I’ve trawled the past threads and can’t find anything that matches my scenario…some advice please if possible!
I am a single parent to a 16 month old. We’ve co slept since I tried to introduce him to a cot aged 6 months. Previous to this he was in a bassinet. The transfer to cot went poorly, I stuck with it for 1 month and he was hysterical every time he woke, and was waking every 30-45mins. I eventually cracked and moved his cot into my room.
he is a TERRIBLE sleeper. Has never slept through a night. He starts off in his cot, bedtime currently 7pm (any later and he is overtired) and wakes about 2-3 times between then and when I go to bed at 11pm ish. When I go to bed I transfer him next to me and he wakes on average 2-3 times between 11pm -7am. He is still breastfed at night time. So in total is waking on average 5-6 times in a 12 hour period.
He never wakes up happy, always crying. I have tried so many things - altered bed times, nap times, staying in the cot, food just before bed, etc. I have not tried to wean him off breast milk as I work in a safety critical job and need to be able to function, I cannot afford a string of even worse nights. I will be trying to do this in a few months when I have some time off. I don’t really feel ready to stop BF but I will if it helps him sleep. Sleep training is out of the question, I do not have to mental fortitude to do that on my own. HV suggested moving him into his own room but again, can’t afford the lack of sleep now I am back at work.
im fed up of being exhausted. Any ideas? Will this get better in time? Will stopping breastfeeding help and I just have to hang on a few more months? Help!