Baby won’t sleep unless held

My son is 8 months old and has never slept in his next to me or crib. He breastfeeds to sleep whilst being rocked and then stays latched for quite a long time. If I even try to put him down he immediately wakes up and becomes inconsolable. As a result I’ve been having to let him sleep on me the whole night and it’s beyond exhausting as I’m aware it’s not safe and I can’t fully relax enough to sleep well.
I spend the whole night putting him down on the mattress in the bed with me but as soon as he realises he’s not being held he wakes up fully and screams crying until I pick him up again. I’m completely at a loss with how to fix this as nothing seems to work and he goes from 0-100 within seconds. He will also only contact nap during the day. I spend half my day with him napping on me and the entire night picking up and putting down about 100 times 😂 we are both exhausted.
I’m a single mum so don’t have the option of sharing the night, it’s just me and baby.
Has anyone else dealt with anything similar and had any luck with resolving it? 😪

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Oh that sounds so tough..I really feel for you. Remember it wont last forever even if it doesn't make it easier right now. I dont have any great advice but my son is similar in that he co sleeps but needs to be touching me the whole time. Im sure youve tried all positions but I kind of touch his head with my top arm and rub his tummy. Works mostly! Or I side feed. Ive given up trying to use the crib during the day! Hang in in there, it'll get easier soon x

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My baby is the same. In all honesty I’m still struggling with the night, but as for day time I’ve started putting him on the bed, when he’s “mostly asleep” (as int there’s a bit of movement but his eyes are closed), then when he begins to cry which is almost immediate, just quickly put a dummy in and stay close to him. Idk if this will help and it’s still annoying as it means I have to be beside him but I can actually nap properly for the hour he’s down for. At one point I tried leaving the room to do other things but for me it wasn’t worth it as he’d wake up after half an hour and I could tell he was still tired so I gave up trying to do household tasks and just slept with him. Idk if it’ll work but it’s been a game changer for me I can now get around 3 hours total of sleep in the day which doesn’t sound like much but it’s honestly really helped when it comes to night. Also if your baby is not used to the dummy I can not stress it enough force it in!!

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My baby hated the dummy at first, I’d just hold it in, and then he became used to it, it also means he doesn’t go for my boob as much he’s slowly learning that boob is only for food but comfort hope this helps ❤️

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