My DS is 6 months old. His sleep has been very disrupted the last couple of weeks, waking 40mins after bedtime then hourly for a few hours, which he didn't used to do. He isnt fed or rocked to sleep. He has a little cuddle and I rock until hes sleepy, he's put down awake and given his comforter and is usually asleep 10 mins later. The last two nights he has woken 6 and 7 times, each time a cuddle and a minute of rocking and he settled himself to sleep again. He only fed once. He will only accept the cuddle from me, not from DH.
We've realised the waking 40mins after bedtime has only started since we went out for a meal after bedtime almost two weeks ago. He woke up and my parents were here, and my mum couldn't get him back to sleep so gave up and kept him up as he was happy. I also worked (again after bedtime) a few days later, and he worked himself up into a state and screamed at DH for 2 hours. He's a very happy baby in the day, happy to be looked after by DH and grandparents and not particularly clingy.
I'm absolutely exhausted , with no clue what to try next. I'm not against the idea of cosleeping, but don't really want to do it long term, and that wouldn't solve the issue between 7pm and when I go up to bed anyway. I'm hoping it's just a phase but I don't know how long I can stick it out before trying to fix it. Help!