Help!! - exhausted mama!!

[Hayley1620]

Hello!

My DS is coming up to 8 months old and has always been a bad sleeper. I totally get that babies wake during the night but he will literally wake up on average 8-12 times a night from being put down at 7pm. Sometimes it's just a case of popping the dummy back in and switching the white noise back on but more often that not he needs to be picked up and rocked back to sleep (he's a chunk at 21lbs so my back is in bits!!). I've tried just leaving him knowing that he is tired, has been fed, changed, is warm etc so is fine but he's so stubborn he will moan and slam his legs down in the cot for literally HOURS before full on crying. He will not self settle for naps and I know this is my fault for always rocking him but I'm not sure how to break this habit now?

Has anyone else been through something similar and share how you got through it because I am really struggling now. I keep telling myself it will get better but nothing seems to work. I am achy and exhausted :( (I also have a 4 year old and I can barely say two words to her without falling asleep. It's just not fair on her :( )

Does he look in pain with the leg slamming. My daughter had acid refux which gave her so much hassle. I had to give her baby gaviscon in the end... It fixed it.

If it is a habit thing, he needs to learn how to self soothe and go to sleep alone. I thinking was my first where I had this problem...

I did this and I cried my eyes out (quiety) while teaching my baby! It breaks your heart as it goes against all instincts! Basically, you need to leave them to it. Break the cycle of relying on you to go to sleep. Leave them to cry for longer periods at a time. There are loads of bits on this on the internet which can describe the technique properly.

My friend has a daughter who is 5 that never broke the cycle and even now she has to hold her hand until she goes to sleep.... you don't want this! You will be exhausted and more importantly you want the child to be confident enough to rely on themselves to sleep and not need you there.

If he’s really hard to settle back down, he Could be uncomfortable. If it was always just popping the dummy back in, it would definitely be a settling issue, but as sometimes he really has to be rocked could there be sometime more to it? Digestive discomfort or getting cold or something?