Please take pity on me and help if you can!

[MogwaiTheGremlin]

Ds is 18 weeks and for the last month has been waking every 2-3 hours at night and waking early most mornings.
He has two teeth but I don't think they are causing pain because I feed him back to sleep every time he wakes and he settles easily (never cries).
He is ebf and doesn't really take a bottle so no one else can help feed him and I've gone back to co-sleeping which means dh is bunking down in the spare room anyway.
I know this is normal behaviour and have read about the 4 month sleep regression but I do worry that something I am doing/not doing is contributing/causing this to last so long?
I feed on demand (and as much as possible) during the day and he usually has 3 x 30min naps. We spend an hour before bed having a bath, massage etc which he loves.
Friends/family are suggesting early weaning but I'm pretty adamant I don't want to do this before 6 months as per the guidelines?
Ds is happy and alert but the broken nights are really taking their toll on me so any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated to help me get through this.

It all sounds perfectly normal, I'm afraid. Mine's four month sleep regression has lasted about three months now and his wakings are generally every 40-60 mins after midnight. He might (might) generously give me a couple of solid hours before midnight. It's lovely isn't it?

Definitely a big no to early weaning. At this age, all you can give him are very low-calorie things like fruit and veg which will fill him up, meaning he can't take in as much milk as he needs for this very energy consuming phase. What it may well lead to is MORE night wakings as that is the only time he will have to make up for the loss in calories.

Thanks Elphaba, I have no idea how you're coping after 3 months of this?! I don't have any other children to look after and I don't have to go to work but am still barely coping. At least when ds was a newborn he slept for decent chunks during the day so I could put my feet up. Now, no such luck!

I was a chronic insomniac pre-baby which gave me some stellar coping strategies. I am definitely starting to run out of steam, though. You just have to keep smiling, keep going and save your complaining for Mumsnet!

Will do, thank god for mumsnet!

Sleep as much as you can! Seriously. DS2 has just come out of the 4 month sleep regression (at 9months) and its a flipping killer. I can't really offer any more advice as I'm still a zombie (another sodding illness after one night of a single wake up).

Make sure you're eating a balanced diet too

Mogwai I my DS is 19 weeks abs exactly the same. I have found that getting gin to sleep for longer stretches in the day helped. Ob Saturday I took him in the pushchair for a two hour walk. He didn't awakes much that night. But u can't do that every day as I have a 3 year old DD at home with me and a 5 year old DS at school. My other two DC weren't like this so I have no idea what I'm doing and feel likeable complete amateur again!

I am only coping by thinking that it will get better at some point. Sooner rather than later hope! Try to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the time will pass so quickly, he'll be one before you know it. And sleeping through!

Thanks Badger I don't have any other dc so could take him out for a big walk most days if that helps. He loves his buggy so its worth a try!