Okay, feel like I am losing it, well not quite but sort of. I am looking for some advice here. Sam has mainly been rocked to sleep since he was born. We always try to put him in his cot when he is tired and sleepy but mostly he then cries and we try either stroking his head and patting or light rocking. Often he needs resettling and will then get taken out of the cot at least once to rock again. Lately we are trying to stop rocking as much as Sam is really not learning to settle himself. I know he is young but we just want to start a little bit.
The last two afternoons he wakes around 3.30pm and even though he starts getting tired around 5pm he just won't go back to sleep, just lies there. So back up again for a feed around 6pm then because he is so tired I put him down around 6.15-6.30pm. The last two nights he just won't settle til 8pm and then sun goes down. First night tried rocking etc, but its like when you pick him up out of the cot he starts crying even more. That night I let him cry for about 40 minutes, it wasn't screaming just more whinging but he just won't settle. Nothing we do seems to help which is why we left him there as we tried rocking, aquarium on, stroking, patting. Last night same thing except he was hesterical. After 15 minutes of this I couldn't hack it, tried rocking didn't work, tried soothing, tried dummy for a few minutes, tried feeding for 5 minutes. 8pm came and my husband gave him the dummy and rocked him and wihtin 1 minute he was asleep. I can't stand listening to him that upset. I don't mind a bit of whingy crying but this was awful and nothing we did helped.
This morning, he is usually really good at settling but no, we are crying again. When I took him up this morning, I wrapped with one arm out (started doing for a week) and he just didn't want to be rocked. 10 minutes of rocking and he was crying still, so I put him in his cot with the aquarium on and he is whingy crying at moment. I think he may settle but it is doing my head in. I feel like I have completey lost control again and I don't know what to do!!
Sorry for the long winded essay, but just want some advice on what others do. I don't mind really rocking him but when we go out in the stroller becuase he just can't settle himself at all I have real troubles and I just want to start teaching him to settle a little. I am not keen on leaving him to cry for long periods of time, happy for about 20-30 minutes as long as it is just light crying or whinging. If he is hesterical I go and try to calm him but he doesn't even want to be calmed!! Its like becuase he has then been awake so long he is over it.
Okay, now I have that off my chest I will attempt at having a shower, he has been quiet for 5 minutes so fingers crossed.