LO is 9.5mths. He started sleeping through the night when he was 3mths. At 6mths he started to wake up frequently during the night.
In the beginning DS would scream in his sleep. We tried soothing him but nothing worked so we ended up waking him to snap him out of it. Later, we didn't need to wake him anymore and giving him his favourite teddy bear did the trick. After a while the teddy no longer worked and we resorted to using the dummy. We've been using the dummy ever since to help him go to sleep at night and when he wakes up during the night (between 1-5 times per night). He doesn't need the dummy for naps and goes down awake/drowsy without any fuss.
For the past 2wks, I've been trying to wean DS from the dummy as I think the night-time wakings may now be linked to him waking and wanting the dummy. It's going quite well and now he will go down without much fuss. If he does fuss, 5-10mins of pat/shush will settle him. Our problem is that this has made no difference to the night-time wakings. When he wakes during the night I am no longer giving him the dummy but will pat/shush instead. Sometimes the second my hand touches his head he settles down, other times he may need me to pat/shush for 10mins. Generally, it takes about 3-5mins. Is my pat/shush a prop now??
I can't see any 'routine' to his night wakings. Basically, it can happen at any time and for any number of times during the night.
Pls pls help. I'm feeling quite low about his now as I thought that once I had weaned him off the dummy our problem would be solved!! :?