My 7mo hasn't slept longer than 2 hours since birth

[FlyingHighFlyingLow]

Just that really. Never been a good sleeper. Eventually worked out he had CMPA and that made him sleep 2 hours at a time rather than 30-45 mins. But I'm now 7 months in to waking at least every 2 hours, sometimes still hourly.

I take him to bed, night routine, feed him, white noise on etc, dummy in. He rolls over and takes himself off to sleep. He almost always wakes up within an hour. I can put him to bed at 8 and by 10 he's woken 4 times. Even if he's got his dummy in he'll cry until I walk into the room and sit next to him, takes himself off to sleep again, don't even need to touch him. Around 11 he wakes up properly and screams until fed to sleep, then will do a longer 2 hour stretch. By 4am he is rolling around whining in his sleep and on and off the boob until he wakes around 6.

Napwise, he's on 3 naps because he's wrecked. First nap around 9am, usually an hour. Second nap around 1pm, usually an hour and a half. But by 4ish he's so knackered. He falls asleep, but he wants to sleep for an hour and a half again. If I wake him before that he's sobbing and is inconsolable. He cries and cries and cries until I put him to bed, but won't go to sleep because overtired and we have an even worse night. Help!

You must be so exhausted. My 3 year old had CMPA and was similarly bad at sleeping but had to be rocked for HOURS to fall asleep, and wouldn't accept a dummy, so if it's any consolation you're doing a million times better that I was when my DC1 was that age. Now sleeps through so reporting from the other side that it gets better. DC2 was a champion sleeper from birth but had very bad patches around teething. Giving baby ibuprofen before bedtime when teething got the 2 hour stretches up to 4. I wish we'd tried with DC1 as obviously pre-verbal they can't tell you if things are hurting so is worth a go? Also discovered DC2 sleeps better with music instead of white noise. What happens if you let him do his long third nap? Maybe just let him and have a later bedtime to see if that helps??

Same but even later bedtime. His wake windows are getting longer and just pushing that nap back. Today his second nap was 1:15 - 2:45 so he didn't go down for third nap until 5. I had to wake him at 6pm (resulting in inconsolable sobbing) because that was already pushing his bedtime until 9ish. As it was it took over 40 minutes to get him to go down to sleep with him screaming the whole time.

He needed the third nap as superbly grumpy before it. But just can't get that third one early enough for the sleep he wants. Had I left him (which I have done before), he'd have slept until 6:30/7. Then he'd have been up until 11, and then up again at 4/5. Which is only a 6 hour night and then the next day is absolute hell.

You must be exhausted, I hope you have some help to let you get some rest. 🤞 My first son was very very similar to this, minus the CMPA. He didn't sleep unless he was glued to me, and even then it felt like we were awake every 45min. He's now 2 & a half, and sleeps in his own cot happily.

Things improved very gradually over time. Honestly his improvements at night time sleep seemed more linked to developmental leaps than anything, which might not sound very helpful.
Just wanted to say nothing you're doing has caused this, and some babies are more sensitive around sleep than others.

Things that helped me keep my sanity (or some of it!) during this:

• co-sleeping using the safe sleep 7 guidelines after the first night feed.
• putting him down in his cot at bed time and having his Dad be responsible for resettling him until he actually needed a feed. He settled much faster on the boob but I knew he didn't actually need a feed 45min after being put to sleep - he just needed to be comforted. Sometimes this looked like his Dad holding him for a few hours before I took over for night time at half 11 / 12. It have me a mental break and most of the time I went to bed when he did to get some more rest. He never took to a bottle until he started crèche or we would have tried this. I went to the spare room and ignored all sounds until I was being woken up with a freshly changed baby ready for boob.
• napping when he did, when I could
• getting out for fresh air first thing in the morning. The sunlight helped regulate us both I found.
• therapy because exhaustion is haaaarddd
• continuing to support him in feeling like sleep is a safe space for him. We never did cry it out, did a lot of contact naps & co-sleeping. I did try to make him feel like his cot was "safe" by letting him play with fun toys in there, and trying one nap a day in there. Sometimes this was only for 10 min before we switched to contact naps, but one day it just clicked and he did a whole hour in there.
• using sleep sacks with feet - he sleeps much better in slumber sac and I think it's because he's so wiggly
• turning off the white noise. It didn't help and it was wrecking my head.

