Co Sleeping to cot

[Luce21]

I have been co sleeping with my 4 month old since he was born and now desperate to get him in his cot. I don't have any problems getting him to sleep in his cot, he goes to sleep fine but it's keeping him asleep which is the problem, he lasts an hour maximum before waking up and screaming! He often wakes up as he scratches his face/ears with his hands so strongly that he wakes himself up. I have tried swaddle but he can get out of this now. I am spending each night from 7pm trying to resettle him every hour and by 1am I just give up and bring him back into our bed (I appreciate that's part of the problem!) however when we co sleep he only wakes up once in the night so I know he's capable of doing it! Any advice would be much appreciated. I have tried a bit of controlled crying but he's too young for this at the mo.

4 months marks the age when baby discover that they have hands and can control those hands to do things. Face rubbing is not uncommon when this developmental phase happens.

We got through this by temporarily bringing back the swaddle. Not long term, just for a few weeks to get through this face rubbing (pulling the dummy out). You say he is getting out of the swaddle, what about using a bigger sheet for swaddling? I use a cot sheet.

The developmental leap at 4 months also results in an increase in the amount of calories needed. My DD went up by 25% at this age, so a massive milk increase. So have you tried feeding much more frequently? (many babies don't take more milk per feed, but will feed more often if offered milk more frequently).

Also, I would strongly, strongly recommend a dummy. They are worth their weight in diamond (not just gold!) for how much they help settling to sleep without crying.

Thanks for the advice, I have introduced a dummy now which has helped, he will now settle in his cot, he just wakes every two hours when the dummy falls out!