Hi Astrid,

Sounds like Melinda has given you lots of great advice in her posts.
I would also like to add that we are used to Al waking after the first sleep cycle too. We tend not to pick him up, just pat him, re-plug him and he falls back to sleep.
But there are times when he does fully wake up if there's something bothering (like teeth for example). When this happens I usually hold him close to my chest and sometimes gently bounce with him on the fitball until he goes back to sleep. Which it sounds like your doing something similar too.
Sometimes I think the reason he gets so upset is because he actually wants to be asleep - he's tired!! Maybe your bub is also. I know for me, I can't sleep with music playing, maybe she feels the same way? I usually hum a few rounds of Brahms lullaby and he knows its sleep time.

Sounds like some ideas are formulating for you in terms of making your shared bedroom space more restful. It will certainly benefit you all once that is organised.

If you can't shut the cats out then I suppose you have to accept them as being part of the routine. Probably best to ignore the meows and not make a big deal out of them. The baby will probably be used to hearing the cat sounds anyway.

Hope these teeth come through soon for you Maggie..