3 month old majorly fighting sleep - what to do ???

[avaj]

I am worn out with a huge screaming match every time he needs a sleep! Even putting him in his pram and walking him usually ends up with me picking him up just to calm him down.
I also have a 2 year old who needs lots of attention, so i dont have the time to nurse him for hours. I try settling him before he gets too tired, but he still resists.
Do i need to just put him down and let him scream (as suggested by hubby)? I am just sooooooooo worn out!

Have you tried a dummy?
Do you have black out blinds in his room?
Or maybe a sling?

Would you be willing to try a dummy? Or a sling, if he won't be put down and you are keen?
Dummy worked for me.

We do use a dummy and he likes it until he gets too frantic.

He likes to be held turned in towards me with a dummy in, kind of a pretend breastfeed position! But all it takes is a missed beat in my pacing and he gets very stoppy and starts screaming and twisting about! Then it takes ages to calm him down again.

I hadnt thought of a sling for sleeping, we have a basic forward facing one that he has been for a couple of walks in, but i dont know if he would fall asleep in it. Prob worth a go though!

Might be worth swaddling him?
Ds2 would scream lots before sleeping at this age, but when we swaddled him he found it muich easier to get to sleep and there was much less crying.
Or rocking him to sleep in his pram? That also worked for us.

Sorry just saw what you said about the pram, hope the swaddling might help you...

Sending you lots of sympathy! My ds is still the same at 10 months. Hates to be in the pushvair if he's tired, just screams til he finally conks out. I have to rock him to music for naps and feed him to sleep at night. If I just put him in his cot or lay him down somewhere, he just stands up and screams and I can't leave him crying. It's hard work. If you haven't tried it, try dimming thelights in his bedroom or shutting the curtains and rocking him ti soft music. I know it's not ideal and I'd love to just pop him in his cot and him just doze off but it's never happened yet .

Thanks for the advice and sympathy!

Tried the swaddling today and he did conk out a bit quicker.

I think I will try a calmimg c.d in a dim room - might make us both feel better!

My husband has the most success by jiggling him up and down and making a weird buzzing noise - I think he just pretends to sleep to make him stop.....oh the things you do......

GLad you had better luck today.
Forgot that we used to put on my hairdryer (or other white noise such as hooever or untuned radio) with DS1 which used to help settle him off to sleep, didnt work with DS2 though...

DS1 was a terrible sleeper and had really bad colic, Cranial Oesteopath sorted it after 3 visits.

DS2 was just a cling on, I used to have to put the summy in hold him tight in and lay on my side to get him off to sleep. In the end we went to a CO too and it did help. I would often put him in travel cot and put the hoover on

It does get better, but is hard with two

Avaj, I'm in the same situation with my 14 week old. He now won't sleep at all during the day unless I'm holding him and refuses to go to sleep at night unless being held or I'm laying next to him breastfeeding. He also wants to to be held 95% of his waking time. Have tried pretty much everything and nothing works. Also shattered and quite down as literslly not a minute to myself.

Try a wrap sling, which gives great support to a sleeping baby and IME is comfier on your back than the Tomy style ones - something like this is great.

DS was similar, and I always felt he was screaming because he wanted peace to go to sleep and my stressy attempts at doing stuff to make him sleep were making him worse - having said that, I know at the time we did what we had to do to get him to kip. Many a night spent bopping around in the kitchen in the dark with the cooker hood fan on max

The sling really did save the day though, amde a huge difference to my life at the time and especially with another child to care for it might make things loads easier for you. Often cheaper ones on eBay - I'd offer you mine but I'd have cold sweats if I was without it!

DD is 14 weeks and glad I'mn not th eonly one!!!!

Glad its not just me then!

DS is currently asleep in his pram in the kitchen with the extractor fan on max!!!

The slings look pretty good, think he would enjoy one. Are they easy to use?

Someone mentioned an amby on another thread, is that a type of sling?

What's an amby? People keep saying I should try to put him in a routine then he'll settle more easily but I've tried to and found it impossible as he eats and sleeps when he feels like it and there is no way I can or want to stop him doing either. His feeding has definitely regularised but his naps are still quite random. Will his sleeping sort itself out on its own?

Slings are really, really easy to use. It looks complicated at first, I was when I saw the instructions, but after a couple of practice runs it was second nature and after a few goes I could get it just perfectly comfy for DS. Seriously, it probably saved me from going insane. Plus, they resell well on eBay so if you didn't like it you could easily get most of your outlay back.

I think Amby is a kind of hammock for babies to sleep in so they are rocked when they move. I looked at them to help me with DS but they're really pricey.

Gangle, yes, sleep will take care of itself. I promise. I personally think it's the baby who should set the routine, not the mum - and I think most of them aren't ready for a routine until they're a bit older, in DS's case he was around 6-7 months I think, and only now at 11 months is he 'predictable'!