Hello all
I have a DS who will be 2 soon and pregnant with DC2 due in July.
With DS I had practically zero sleep to the extent that I had shingles when he was 8mo. He was bf and somehow (lack of knowledge at the time) bf'g became a sleep aid, which meant he was practically stuck to my boob. (We tried to offer him a dummy around this time but he'd just spit it out!)
In the meantime we ended up co-sleeping. It ended up working out really well for us. At around 9mo he slept on the otherside of my husband (and didn't look for boob on him!) which enabled us to break the link/sleep aid. He stopped bf'g at 11 months when his top and bottom teeth came in. We have continued co-sleeping since & its worked out really well as we all sleep - bearing in mind we didnt get much sleep in the first 9 months we didn't bother changing things.
We obviously need to change things before arrival of no 2. Husband did try to put DS to sleep in the cot next to our bed, but after 2-3 days maybe an hour + at a time we gave up with the amount of crying and he was clearly in distress (as he is so used to be snuggled up next to mummy and daddy!)
I'm wondering if he just needs to be sleep trained in his own bed in the 2nd bedroom? Any other suggestions? As my husband works shifts and sometimes finishes at 12am, its not like he can sleep with DS1 in one room and me in the other with newborn?
Also any tips to ensure I don't suffer with no sleep second time around, esp when breastfed?
Thanking you in advance x