He just wants to be held all day......

[Mummato2]

I used controlled comforting with my 1st son which worked well and I have tried it with him but again will only work a few times and then he just screams when I try it again...... The longest he will sleep during the day is 1/2 an hour and when he wakes he cryes and wants to go back to sleep so it starts all over again.

Controlled crying won't work any time before they are about 6 months of age because before then they're so immature they just don't understand why a need isn't being met.

After the 6 month mark, they start to understand actions and reactions.

He is not even sleeping well at night so never realy catches up on the missed sleep, most nights up every 3-4 hours. I keep thinking maybe its an upset tummy or growth spurt but it just keeps getting worse and its even getting hard to get him to sleep at night now so I am going crazy with no sleep myself and a very unhappy baby.

May I suggest something that worked BRILLIANTLY for both my DS and is working really well for my DD?

Get the DVD "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr Harvey Karp. I would be more than happy to burn you a copy and get it posted to you ASAP and in the meantime give you more ideas on settling your baby.

It talks about the first few months being a 4th trimester and they talk about different settling strategies you can use.

From about 4 months on, I loved the Baby Whisperer (not Shayne Rowley but the American site) for their settling techniques (shh/pat etc). But I found this only worked after 4 months - so both Baby Whisperer and THBOTB worked well together (similar principles)

Now is the time to start thinking about what sort of routine you'd like bub to adopt in the coming months and introduce the concepts slowly. For example, if you want them to sleep in a bassinet for day sleeps, but cot at night, slowly introduce the cot and bassinet at the right times of day - and celebrate the times they stay there - even for the shortest amounts of time.

Like for me, I wanted my DS in his cot for all but 1 sleep and 1 sleep in the living area. So when he was about 4 months I would get him to do 1 sleep cycle in whichever area he needed to be in for the time of day - and I'd praise him if he even slept 20 minutes without interruption. Gradually it got longer and longer - but the other thing to remember is that babies LOVE routine and predictability - so are less inclined to get upset if they know what's coming next.

Start a bedtime routine before nighttime sleep and have a smaller variation for daytime sleep.

I too have a 2 year old, so I completely get the time constrictions of settling a new baby as well as entertaining a toddler.

It does get easier and with bubba 2 I think the key is to start out with consistency and praise the times they do it - even for a short amount of time - and go with the flow.

Good luck and let me know if I can help with you that copy of the DVD

[CrazyLady]

It might be worth getting your son checked at the doctors to eliminate any medical conditions. Just as a precaution more then anything. My wee one was diagnosed with silent reflux at 8 weeks and after we got her medication she slept right through the night compared to 3 hours total.