hi,
My son typically sleeps two hours at a time and wakes wanting fed or comforted. He's nine and a half months old. He has never been a good sleeper. At one point at maybe eight months he was going to bed about 7-7:30, woke wanting fed at maybe 11 and then 3, waking up at perhaps 6:30-7. I could cope with that! Then he fell ill with croup and my husband pneumonia (cough loudly at night - son sleeps in same room as us) and it all fell apart.
Typical his day - when well - consists of:
7 - wake up, breastfeed; top up with bottle
8 - breakfast
9:30 - half hour nap
11 - bottle
12 - lunch
1 - sleep, one and a half hour typically
3 - breastfeed (typically fairly brief)
Approx half hour sleep at maybe 5 as he cant make it till bedtime otherwise
5:30 - dinner
6 - start of bedtime routine (which he recognises and seems to sense the time for!)
7 - bottle; sometimes he will want mix of bottle and breast milk
7:30 - asleep
8:15 - awake; typically wants breastfed
9:30 - wants breastfed
10:30 - wants breastfed
11 - bottle
And then every two hours generally speaking he's up wanting comforted and breastfed. Last night he did one four hour stretch so he can do it. I'm going back to work and really need him to sleep better, and fairly quickly. I keep getting pressured by health visitor, mother, friends etc to control cry but I am very against it. Suggestions on what to do? Because he's feeding at night I'm not sure whether to do pick up put down some of the night, or whether to sh pat some of the night, and continue to do a couple of feeds, Or cut feeds completely, or switch to bottle and dilute to gently reduce night feeds etc. thanks
