8mo DS will only get to sleep on daddy's lap. How can we help him settle?

[AgaBoo]

When he was born DS liked to "sleep on people", DP and i would both rock him to sleep on our laps, but he outgrew mine . It was "easy" to get him to sleep this way, we kept on at it, and now at 8 months he won't really sleep any other way - but only on his daddy!

Sometimes he will drop off in a sling on my back, but not reliably. I can struggle with him for half an hour, then plop onto daddy's lap and he's asleep within a minute.

This leaves me feeling disempowered, feeling that I couldn't cope with DS alone. I did read the Elizabeth Pantley book a while ago and have heard that babies get used to "sleep associations" they then come to depend on, and the longer we leave trying to change the situation, the harder it gets.

How can we reprogram him? "Pick up, put down" seems some way off when, if he is not jiggled and held constantly, he will just crawl about and complain. "Self-settling" sounds like a crazy fantasy.

We co-sleep, DS naps for at least an hour twice a day. He sleeps reasonably at night, often just one wake, so it could be worse

Well there are probably people on here who will give you better advice but I think you've got it pretty good already, at least he does go to sleep and sleep reasonably well. Our DS, now 1, always had to be rocked to sleep, we just did whatever worked regardless of the whole 'rod for your own back' comments. Now at aged 1 he has started to fall asleep alot easier, last night he fell asleep in his high chair- I was shocked! He is also sleeping better through the night and I can honestly say all we have done is whatever was easiest and worked at the time. One of the best sleep aids for our DS was his white noise CD- about £2 off ebay including post. Can understand why you're a little miffed that he drops off easier for his dad but I would say enjoy it! It's alos a bit of a pain sometimes when you are the only one who can get him to settle

Well, he does seem to be sleeping a bit easier - he used to complain terribly each evening. We started getting him to sleep a bit earlier, which helps i guess.

I fondly imagine him sleeping in his high chair - it even tilts back like an aeroplane seat

I appreciate it is bit of a burden for his dad, who seems nonetheless quite happy to take DS to bed and play "World of Warcraft" for a while, and i appreciate the hour or two to get some work done, so no-one is complaining...