we were just holding her quietly for 10mins and then decided the time had come to put her in her cot awake.

Best of luck!

Falling apart not gallon!