Hi PumpkinZulu,

My DS is 8 months old and is also a frequent waker at night; 5-6-7 times is normal for us. I am also exhausted as he has been like this since he was about 3 months old. I really dread going to bed for the night. My DS wouldn't let me spoon feed him at all so we are also doing BLS - this means that while he loves to play with his food and have a gnaw on anything that comes his way, like you said not too much ends up going down.

We recently went to a "gentle" (it wasn't) sleep clinic and I came home in tears. Although we aren't following their methods (basically CIO while they tell you it's ok), the nurse (who was also a MW and LC) did give us some useful tips which have helped us a bit. Firstly she pointed out that as DS isn't getting too much in the way of solid food, his night feeds as well as frequent day feeds are obviously still his main source of nutrition. So while he doesn't need to feed 6-7 times a night he does probably still need to feed a couple of times overnight. She said that these feeds need to be full feeds i.e not sucking for 2 mins to get back to sleep. She said try to keep him awake or at least sucking strongly for the overnight feeds, making sure he gets both sides at each feed, then hopefully he might be able to transition between sleep cycles a bit easier with a fuller tummy. I treat him like he was a newborn - tickling his feet, ribs, making clicking noises to keep him a bit more awake on there! We're doing this and finding that we are getting a longer stretch (2-3) hours between feeds on some nights now.

I'm sure it's been mentioned already (haven't had a chance to read all the other replies) but the No Cry Sleep Solution has some great ideas. But obviously you have to find the right time to start - when you've got the energy and the motivation to do it. Sometimes I just feel so exhausted I honestly just can't be bothered to change things or just think that it will fix itself. I've found it's much easier to put ideas into practice during the day, when you're a bit more awake and there's not that sense of urgency about just getting back to sleep asap.

The other thing the MW mentioned was that obviously DS has no desire to change things - he's got everything he needs, every time he wakes up he gets a nice full tummy of milk and some cuddles! So expect to meet resistance basically. I agree with this to a point but think that changes can be made gently but it takes time, patience and consistency as well as flexibility if things aren't working. You'll get there, it sounds like you've got great support from everyone here too! Big hugs fatigue is so hard to deal with and just affects every aspect of your life. It sounds like you're doing a great job handling it all. Sometimes it's good just to hear that there are other people out there also not getting much sleep and that eventually you will...although I'm sure it seems like an eternity away!

Hope some of that helps anyway!