Day 12 of long night wakings - awake 3hrs and counting - HELP

[maraya]

LO is almost 9mths (8mths 3 weeks) and we have had 2 weeks of hellish nights. Not even the boob will resettle him.. well, it kind of does for a few minutes, then he wakes upset after a few minutes and won't go back to sleep. He wants to sleep, he appears very frustrated, tugging at his hair, rubbing his eyes and whinging whining rather than crying. Tonight nothing is working, no rocking, boob, pram, soothing anything is making a difference, so I've opted to let him play for a while and try again later. Its now 1.30am, he went to bed at 7.15, and woke at 9.30 (i resettled pretty quickly then by laying him back down in his cot and rubbing his belly and back)woke again at 10.30, had a feed and we've been trying to get him back to sleep since then.

 I'm at a loss. He's not teething, he is suffering from SA (though right now he's happy playing in the playroom on his own!) Since he has started standing in his cot its been impossible to get him down for his naps unless I rock him to sleep, or take him for a pram walk. I've been rocking him for his morning nap which is a 2hr one, and pram sleep for his afternoon one cause I dont have the energy to rock him again. I've tried PD with him for his naps but it ends up being a 2hr marathon with no sleep, and he ends up falling asleep during his feed afterwards.

Easy looks like this.

Wake and E 6.30am (BF)
Solids 7.30am
S 9.20am - 11.20am
E 11.30 (BF)
Solids 12.30
S 2.30 - 3.15
E 3.15 (BF)
Solids 5.30
Bath 6.30pm
S 7pm

Do you think the rocking him to sleep has stuffed up his own ability to self soother, he used to do OK?

Thanks
Maraya

[maraya]

He can lay himself down, and often does, tosses and turns, almost falls asleep, then wakes again and it all starts all over again. Tonight we lay him down to bed at 6.30pm and we were still doing PD at 9.30, and he started getting really distressed so I picked him up, took him into the living room for ten minutes to change the scenery, then fed him and he fell asleep. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, I'm very confused.. should it take this long?? Is he just an overly stubborn baby?? I think i would have done over 200 pD's tonight... I sat by his cot and lay him down almost each time he stood up. I left him standing if he appeared happy, stayed sitting in the chair but without eye contact. Pat his back or head occasionally saying mummy's here, night night..

Wind down is generally a walk outside, bath or shower, lullaby and BF (normally to sleep these days otherwise I have to deal with what happened tonight). He doesn't like books (won't it still through one).. any ideas for windown routines would be sooo welcome. I'm at a loss. The bath stimulates him now too.. he won't stay still for massage..

I'm very lost for ideas now.. would love to hear some?

Thanks for responding Jane xx
Maraya

[maraya]

That's what I did at his bedtime and we were up for three hours..
I'll try again with his nap today.. maybe the repeated attempts may sink in..
Last night he woke at 4.30, had his feed, fell asleep and woke again ten minutes later.
I tried PD and he proceeded to get more and more upset. I picked him up for a quick cuddle and he stopped, happy as pie. Put him down again and it starts again. I couldnt keep it together so I picked him up and brought him out to the living area. It seems that as soon as he stirs, he stands up, even in his sleep, like an automatic response. Eventually, the onyl way he would settle is in the pram, so that's where he ended up.
This has been going on for over two weeks now...