need suggestions!! (long)

shea5711

DS will be 18 weeks old on monday and sleep has been challenging for the last 6 weeks. At 10 weeks DS sstn in crib for 2 weeks and then came down with bronchial infection. While sick, he slept best when snuggling (of course) and has been sleeping in our bed ever since.  Also, for the last month he wakes to BF every hour.  While it's convenient to just roll over and nurse, I'm SOOO READY to have my bed back.  

Also, its been difficult to get him to get a couple hours of sleep right off the bat.  He'll get 6 to 8 oz for the last bottle.  He'll doze off and as soon as you lay him down, he cries.  We let him CIO for about 10 min, bc by now he's super pissed.  So I nurse him to calm him down and he falls asleep and we try again.  We do this about 3 times or so and then I just say screw it and let him sleep with us.  We all need sleep!!  If he does stay asleep when you lay him in crib, it only lasts about 30-45 min.  

He naps at the sitter for up to 3 hrs at a time.  She says he falls asleep after bottle or swing and he's out.   I can never get him to nap very long.  It's so frustrating....

At this point, I'm open to suggestions on what has worked for you.  Even if he wakes for a feeding at night is fine.  I just want him out of my bed!  Sttn would just be a bonus! 

sbevmc09

4 months can be a challenging time.  There's a lot going on with their mental and physical development and it call kind of comes together to really throw things off, including sleep.  My advice would be to wait a few weeks and then do the transition from your bed.  I think it will be a lot easier on everyone.  JMO though.

Have you explored an alternative between your bed and the crib?  Maybe something that you could have next to your bed?  I know you ultimately want him in his crib, but maybe you could find some middle ground for the time being.  

Is the sitter doing anything else with sleep that maybe you're not?  White noise (or even just background noise since I assume there are other kids around) or maybe longer periods between sleep?   3 hours is a pretty long nap time at this age.  Every baby is different, for sure, but that seems like a really long nap to me.  Maybe too much daytime sleep is negatively effecting night sleep?