SOS self-soothing for 17mo?

[cantreachmytoes]

My DS slept really, really well, until he was about 10 months old. Then he started waking up more frequently. It's got worse. For the past few months, he's been waking every hour to two hours. If there's a 3 hr stretch of sleep, we're celebrating in the morning!

He wakes for:

1. Dummy
2. Bottle
3. To have physical contact with his dad or I.

He's teething - 4 molars simultaneously last month, two pre-molars simultaneously now.

Daytimes are now horrific too and I'm 5 months pregnant and beyond exhausted (kept waiting for the 'energetic' 2nd trimester to start and just realised I'm half way through it). He naps one hour exactly during the day, but not more.

Any tips? We're really not going to be able to CIO or versions of, but if there are any other solutions/tips out there, please, please help! Do we just need to go cold turkey on the bottle and dummy??

Not tried this myself, but a friend puts about 10 dummies in the cot with her 8 month old DD so she can find one herself in the night. seems to have worked...

Thanks. Seems counterintuitive in the long run, but def could be useful now!

yes at some point I guess they will have to wean off the dummy, but maybe useful to use this tactic to catch up on some sleep first to gather strength for that trial!

honestly in your position I probably would use some form of controlled crying (starting with daytime nap so you don't have to do it at night first of all) but appreciate that is a very personal decision.

Why are you giving milk in the night to a 1.5 year old child?

We also sprinkled about 10 dummies in DD's bed, tying a few to her plush toys so she could find them easily. It stopped her calling us because she couldn't find a dummy.

Also, dose him up with paracetamol before bedtime if he is teething.