5.5 month sleep desperate

[Krimson]

Up until a few weeks ago my 5.5 month old was a fantastic sleeper. Would settle in his cot about 7pm with a dummy and comforter. Would wake at 3 for a bottle but go straight back to sleep until 7.

We had noticed changes around 4 months when he would wake for his dummy more but this passed after a few weeks.

However in the past few weeks sleep has become horrendous. He still settles fine but then wakes for his dummy which can be hourly. He will then wake proper at 1 for a bottle and hardly take any of it and then be unsettled the rest of the night. Around 5am, he then becomes hysterical at to which point the only way to settle him is on my chest or in bed with us. Co sleeping isn't an option as our bed isn't big enough, neither me or my husband get any sleep with it too and it is not a route we want to go down.

I feel sick and desperate with exhaustion. I know sleep can go up and down but I don't get how he went months of sleeping well in his cot to now not at times and waking more frequently. I think he may be teething and we have also started weaning on the advice of the health visitor.

Any advice is grateful, I'm open to any suggestions surrounding sleep training but not co sleeping.

Mine has been very much like this since the 4 month regression that started at 3.5 months so 8 weeks ago. We cosleep now. I know you said you don't want to do that, but for us it is the only thing that gets both of us more sleep. On his own in the cot he'll only sleep 1-1.5 hours but in bed with me we get 2-2.5 mostly and sometimes 3 hours. I also don't have to wake up as much to settle him, just boob and sleep while he nurses or gentle bum jiggle and he's back out. I sleep on the spare bed in the nursery with the baby and husband has our main bedroom with the dog. It's not ideal, but it's also only temporary.

There's a 6 month sleep regression too, maybe you've hit it now. We probably went straight from the 4 month regression to the 6 month one 😴

I'm glad it works for you but DS is formula fed and we don't have a spare bed so it isn't an option co-sleeping plus as our bed isn't big I get even less sleep!