Trouble in Paradise?

I don't know what to do. He's waking us up in the middle of the night screaming his head off for what appears to be no reason, and no matter what we do, there's no calming him. We'll pick him up and cuddle him, reassure him things are okay, change his nappy if needs be, or pour him a bottle of warm milk to try and calm him, but it is usually a temporary situation. Once he finishes the bottle he's screaming again.

Last night we brought him into the bed with us, it was cold so we thought that was the problem. It worked briefly, then when Patrick got out of bed Bas started screaming again. Another ten minutes was spent trying to calm and reassure him. We'd turned on the light in the hall to give us some light on the subject, which helped in the calming (which brought me to thinking he may have developed a fear of the dark), and after a time we decided it would be safe to turn it off. As soon as it went dark, Bas started to scream again.

This one didn't last as long, but it was frustrating. It was three o'clock in the morning, it was cold, everyone was tired and Patrick had to go to work today. He eventually settled, but after an eternity of flipping and flopping all over the bed. Then, some point after sunrise, Bas thought it would be a brilliant idea to wake me up with a slap in the face. Literally. I was asleep, he chose to sit up and pound me one right across the face as I lay there, head resting on the pillow. A short while after that Patrick put him back in his cot where he stayed untroubled til about 10am.

I have no idea what the problem is. All I know is that it's wearing me down to the point where I'm tired all the time because of frequently interrupted sleep. I don't know how Patrick is coping with it, and he has to get up early for work most days of the week. There is no sign of teething, and I can't tell if he's having a growth spurt or not. All I have is one irritable child, and an exhausted me.

I hope it sorts itself out very soon.