Help please!
Sorry,this is going to be a really long one!
I’m surviving on 3-4 hours sleep for the last month and I’m losing hope of things getting better.
My 9 month old ds is having some serious sleep issues and I feel like I’ve tried everything. Last night for example,took him up to bed at 7.30,he fell asleep at 8,then woke up at 8.45 (one sleep cycle?) I replaced dummy and he was patted back to sleep in about 5 mins...he slept till 11 then he was up alternating between wanting to play and screaming for 3 and a half hours and finally went back to sleep at just after 2.30. Then he was up crying again at 5.45 and refused to go back to sleep,me and my dh tried for an hour then gave up.
Ds is getting about 2 hours naps in the day and about 6-7 hours at night and that can’t be good for him.
Bit of history,he’s never been a good sleeper,always woke at least a couple of times a night which we could deal with as he’d go back to sleep quite quickly but for the last 5 weeks it’s taking between 1-4 hours to get him back to sleep.
He’s been to a cranial osteopath when he was about 3 months old who sorted some issues and is on gaviscon for reflux
We’d worked hard to get him to a point where we put him to bed awake,he’d roll over and go to sleep but he’s getting a cold every few weeks and it all goes to pot then.
His room temp is fine,he’s in a cotton onesie and a sleeping bag so he’s comfortable,cot is raised (he’s always had reflux so we’ve done that pretty much from day one)he has blackout blinds,a lullaby playing all night and for naps (white noise has never worked with him) and he has a comforter which he loves. He has a few drops of lavender in his bath and in his room. He’s had the same bedtime routine since 3 months old,dinner,bath,(we try to massage but he hates it) bottle,bed.
We’ve tried teething gels and teething granules every night for this past month but no sign of teeth and we’ve tried calpol and ibuprofen incase he’s in pain but even an hour or two after any medicine he is still awake and crying.
No temperature so I don’t think he’s ill but he’s extremely windy. He’s already dairy and soya free but when he’s up in the night he’s constantly trumping. Could it be something he’s eating?
We’ve been giving him dairy free probiotic drops for the last few days but no difference. I’m wondering about him going gluten free,maybe that would help?
He will not sleep in his pram (refused to since he was about 5/6 month old),will only sleep in the car after about an hour of driving but wake as soon as we stop and will not co sleep. He just climbs all over us and pulls our hair and grabs our faces then starts crying because we’re not playing with him. So I don’t think it’s seperstion anxiety because surely he’d settle with us in our bed if so?
Unintentionally left him to cry the other night (had been rocking my 20lb screaming baby for 2 hours and my back was killing me) so I sat next to his cot patting and shushing him for 10 minutes and he got himself in such a state he was gagging and almost being sick so I don’t think that’s an option.
I know there’s a regression at this age but this seems extreme.
Sorry that was super long,if anyone has made it to the end,can you anyone offer any advice? No other mum I know is going through this as bad!