Oh Mel, I'd never tell you to butt out. You're keeping me sane through this, I can assure you.

Answering your questions... we have a routine to a degree, but with Blake being a 2nd child with a much older (8yo) sister she has plenty of activities that impact on a routine that takes effect every night. However that being said the late afternoon routine goes along the lines of a 4pm b/f, 5pm nap - if he misses this he's very messy and doesn't last the distance - wakes after 40mins, 6pm-ish solids, then play, pj's and bed with a last feed about 7.30/8pm. Bed time is always saying goodnight to the trees which he loves and an alligator toy on his window, blinds down, a cuddle on the chair in his room then a feed and a song. Sometimes he falls asleep during the feed and sometimes not.

Most of his feeds during the day are in the chair in his room as he's so distracted feeding anywhere else in the house it's not worth the effort. I know they say they'll feed if they're really hungry anywhere, but I like to keep it simple.

If he has an evening bath which he does every second night or so, he plays and gets very excited. I'm not sure if it relaxes him for bed or not to be honest!

I generally have the night light on so he has some light in his room to feed by, and this stays on all night.

His sleeps during the day are... 9.00 - 9.45am, 12.15ish - 2pm, 5.00-5.45pm. I don't really think he's getting too much sleep during the day. As I said above, he struggles to last through dinner if he doesn't have a 5pm catnap.

He's doing well with his solids. He's on two meals a day, lunch and dinner and seems to be going well with them. He's probably ready to have breakfast too but I haven't got that far yet as I'm still trying to get my head around timing of that one - another long story as he wont have a b/f when he wakes and only has it about 9am when he goes down for his nap. Do I give him breakfast which will fill his tummy and perhaps reduce the amount he has for his b/f at 9am??? Anyway I'm digressing but please feel free to add your 2c here also!

I've been online so long answering your post (with a phone call from my DD inbetween as she's having a sleepover with my mum tonight!) he woke after 40 minutes, cried out and settled himself without a fuss - one win to us!

As I said before I don't really want to go to sleep school and do the control crying thing. I did do it with DD who had different problems that affected her sleeping and it worked a treat and she's been a great sleeper ever since. I think it's fairly harsh way of dealing with his sleep issues, but if I get too desperate I may just do this from home... who knows!

Thanks for you support. It means a lot.
xx