aw babe, hugs!!!
15 mins seems like an eternity i know but i did it with my DD a few times and then she just learnt i wouldnt come in...if its an angry cry he probably is just peed off at you caus hes used to being rocked etc...
i might get crucified for saying this but its not in the gentle parenting section so i should be ok...if hes fed, not too hot or cold, no wind, etc, then its ok to let him cry (more like protest) for a while (and i know it breaks our hearts!!)
some ideas u may hav already thought of could be maybe hes sleeping too much during the day, maybe hes uncomfy (wind, teething), also around this age they get seperation anxiety
HTH hun
Does he have a comfort object? I found that DS is happy to sit in a dark room with his bunny and all I have to do is sit by the bed and read/type while he goes to sleep. If he cries I can just tell him that I'm there and he needs to go to sleep. That calms him down.
For the nights, I just give DS a drink of water (still!). But he has a slurp while I go to the loo and when I'm finished half the time he's back to sleep anyway.
Another thing that helps is giving porrige before bedtime. That fills them up for the whole night so waking is a lot less likely.
NP hun, and lady zaidie is spot on about the water/comfort toy...
they can get fairly ridiculous sometimes i know my DD would scream and work herself up so much and youd think omg she is gonna cry herself to death and you go in and they smile and stop...thats when you know its not on anymore! LOL
DD is teething atm and i hate having to give her nurofen before bed most nites but she seriously would not sleep/settle without it (imagine being with someone you like all day, but have a headache, then they leave and u feel like crap...as if you wanna go to sleep!)
No judgement here hun. We have had lots of sleep issues here too.
One thing that helped (didn't solve everything though!) was to delay DS's bedtime on the nights he wasn't interested in going down. So this meant that some nights he was up until 10 or 11pm It was just way easier than spending hours settling him to sleep only to have him wake 40mins later. Often when he was up longer in the evenings, he slept longer stretches overnight too. Now, at 12 months, we're back to a more decent bedtime.
ETA - Sorry had to dash to feed DS. A lot of parents find sleeping on the floor of the nursery on a mattress is helpful. You're right there if it's a seperation thing and can often respond quickly (so re-settle faster). I've even heard of putting the baby on a mattress on the floor being helpful. Some kids just don't like cots.
Have you thought about a sleep school? They're not for everyone and we haven't been but you do sound like you need some support IRL. Friends I know who've been have returned with mixed reviews. If you don't like it or it's not helpful you can always leave early.
I'm not sure if you're b'feeding or not or how you'd feel about this but I have friends who have always given the last feed as a formula bottle in order to get a longer stretch of sleep. It's not something I've personally done but I've been told it can work.
hun. You sound at the end of your rope. I really empathise with needing toothpicks to keep your eyelids open.
Huge hugs to you hun. I don't have solutions to offer I'm afraid but I just wanted to offer some hope. DD's sleep followed almost exactly the same pattern. Brilliant 'till 5 months and then gradually deteriorated 'till by 8 months she was waking 3-5 times a night and was a nightmare to settle / resettle. We haven't really changed much (apart from adding a few little tricks which sometimes help her get to sleep like a particular toy or when I jiggle her a particular way) but on her own she's gradually started to get better. She still needs to be rocked to sleep but she's resisting it less now so it usually takes abt 10 minutes, and now she's back to waking 1 or max 2 times a night.
It WILL change. I hope so much that it changes very very soon for you. Sleep deprivation is torture. Sending you lots and lots of ZzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzz's!
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It was just way easier than spending hours settling him to sleep only to have him wake 40mins later. Often when he was up longer in the evenings, he slept longer stretches overnight too. Now, at 12 months, we're back to a more decent bedtime.
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