Someone help me figure out my little boys sleep 💤

[charlie13032017]

He’s almost 8 months and the past 2 months his sleeps been here, there and everywhere haha!
I put him to bed by 7 (asleep by 7) then he wakes at 9:30 and from then onwards he’s awake every 90/120 minutes and then he’s up at 4 and will not go back to sleep no matter how much I try.
I’ve tried putting him to bed an hour later and that’s not worked at all.
He used to be so good, he’d go to sleep then wake up at 12 and then 2 and then awake for the day at 6, which I don’t mind getting up at 6, as I always have done before I can remember.
The last 3 weeks I can’t even put his dummy back in and shush him back to sleep, I have to get him out and hold him.
He has 3 naps a day equalling 2 hours of daytime sleep, he has 2 solid meals a day, I offer lunch but he never eats it.
The last couple of months I’ve felt so drained, me and my oh need some sleep lol even though my little boys wide awake and happy and content.
He’s in his cot in our room and I’m not comfortable with any cio method, I hate hearing him cry, it would probably break my heart and be as traumatic for me aswell as him.
Any suggestions? Everyone’s telling me it’s a phase but this seems like a very long phase if so

Why only 2 meals a day? I think you need a big focus on increasing his calorie intake. Is he having lots of milk? He could well be hungry and that's why he is not settling easily at night.

By 8 months I would be giving three multi-course meals (of both puree and finger food), plus a snack. Then maybe 3-4 milk feeds per day.

I would also suggest 2h sleep over 3 daytime naps is not enough. By this age you don't want the first two naps being any shorter than 45 minutes or so (a full sleep cycle) and want at least one longer, 90m plus nap. How/where is baby young to sleep for daytime naps and how long is he sleeping for?

FATEdestiny Sorry, I didn’t even realise you had replied.
About the 2 meals a day, I always offer lunch, but he refuses to eat it and kicks up a fuss, but I’m always offering because one day he will take to it.
I don’t offer purées because we do baby led weaning. So no spoon feeding.
He still has about 5/6 breastfeeds a day, mind you they’re not very long. But he if I offer more sometimes he bites me, and with 2 teeth it’s very painful haha!
He’s never really been a good napper tbh, we’ve only just started getting them longer than half hour, that’s all I could get him to do but his morning one will still only be 30 minutes? His second one his roughly an hour maybe and hour and half and same goes for the 3rd one.
I tried cutting out a nap and that was the worst idea I’ve ever done, he woke every 30 minutes from being over tired x

We are at 9 months and have struggled with sleep since the 4 month sleep regression! Things are starting to improve now so hang in there x

Definitely don’t cut his daytime sleep. Have you tried feeding to sleep in your bed for naps and lying with him? That might get you a longer nap which might help with overtiredness. I try to make sure my almost 10mo has at least one nap a day BF in bed so that he gets a decent nap and I get to lie down/read/snooze!

He still has about 5/6 breastfeeds a day, mind you they’re not very long.

You will need to feed baby at night then. Baby has to get calories from somewhere and if BLW is going slow and you cannot get baby the calories by daytime breastfeeds, it means accepting frequent night feeds are necessary.

To be perfectly blunt with you, it sounds like a vase of wanting to have your cake and eat it. Baby-led feeding has to carry on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all the time every day and every night. Taking your time with BLW in terms of solids also means taking your time with weaning from the breast.

Baby is significantly frowning and developing and needs the calories. Therefore don't offer the dummy at night - your baby will be hungry. You will need to offer breastfeeds. I would say at least 3 or 4 full feed through the night judging by the limited daytime calories being given.

To help matters, ensure the good you do give is high calorie. Lots of protein, lean meat, fats, carbs. Choose your fruit and veg for their high calorie values - bananas and avocado for example.

frowning = growing