Just getting worse

[DappledThings]

DS is 6 months. For a good few weeks when he was about 3-4.5 months he reliably slept from 7.30ish till 2.30 then had one quick feed (bf) and went straight back to sleep. After that would be a bit restless from 5ish but it was all not too tiring.

The day it first got hot he went from that to waking every 20 mins and has got slowly better up till last week. Last few weeks till this one he was waking between 12 and 1 then about 4 but still settling again after both feeds so not too bad.

This week he has now lost the ability to self settle at 7. Each put down is now taking up to an hour of cuddling and soothing and the same for night waking. He woke up at 1.05, had a feed and I think is now out again but I've been up and down since then.

This week we did start weaning and moved him into own room but everything else in night routine the same. He just seems to keep regressing and I don't know if we're doing anything wrong or need to change it. Tonight I fed to sleep for the first time in 2 months which felt like such a massive step back

I think this might be just a cathartic early hours rant but if anyone has any thought's or advice I'll be awaken again soon to hear them I suspect!

And just as I finished typing and thought it had been 15 mins of silence so I can go back to bed he's stirred again. Hanging outside his door and silently begging him to go to sleep

No advice on the frequent waking as I'm going through the same thing but I would say don't beat yourself up about feeding to sleep...two of my three self settled at bedtime from 6 weeks old and they woke no less often in the night than the one who didn't!

Dd2 is also 6 months (or will be this week) and used to wake for one or two feeds a night, until 14 weeks when she started waking every hour. We're still going through it now although some nights we have had a 3 hour stretch at the beginning again so fingers crossed she is relearning being able to get through a sleep cycle!

Weaning and moving him to his own room are both massive steps and bound to cause sleep issues as he gets used to the changes.

I think you'll drive yourself less mad if you realise that the path to sleeping through isn't one of linear improvement, or anything like it. In my experience it's often 3 straps forward and 2 back. I can remember periods of sleep at 8 months that were worse than newborn!
Maybe not what you want to hear, but this is all very normal and you will only set yourself up for frustration and disappointment if you expect unrealistic things of babies sleep!

6-10 months was annoyingly worse for us but it does get better. By 10 months she was much improved