13 mths, NW and needing rocked to sleep in pram - Help please :-)

[RachandHarry]

Hi Ladies,

My wee girl is almost 13 months.  She's always needed less sleep than her brother at this age and has always been a settled sleeper although it did take her longer to sleep through the night.

About 2 weeks ago, she decided that she no longer wants to settle to sleep on her own which she has always happily done.  We're now in a horrible cycle of rocking her to sleep in the pram then moving her to her cot after half an hour or so.  I've no idea how to get back on track as she just rolls over and stands up when I try to soothe her in her cot.  Have tried WI/WO and she just ends up a horrible screaming, seriously upset mess!  i'm mad with myself, but even tried the CIO method as nothing seems to be working.  She's also started waking in the night, I think she isn't getting enough solids but that's a whole other story for another day lol. 

Her typical day:
WU 6.30-7.30am
Nap: 11.30/12- 2ish
BT 6.30-7.

Any suggestions would be VERY gratefully received.

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If she has always been lower sleep needs it may be time to cap the nap &/or push bedtime a bit later. DD3 is lsn and we have been capping for ages. Also I am thinking gradual withdrawal is the way to go as with a CIO attempt she will probably not be trusting of you to come back with wi/wo. We don't support any CC or CIO on this site but we can help figure out a better way to get her sleeping independently again.

As for eating, I find sometimes my toddler can seem to exist on air and still sleep...it has less and less of an impact on sleep the older they get. What does her day look like in terms of solids/milk etc?

[RachandHarry]

Thanks for your reply, I'm totally aware CIO is a really bad option but I crumpled :-(  Cannot stand hearing her so upset but I'm at my wits end.  She's having solids 3 times a day, won't eat puree'd food, just finger food so it's hard to get huge volume in and about 650mls milk a day.  She's been a fussy baby from day one, always wanting things her way lol.  We're going to try capping, I guess that's the only way.  I do sometimes wonder if we're in a OT loop.  The other day she was up for 5 hours in the afternoon, tried settling to bed with no luck.  and in the end it was 9pm before she crashed (7 1/2 hours up!)

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

My DD3 is 16 months now but has been doing 6 ish hour A times pre and post nap with ease. I doubt the waking is food related (I try to keep in mind that a child's stomach is roughly the size of their fist so portions are super small for a kid). As an example DD3 is 16 months and had 4 mini ravioli, 1 tbsp of cooked carrots, a few small pieces of pear and a small cookie for lunch. Plus water. That is a pretty average meal.

Might be the 5 hr A was too short but then got a second wind and ended up ot. Does she show any tired signs? My DD is silly and will nod yes when she is tired and then quickly nod no once she realizes that means bedtime! That and she sticks her ineex finger in her right ear (my MIL and I both noticed that one, so odd).

[ewabear]

Hi, I just spotted this. My 16 month old LO is EBF on 3 feeds a day so I cannot really tell how much milk she is getting, but she can eat 2 whole weetabix with glass of milk 1 h after her morning feed, 2 hours later she eats breakfast with me, sandwich most of the time. Then she has her nap and another feed, and again 1h later lunch. Around 3 pm she will have fruit and dinner aroun 4:30. Her last feed is at 5:15 just before BT.
As you can see she has 3 milk feeds, 3 proper meals and 2 snacks, there isn't much time do do amything else sometimes as eating consumes most of our time
She is tall, but skinny, but they burn so mamy calories. As per sleeping 6 h A is the way to go, LO always wants to sleep after 5 so I have to distract her. She sleeps 1 h during the day and it seems to agree with her.
Do you think set naps? Like if she wakes up at 6:30, 12:30 nap?
I know it is rediculous but LO can be put to bed too early and fuss in bed which then results in her not falling asleep at the right time and getting OT in the end so getting BT right is soo important isn't it?
Hope this helps