BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => General Sleep Issues => Topic started by: Cookie2005 on September 29, 2006, 08:44:42 am
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Can anyone give me some advice. My little girl turned 9 months last week but for the last few weeks (I'd say 3) all routine we had seems to have gone out of the window and I feel like I can't read my daughter at all anymore.
She has always been a good sleeper from quite an early age and during th day once we had seen her signs of tiredness we would (wherever possible) take her to her room wind her down by sitting in our nursing chair together listening to quiet classical music and then I would transfer her to her cot where she would usually settle well. Oh, she had a dummy at this point and would use it settle and then spit it out.
At night we have a bathtime routine where she would be bathed, have some winddown time with Daddy and then a breastfeed from me. Usually at the end of this feed she would be very sleepy and I would transfer to her cot and she would settle straightaway to sleep for 11 hours.
Apart from the odd restless night which we have put down to teething this has been our routine. On the occasions where she has teethed we have given extra cuddles and where necessary given some calpol which has always done the trick.
Now I can't get her to settle for naps and the evening routine is all over the place too. This morning after she had been awake for 1½ hours she started to rub her eyes and pull at her ears I took her into her room, put her in her grobag and then sat with her in the chair listening to some quiet lullaby's. She was settled and calm and then when she got a little bit wriggly (about 2 mins later) I transferred her to her cot. She started to cry and so I sat next to her cot and held my hand on her chest (pat- shush doesn't seem to work at all and PU PD seems to wind her up more too. Anyways she continues to cry but eventually starts to settle and goes to sleep. This whole process takes about 20 mins as I would expect. SO I wait till her arms have gone totally relaxed and she's let out a big sigh and then slowly remove my hand. That's fine she still settles and so I wait until I am sure she is in deep sleep and I very quietly get up to leave the room - then she springs awake and starts crying and then after that nothing seems to settle her.
At night she will feed as normal and when she is full (she will try to comfort at the end of the feed and so I take her off) andshe will be all sleepy like normal but the minute her head hits the cots she starts to cry. So I do the same again and rest my hand on her chest till she settles like I described above. Then again the same things happens she springs awake the minute I move away and I am very quiet it's as though she senses me moving away.
Now a few things have changed which are:
1. She is teething but they don't seem to be the cause of the problem because I have given some calpol and nothing changes and calpol usually takes the edge off her teething pain.
2. Since her two top teeth arrived she won't take her dummy but will try to comfort on me. She does find comfort in suckling but I can't get her to accept her dummy anymore?
3. I did have her in our bed for a couple of nights a few weeks ago when I had a bad cold and she was very unsettled as I was too exhausted to keep going in to her (I know I shouldn't have done this but I did) we have since though kept her in her cot.
4. She has just started to learn to crawl - she's butterflying along the ground and keeps rolling on to her tummy in her cot. She also wants to walk as she is standing and cruising very well.
So any ideas? Is it just a case of perservering or am I missing something obvious? Has anyone had a similar problem with dummies or at a similar age? Any tips and advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks. :)
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Oh, I forgot to say that LO is (was!) a textbook. :)
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as you mention that she's a textbook, all this sleep wonkiness sounds very developmentally related. especially given all the changes that have happened lately! that does mean you pretty much need to ride it out, as you said.
btw, i don't think she has separation anxiety yet, but it does sound like you are sort of doing the walk in/walk out technique described here, if you wanted some more pointers:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=62612.0
:)
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Just by reading your post, it made me think of my lo..he did the exact same thing. I remember 9 months was a difficult time for him (and me!!!). They seem to go through so much developmentally I think they may have a hard time settling down. Something that worked for me - I tweaked his schedule just a little and then kept it the same, repeating it day after day. He struggled a bit but he eventually worked into it. When he started to crawl and walk - these were both times when he would have a hard time settling down...you could tell he was tired but it seemed his body hadn't got the picture yet. I think the way your coping with it sounds great. Just stay patient with her and try to follow her lead a little. I couldnt do pu/pd with my lo either - it was too stimulating for him. I would just repeatedly go in and put my hand on his back/ rub his back, then once he was calm, leave the room.
Good luck & hang in there - this too will pass!