We do cosleep, its the reason I'm alive! I'm absolutely dreading going back to work next month. I get so little sleep. I don't know how I'll function. Dad is very capable and willing but he hates having him cry when he knows he'd calm so much quicker for me.

He will do first nap in the bed, which is when I shower and have breakfast. Second and third nap always contact nap. He was doing second nap in bed but really won't anymore. I could go to bed when he does but my DH leaves at 8 and works until 8 sometimes so most days if he's been inconsolable I haven't had dinner or had any awake time not holding a baby. He has started with the separation anxiety so he really does just want to touch me at all times.

I guess its also hard mentally that every minute of my 'childfree' time I'm using to try sleep, and even then its 2 hour stretches max. As I know you're well aware, a 6 hour stretch of sleep feels very different to 2× hr and 2x1 hr stretches.

Love him so so so much. He's the best thing ever. But I'm so very very tired 😅

It really does wear you down after a while, it's so hard to find a new normal that lets you have time to feel like a human! I felt like I was going to crack from lack of time alone at that stage - I missed having hobbies or a break from the mental load so much.

I signed my husband & son up for baby swim classes when he was 6 months old and told them that was their special time together - then booted them out of the house for 2 hours every Sunday. Pure bliss. I did go the first time or two to watch his first swim & help them figure out the routine but then I fed him right before they left and sent them off with a sippy cup. Having a quiet house to myself with no responsibility was amazing. It took them a while to find their stride, especially with a change to Sunday nap times but the lessons were paid for 8 weeks so they had to go. Honestly it helped their relationship blossom and now they're gone for about 4 hours on a Sunday because they go for coffee and babycinnos after, and meet his cousins for a playdate. I am firmly not invited. 😂

Would his Dad be willing to vanish from the house for a few regular hours on a weekend with him? Being the one left home alone rather than the one who has to go out and do something feels way more relaxing somehow.

I've been there OP (except I wasn't breast feeding by this point) and it is so so hard I felt like I was going to collapse from tiredness. I also co slept but she still wake every 45 mins to 2 hours.
Things improved slightly at 10 months. At 12 months we changed to a floor bed. It could be a coincidence but within a week she slept through the night.
It's still not consistent here- in the last week she's slept through 4 nights out of 7 - but it is so so much better. She is 20 months now. I don't know if it was just developmental or the floor bed but it did get better.
This isn't your fault and you are doing AMAZINGLY.

We are in a very similar situation with my 7 month old! 1-2 hourly wake ups even when co-sleeping. I too am on my knees with exhaustion. Likewise, have a very supportive husband, who takes the baby from 5am if he wakes, which gives me another hour or two at least sleeping comfortably in bed by myself.

I rest in bed with the baby while he naps in the daytime. Try to get outside as much as I can. And generally leave a lot of everything else for my husband to sort out (like chores etc.).

it is really hard. We were similar with my eldest and from about this age we worked on getting her into a cot in her own room and had some success (she still loves a cuddle at 5 though!). This summer our plan is to get the baby into his own room in the hopes the sleep improves.

So not any practical help from me but at least you know you’re not alone!

Same boat here. I put my little girl on a mattress on the floor and pop down to feed her back to sleep after each wake up. It's the quickest way to maximise my sleep. I do try to nap next to her in the day too but I'm a bad daytime sleeper. When she gets restless from about 3-4am I bring her into bed with me. You could try probiotics too. I heard this helped some people with sleep. Especially for allergies babies as they need to heal their gut. But probiotics can cause tummy pains and diarrhoea sometimes too so might backfire.

No CMPA but this was normal for us. It's biological normal intact sleep.
I think it was the case till she was a few years old. Even sometimes now it occurs every few hours.