Wow, thanks for your quick response!
To start, no, nothing new at all. I guess separation anxiety could be it, but it’s been like this, on & off for a few months. It’ll get better, the worse than before.
That’s a good point about bedtime. We’ll try that!
That’s a good idea to take it one waking at a time. The issue with just having my hand on his back is that he stands up immediately when he wakes & refuses to lay down. We have to put him all the way to sleep, then lay him down & pray he stays asleep. He’s so strong, he arches & squirms & gets up 100x over instead of laying down. Do we just keep laying him down while he’s screaming?
About the feeds, I’m sorry, that’s an error on my part! He nurses after morning WU, then after morning nap, a bottle after afternoon nap (he’ll only eat 4 oz, so I don’t make more) & nurses or bottle before bed as well (if it’s a bottle, he never drinks more than 4 oz). His bedtime routine looks like this:
Dinner
Quiet Play or bath
Book with sister, mommy & daddy
Book with mommy or daddy (if with daddy, he gets a bottle here)
Lights off, sound machine on, nurse
Cuddle for 5 min & sing songs
Pray
Bed
When my husband puts him down, it takes a total of 25 min. When I do it, he wants to play with me & it could take me an hour.