Hello 😊
Since hitting 4m my DS (now very nearly 11m) has been a terrible sleeper - we’d get the odd random night of sleeping 4-6 hour chunks with only 1 or 2 wake ups and we’d think “hooray we’ve cracked it” and then the next night would be back to the usual awfulness.
At the end of September we tried gradual retreat though I have to admit, we never got to the actual retreating party - DS picked it up really well and we were able to put him down drowsy with a bit of whinging (sometimes none) before he’d roll over and go off to sleep with one of us sat there offering comfort. He was doing longer stretches of sleep, I felt like a human again and I was quite happy sitting there while he fell asleep as it only took about 5 - 10mins. Then he learnt to sit up and pull himself up standing and sleep went to hell again.
We’ve had a month of illness and teething and a bad eczema flare up but seemed to be getting back on track slightly. I would sometimes pick up and feed but then the rest I would just cuddle him in the cot without picking up and he’d lie himself back down and go to sleep. Ok so he’d wake anything from 1 - 4hours but I felt like we were getting there. The last week however he lies himself back down and then within about 10 seconds he’s sat back up again 😐 He’s often trying to pull my arm down with hIm and sleeping on it which then means I can’t take it out if the cot without waking him if he does stay down. This goes on and on and on and either DH takes over or I give up, pick him up and feed him.
I don’t want to do CC and I’m quite happy to stay with him while he falls asleep but how do I get him to lie down and stay down without upsetting him too much and making him feel like I’m ignoring him?! Sometimes he’s crying and sometimes he’s just babbling away but the end result is neither me or him are sleeping.
I thought he was through the separation anxiety phase but he seems to get upset again if he can’t get to me or if I leave the room sometimes so not sure if this is playing a part.
Sorry for the essay and thank you in advance for any advice x