Sleep training - advice needed!

[grace7]

Ds is 5 months old. I've delayed a bedtime routine for too long, he's been fed to sleep and then sleeps downstairs with us (while we watch tv etc) until we go to bed which has worked for us so far but I'm beginning to feel he needs a proper "bed time". I breastfeed and we are cosleeping at the moment. He has always been either fed or rocked to sleep, he wakes as soon as he's put down and won't take a dummy so I'm at a loss at how the hell I'm supposed to put him down for the night! Have I left it far too late to introduce a proper routine? I'd really appreciate some advice. He still wakes in the night regularly for feeding too.

I'm in a similar situation except my girl is 8 months. Personally, I'm not concerned about feeding or being cuddled to sleep. I doesn't cause me any problems. I would like more than 2 hours sleep at a time though so interested to see what is suggested!

I would slowly tweak the routine.

Feed him to sleep in the his room to begin with?

5 months is definitely not too late to introduce a routine! Bath, story, feed and down for sleep worked for me and I started DD on a proper routine at five months. Have you thought about whether you want to sleep train? I think five months is a little young for proper training just yet so I'd wait till your DS is six months at least. If you get him into a routine now, if you decide to sleep train later on it'll make your job a lot easier.

I’m interested in the responses here, as I’m in a similar situation with a three month old. I know three months is too young for a routine, and would be happy to feed and cuddle him to sleep if it actually worked. Unfortunately, he won’t sleep anywhere except on me, and he won’t feed to sleep anymore, preferring to be rocked and cuddled. Evenings have been disastrous recently as I think he’s just totally overstimulated with the noise and tv etc. There’s usually about an hour of unbelievable hysterics to settle him, but he wakes after 20-30 minutes and the same thing starts again.

If I try to put him in the cot he’s awake again immediately. We co sleep at night and he won’t even settle beside me, he has to be on top of me. Would also like to know the secret to just ”putting him down”. I’ve tried white noise, swaddling, warming the cot, putting in a T-shirt, dummies etc. I have a 3 year old as well, so can’t really have hours of crying upstairs. I don’t agree with any kind of cry it out, and he’s always in my arms, but he does a lot of hysterical screaming if he’s overtired.

Hope you crack it, grace.