What causes a baby to be on the very edge of dropping off, and then jolt it back into frustrated and cross wakefulness? 6 month old DS is always very difficult to persuade to sleep, but after today, in which he has completed 2 hrs 15 mins over the course of 3 naps, and is going to be hell to get to bed, I need to figure out what is going on and how I can make it better. I have spent more time today trying to get him to sleep than he has actually spent asleep.
What typically happens is: DS starts looking a bit quiet, or yawns, or gets a bit flappy. I scoop him up, half swaddle lightly in a very thin cotton sheet, and sway with him, making shushing noises in the darkened bedroom. When he has yawned two or three times, and has bowed his head into me, I lie down with him and feed. He gets really drowsy, half-closed eyes, and rolls off, practically asleep. Then, wham!! awake, bawling, tired, frustrated at not being able to drop off (or so it seems). So I scoop him up for the swaying, feeding bit again, and eventually (after up to an hour for naps, longer at night) he sleeps.
We lightly swaddle, we sway, we rock, we sing, we pat, we shush, we play sea noises and white noise, we do human swaddle when it's not as hot as it is this week, I feed and have him suckle as much as he wants. I will try anything, other than letting him cry.
Am considering PU-PD for naps at the moment, but as we co-sleep, I don't know if this is practical, and I don't want to upset him. Really, I would be thrilled to feed him to sleep for the next year, if it would actually reliably work.
Nights are hell too, but that's another story...