11 week old won't be put down and unable to settle

[Gangle]

DS2 is 11 weeks today and a gorgeous baby who is generally very content providing he is being held. He spends all day in the sling and all night sleeping either on my chest or right next to me in bed. Now I know it's normal and understandable that he wants to be close to me but it's getting to be impossible as I NEED to put him down a few times during the day, e.g. when doing DS1's bedtime routine. Tonight he screamed throughout the whole thing which stresses me out plus means I can barely hear myself reading and poor DS2 isn't getting the attention he needs. I've tried having him in the bouncy chair next to us or feeding him whilst reading which sometimes work but sometimes don't as he is twitchy and needs rocking/walking around. Tried putting him in the buggy today - he lasted a few minutes before screaming and ending up in the sling. Physically, it's exhausting and I also never have any hands free for DS1, e.g. in the playground when I need to be able to run after him. As a second problem, he frequently falls asleep whilst I'm holding him then wakes up 10 minutes or so after I've put him down then repeats the pattern endlessly until I take him into our bed at around 11pm. Does anyone have any advice or solutions?

I'm in a similar situation to you (except I only have one DC to think about so probably a lot easier). He tolerates his bouncy chair or playmat for a maximum of 10mins, hates pram and carseat and needs to be on me (ideal for him) or at least snuggled next to me to get a decent nights sleep (him!). He is 13 weeks. Oh and very often DH isn't good enough for him - has to be me holding him!

I have found that white noise helps keep him calm for longer (I use an app on my iPhone), and also the tv distracts him quite well when he's in his bouncy chair . Also I've put a lambskin on both his bouncy chair and pram and it does seem to make a difference.

Finally I have started to make a concerted effort to put him down and distract him through his initial protests in an effort to get him more used to it. It usually only works if he's not tired though - if he's tired I just get screamed at until he's hysterical .

Oh and I forgot to add he also had the waking after 10min (more like 5) after being put down so I started playing white noise to him whilst I was settling him and left it on once I had put him down asleep. He naps for 30-45mins now and goes down fairly easily in the evenings (admittedly after being either fed/rocked to sleep plus dummy and white noise!!).

I was in this situation when DD was 8 weeks old. Constantly having to feed her to sleep and then she would wake again so soon...

I bought the book Teach Yourself Baby Sleep and introduced a few new things.
Firstly a bedtime routine (inc a bath, taking baby to darkened room, singing etc) and started to put her down drowsy, but awake. I then shushed/patted for as long as it too for her to get off to sleep. The first few nights this took over an hour (of whingeing,fussing etc) and I only resorted to picking her up if the crying became too loud or she was getting stressed. I made sure she cold feel my touch and see me all the time as I'm not a fan of controlled crying. From the word go she was sleeping for 6-7 hours at a time.

She's now 11.5 weeks old and last night went to sleep within about 30 seconds of being put down and slept 9pm - 6am! In my opinion once they get past the really early newborn phase then habits need to be broken before they are too deeply set in IYSWIM. It's hard at first, but worth the effort.