Hi everyone - I'm new here and reaching out in desperate need of advice. My boy is 13 months old and he is waking every hour in the night. I have another baby due in under three months and I am exhausted. As things are at the moment, I don't know how I will be able to cope when we add the needs of a newborn into the mix. I would really like to see some improvements in my toddler's sleep, but I don't know what to do. I am not comfortable with CIO.
Currently the only way I can soothe him back to sleep is by having him in bed with me, but he still wakes, wriggles around and needs some soothing every hour or so. He has never been a great sleeper. He had reflux/colic issues when younger so mostly coslept with me. Miraculously, he slept through the night in his cot from 9-12 months. This coincided with us starting mixed feeding, so perhaps the formula was helping fill him up overnight more than bf alone. I'm not sure, but I didn't change anything else in his routine and he was just happy to sleep in his cot for whatever reason. Shortly afterwards, he self weaned from bf, I think as my supply was dropping and the milk was changing.
He takes two naps a day (usually around 10am and 1.30pm), and settles in his cot on his own for those sleeps. For the last month, the nights have been worse than ever and I have noticed that he is getting a lot of separation anxiety during the day - so I'm thinking the two are related and he feels he just needs his mummy or daddy at night?
Any ideas on what to do? I would be so, so grateful for any thoughts.
Thanks