Cot or co sleep? 23 week old still not recovered from the 4 month sleep regression

[Blake2313]

My DS has never been a great sleeper. He is EBF, and sleeps in a co sleeping crib attached to my side of the bed. He was sleeping for 6-10 hours at the start of the night, up once for a feed then back down. He was never really consistent in what he did but it was usually at least 6 hours. Then at 18 weeks he started getting up every 1-3 hours. Now he goes down, then wakes up about an hour later looking for a boob to get him back to sleep. Then I leave him for some adult time and he does 4-5 hours but after that he's up reaching for me every hour.

I'm wondering if anyone had problems like this because of the co sleeping crib?

I have tried to put him in his cot (in the nursery attached onto our room by an arch) but he wakes up nearly every time I put him in and even if I get him to settle in it by himself he'll wake back up soon after. I'm not sure Im being persistent enough and to be honest whenever he's in his cot I feel so sad and can't sleep until he's beside me again.

So basically, I'm trying to decide whether I should really try to get him to sleep in his cot (I would love it if this was the solution to more sleep and I just had to stick at it) or continue with the co sleeping crib until his sleep regression improves. If it even improves on it's own. Oh I don't know I'm so confused, these babies! I do want him to sleep in his cot before I go back to work when he's 11 months. I think.

Any ideas, experiences, or even sharing your story if you're going through the same thing would be appreciated.

God it's awful isn't it. They grow up so fast it's scary. When you want them to do something to be more independent you strive for ages and then it hurts as you feel a bit lost.
Well I do anyway - maybe it's me!
I co-slept with DS for 2 months then randomly one morning felt really fed up, hot, sweaty, sticky from milky dribbles and had had enough. So I started putting him in his bed and it was easier some times than others but I persisted and he now, 14 weeks, sleeps through. I still sleep in his bedroom with him as I'm not ready to move out yet but he is on his own in his cot and happy as a sandboy. He goes to bed awake and self settles and, yes, I know I'm super lucky to have a relaxed easy sleeper.
I guess the older they get the more they notice you and esp your absence. I think you're right and if you want to change then encourage him to sleep in his bed.

You're probably right twinsplusonesurprise but I think I'm stalling. I've gotten so used to getting so much more sleep but I'm sure after persistence it would pay off. I do have another crib with 4 sides so I might move onto that and get him to settle a bit further away from me then try the cot. Or maybe just the cot. I'm stalling again!

But well done to your super clever little one, if only DS would self settle but there is no chance of that now with this sleep regression! Sometimes he'll start to drift off by himself but then he'll realise he's falling asleep and reach for me. He does self settle during the night though, weirdly he does it by rubbing his eyes but hey whatever works for him.