Could a cold be the cause of new crying?

[Jenna's Mum]

Hi, I haven't posted in a long time, because basically things have been going great.  My daughter is 21 months old and for the past 4 months has been taking one nap, usually lasting anywhere from 1 to 2 hrs, and sleeping through the night no problems.  We did have some difficulties with crying when we were going through the 2-1 nap transition, but like I say for the past 4 months it's been easy sailing.  Last Fri she was congested and by the evening I knew she had picked up a little cold.  This doesn't usually bother her at all, she has had colds before without having it affect her sleep at all.  Now when I put her down for nap or nighttime, I leave the room and she immediately gets up and cries.  Also this might happen after an hour of sleep or so.  I wait for a minute or two and within that time she lays down and goes to sleep.  It's kind of a fake cry, I can tell it's not real, so that's why I wait for a minute.  I'm sure everyone hates the crying and I'm no exception, it makes me very anxious and I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing here or do you think it's maybe just this cold setting her back a few steps?  After she's well again can I expect (hope) that she'll go back to being my good little sleeper?  Here's her routine (before the cold... it's the same with the cold only no playing happily in the crib):

7:00am wake
7:30am get up (she plays happily in her crib for 30 mins before I go in)
8:00am breakfast
9:30am snack
11:30am lunch
12:30pm nap
2:30 - 3pm up from nap (she doesn't usually sleep that long but will play happily until I go in)
3:00pm snack
5:30pm dinner
6:30pm bath
7:30pm bed

Thanks for any advice/opinions.

[MDHmommy]

Hi there!
Possible it might be eye teeth coming in that is causing the runny nose?
Have you guys added any new activities during the day that might be making her OT, like a new play group or something?
Just tossing ideas out there. Hope she does better tonight!
Kate

[Jenna's Mum]

Eye teeth... which exactly are those?  Funny you should mention but I counted her teeth today because I thought she was done but she only has 16 and don't they get 20?  She has been teething and I think maybe still is a little, she chomps on her fingers and says "teeth" with a grimace on her face... but I don't know, can this really cause this amount of congestion and a runny nose?  Well either way, could this all be related to just general discomfort from teeth or cold/congestion? 

[MDHmommy]

I dunno - my DS gets a horrible runny nose - it was worst with the first set of molars and then with his eye teeth (the pointy ones) which took like 2 months to come in!

But I just went back and read your OP and if she's lying down and going B2S pretty much right away - she might just be testing a little to see what you'll do, KWIM?

[Jenna's Mum]

Oh the pointy ones, yes those are the ones she's just finishing cutting now.  They're not totally through yet but almost here and yes they also took probably 2 months!  Well I do know that when she has a cold, or whatever it is, that she regresses back to some "bad" behavior, so maybe this is a throwback to before this happened?  Maybe you're right and she's testing me, but she should know better    Don't get me wrong, I don't leave her to cry, but I do tell her that everything's ok and that I will be back after nap/in the morning, so she knows.  If she sounds genuinely distressed of course I go in and rock her for a minute and that usually helps a lot.  But this crying is totally different and for the first two nights I did go right in because she's sick and I know she was having trouble getting to sleep due to congestion.  As soon as I would walk in she stopped crying and lifted her arms and said "up".  Yeah, it only took a few times before I realized she was just trying it on but still this is not like her, she usually is such a good sleeper.  I guess I'll wait until the congestion clears and see if we can get back on track.  Thanks for your advice, any more is welcome and appreciated 

[MamaC]

We just went through something similar w/ our ds who is 27 months.  He was sick so we tended to him more than usual the first night.  Nights two and three he kept demanding more attention, more water, more songs.  He's so clever now that he kept on asking...what a fast learner!  So I guess what I'm saying is that I think the double whammy of cold/teething is probably setting her back a bit and she's smart enough to know that you feel bad for her and she's trying to see what her boundaries are.  After a night of being stern and telling him he needed to go back to sleep, he's back on schedule.  I hope this helps, I feel a bit fragmented right now!

[MDHmommy]

My DS says "out" every time he wakes in the night. I just say like down sweetie and I'll tuck you in, it's sleep time. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he just lies down every time...it takes a few tries sometimes, but I'm super consistent.

I've learned with MY son that the second I pick him up or rock him we're headed to wards a very slippery slope - and for him, I just can't do that unless there's something seriously wrong i.e. diaper blow out, fever etc. But, that's something I just figured out recently

[Jenna's Mum]

Well I'm wondering if my problem is that I'm assuming she will behave the same each time she gets a cold, but in fact she's growing and I have to remember that they try new behavior out... maybe this is her trying to get me to pick her up and such.  Usually I could pick her up and rock for a few mins, put her back to bed and she goes right back to sleep.  But now she is just crying for more attention so maybe we're entering a new phase as she gets closer to that 2 yr mark, who knows.  I know exactly what you mean MDHMommy about not picking up unless there is something wrong... of course I do if there is something wrong, which is why I was "fooled" into picking her up the first night when she was congested.  I think actually she was bothered by it but not as much as I thought.  Well she's perfectly happy in the daytime so I think she's ok in bed too, just trying for more attention, especially since it is a fake cry.  Thank you for the support, I really do appreciate it... I'll give it a few more days and see how the behavior is after this cold goes away.  Thanks.