J.V.
Your son is super overtired, especially if he is only cat napping during the day and waking hourly after midnight. So, he isn't sleeping well because he is too tired to sleep!
You need to teach him to sleep. You need to be consistent. Either he comes to bed with you, or he sleeps in his crib. If his crib, here are some suggestions to break his bad sleep habits and to get some good ones going:
1.Start putting him to bed EARLIER. My son just turned 1 last week, and he is just now starting to go to bed around 7:15. He use to go to bed at 5:30, then 6, etc. Your son is staying up much too late, thus the early wake up, He should sleep a good 11.5-12 hours every night. So start putting him to bed at 15 minute earlier increments until he sleeps a bit later in the morning.
2. starting with his first waking, try the 5 minutes startle: set the alarm for 5 minutes before his normal wake up time. Go in and startle him enough that he rolls over and his sleep cycle resets. This works well for some kids. I always use this method to get naps to go longer.
3. When he wakes, go to him and tell him it's bed time. Do you normally nurse at wakings? If so, start reducing the amount of time you nurse, starting with the first feeding, and as he drops each wake up time, move on to the next period. If you don't nurse, then comfort him a best you can if you don't want to CIO, but don't bring him to bed unless you want to just cosleep. You could also offer water. I always offer it in a cup to promote "big boy" weaning fully. I also always offer water after weaning nursing down to just a few minutes. After a few nights, they just stop waking.
4. Go get The No Cry Sleep Solution by Pantley and Healthy Sleep Habits By Weissbluth.
