Is this just a phase he is going through??

:help: I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me! My DS is 9 months old and has NEVER really been a good sleeper (takes after his daddy and also my brother) and I've learned to deal with that by co-sleeping part or all of the night as I need sleep.

We went on a trip to the US last month (3-15 of Oct) to visit my friends and family and introduce James to people who hadn't met him yet. He handled the travel well, really enjoyed the time we were there (and slept some better I think) and adjusted well to being back at home.

I started cutting out some of his night feeding as he would be waking and coming to bed with us, attaching himself to the boobie, and staying there all night. So once we returned from our trip I started using other methods of re-settling (rocking, patting, walking, wrapping, etc.) to settle him back to sleep and not offering boobie for about 5-6 hours and he seemed to be doing well and sleeping blocks of 3-5 hours which was a good improvement for him.

Then his top two front teeth came in, both together (within 4 days of each other) and we had a miserable week while that was happening. But both are through the skin now so I thought the worst was behind us.

However, this week, he seems to still be waking frequently and refusing to be settled in any other way other then either sleeping on my chest or being attached to the boobie. I don't sleep well in either of these situations so I'm feeling a bit tired and wondering if there is anything I should/could/might do to help him sleep better again without needing/wanting the boobie.

I've thought that perhaps he was going through a growth spurt, but the last couple of days he has sort of been off the solids a bit (not even wanting mango and that is his favorite food at the moment) so I'm not sure that is the issue.

Yesterday he was VERY clingy and unsettled and b/f much more often during the day then he normally does, didn't sleep well during the day (only had 3 naps of 45 minutes each), and just wasn't himself - so now I'm thinking maybe he is coming down with something, but today he seems more himself - despite a very rough night last night.

My DH and I are in agreement that we don't want to use controlled crying with him and we are happy to co-sleep if it helps everyone get a goodnight sleep. When he does sleep in his bed he is still in our room (his bed is right next to my side of the bed) and we are happy for him to stay in our room until he is ready for a regular bed I would say.

So I am at a loss what to think as it feels like we have taken a DOZEN steps backward so any thoughts, comments, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Heidi

Is it possible that he is teething again? That sounds like what my DS done when he was teething. He was very sooky, ddin't want solids, woke often.