We're nearly there, but not quite. Advice please!

[DetentionGrrrl]

DS is coming up for 8mths, and has never slept through. I've found that combining Pantley's NCSS and the-woman-we-can't-mention, there's been lots of improvement. He usually sleeps to 7am now, and will go down at 7pm rather than being over tired by 6pm.

BUT he is still waking twice. I now give diluted formula at night- we're down to less than half strength now- and he'll go back off fine the first time he wakes (within 15mins) but the 2nd time is harder (an hour this morning).

I think he's genuinely hungry when he wakes somewhere between 3-5am, as he won't go back down until i give him 2 or 3 ozs of proper strength milk.

Any suggestions? Would a later tea help- he has it at 5pm? He falls asleep during his last milk feed, and is impossible to wake to 'make' him finish it. He drinks about 6ozs before bed.

Please help- i go back to work next month!

I think if you don't water down his first night feed he might be less hungry and poss not wake for the 2nd one.
My friends 10 mth old still wakes for a feed. Some babies just do.A 12 hr sleep with only one or two wakings is still very good.
When you say he takes an hour to go back to sleep what is he doing, crying?

yeah, the 1hr waking is a pain. He'll take watered down milk, drop off in my arms, but keep waking and grumping as soon as he's in the cot. I rock him to sleep and he does the same thing, until i get a couple of ozs of full strength milk.

So he's only grumping, not crying?

well, he was crying this morning. I lay in bed for a few minutes to give him a chance to go back to sleep on his own, but he didn't.

I am probably too attentive to him- i don't like letting him cry.

Yeah, I hate it too, but dd2 would be stuck to my boob all the time if I didn't. Took about 5 weeks to get her to sleep on her own once I installed an 8pm bedtime when she was 5 mths old.
Was AWFUL, but now she goes to bed, and back to sleep after night feed with very little fuss.
Can be worth it in the long run.
Longest f*ing 5 weeks of my life.
Grew to dread bedtime, but now I love it.

Sometimes they cry for ages to get to sleep before they get used to it.

DD" was 40 mins, the first few nights, and it gradually got less and less, until not really at all.
Try it for his nap first, it can be less distressing for you than at night time.
I used to phone someone to take my mind off her screaming. Then check after 5 mins then 10 mins then 15, etc

i think i am going to have allow some crying- am planning on starting Thursday night. I'm not happy about it, but i've got to start sleeping before work.

Does anyone think cot bumpers might be useful? He wriggles around his cot so much that we can hear him clunking his head on the side of his cot, and sometimes it wakes him up.

Bumper Might help soften the blow a bit.
It's awful when they cry, but worth it. trust me.
Do you just have the one ds?

just the one yes (so far!)

Yeah. I hated letting dd1 cry.
only took her a few nights, but dd2 WEEKS. Despair.
but like i said, she got there in the end.

last night was even worse- DS woke at midnight and had a few ozs of full strength feed, then woke at 3am and screamed bloody murder until i gave him a whole bottle. was up for an hour and half!

he ate really badly yesterday though- i'm going to stuff him senseless today.