Hi, sorry for the really long pist. I'm hoping there are some mums out there who've had babies who sleep terribly, and can offer some suggestions (or maybe just let me know I'm not the only one here at 1am!)
My 12 week old lb has been an awful sleeper since birth, and I've not slept more than two hours together since he was born. It either takes a feed to get him to sleep, or about 30 mins of walking him about the house. He absolutely will not fall asleep by himself, will just lie there until he gets overtired and starts screaming, and wakes instantly if I try to put him down or if I stop moving. My entire life now feels like it's spent walking around in circles with him trying to get him to sleep before he gets overtired and starts to scream -often meaning I have to start again as soon as he wakes from a previous nap.
This would all perhaps be bearable if I was getting any sleep at night, but my little man will only sleep properly in my bed, and wakes up every 90 minutes to 2 hours for a 40 minute feed. I absolutely hate cosleeping, and end up spending every night lying uncomfortably on my side waiting to collapse out of exhaustion until baby's next twitch wakes me again. Between the cosleeping and need to carry him all day, my back is getting trashes, and I am constantly exhausted and angry.
Things I've tried to help him sleep by himself so I can get a decent rest
Swaddling - results in him slamming his feet into the mattress repeatedly out of protest, waking both of us up
White noise - he doesn't seem to notice it either way
Dummy - he tries to spit it out so hard he gags on it
Side along crib - still wakes instantly when put in it
Bath before bed - thoroughly wakes him up, as he loves the bath so cries when taken out of it
Baby massage -cue the screaming
Bedtime routine - still trying this one, but it takes so long for us to get him to sleep that I don't think he actually associates the routine with sleep time
At my wit's end here, we keep getting told he'll get better, but he has only been getting progressively worse!