2 year old night wakings

[SAHM]

Our almost 2 year old daughter has been waking in the night for 5 months now.  She will wake anywhere from 1 time to 6 times.  She will wake for several days, then have a night where there is no waking.  It all started with a cold, then traveling, then a cold again and on and off sickness all winter.  Now her 2 year molars are coming in.  What do we do during these times to not start any bad habits?  She has always gone to sleep by herself but has recently been hysterical when we put her in her bed at night.  Her routine is as follows:

6am-7am wakes
12-12:30 down for nap
2-2:30 wake from nap
7-7:30 to bed (sometimes falls asleep right away, but usually not for 30-45min crying off and on)

What are we doing wrong?  When we go in to her at night we do not pick her up and she settles as soon as she sees us.  Although usually once in the night she is inconsolable and screaming and kicking.  Usually wakings are for 1-3 hours or every 3 hours.  She typically does at least one 6 hour stretch either in the first half of the night or the second half. 

[greenlady]

Hi

Firstly I'm a newby too - so welcome to BW.  Have you been around the site and/or read any of Tracey's books?  We've been following BW since my daughter was 4 months old and I can't recommmend it enough,.  She's now 25 months and sleeps through the night, and if she does occasionally wake up , she self soothes herself back to sleep.  But, it was only because of BW that we have this.  But, I'm no expert - there are some real pros on this site, but as you hadn't had a reply I thought I'd drop a line and say "wow" 5 months of EW and broken nights - you must be so tired - so lots of hugs .

Just a quick look at your routine would say to me that she is getting overtired by BT which is why she's crying when being put down.  To go from 2.30 to 7.30  is 5 hours..may be you could bring BT earlier, or stretch the nap. 
We had a problem after a cold with getting back to a full night sleeps.  You just have to stick it out, and do WI/WI.  It does work, and if she is hysterical, then just don't pick her up, but sooth in the cot, and she will learn that she has to help herself.  This is where Traceys books are so good, as she has lots of examples of this.  But, warning - it can take a while.

Good luck, I hope others will post and give you more help than this.

Julia

[Layla]

Hi and welcome to the site!

Illness, travel, teething, etc... can all bring on sleep disturbances.

I just wanted to make sure... at the moment when she wakes you go to her and do you then sit by her side until she's asleep again???

How does she fall asleep for the nap? Her routine looks good to me to be honest and 5-5.5hrs is about the av A times for a toddler. Does she wake mid-nap at all and require your presence to get back to sleep?

[SAHM]

At present we are doing WI/WO unless she is extremely upset, and even then we don't pick her up.  In fact we've been doing WI/WO since this has started.  We do not stay with her but simply say something to her and leave the room.  Occasionally she does wake during naps as well and we do the same thing. 

I am extremely frustrated because she sleeps great for a day or two then starts in again.