New to night wakings

[suza24]

Hi, My 19 month old daughter has taken to waking in the night.  One of us will go in and sit next to her cot until she falls asleep again but this can take up to 2 hours!! if she is laying down facing away from you then she checks to see if you are still there every so often and if you are not, she cries again.  we are very tired as we also have a 4 month old wo cannot sleep without the dummy!!  How can we help our eldest daughter to not wake or settle more easily?  Many thanks

[sianie]

Hi there!

Sorry you're having a tough time! It's especially hard when you have another LO to care for too!

Could you please post your current routine?

How long has she been waking at night for? Is she teething?

Hang in there & I'll try & help. 

[suza24]

Thanks!!  She eats at 5pm, Baths at 6pm and plays until 8pm.  She has been doing this fot many months now but has started waking at night for about 2 weeks now.  She might be teething I guess?  Nothing obvious there at the moment....She seems quite distressed when she wakes and has been miserable during the day too but i think thats down to her being tired.  She will nap for about an hour during the day but getting her to do that is a struggle! She is tired, she just doesn't want to go to bed!!  She is not great at eating alot of things and I'm wondering if she is lacking in iron or something? 

[sianie]

I need a bit more info on your routine please....could you also tell me what time she naps?

Also, what time does she wake up in the morning?

Is her BT 8pm?

Thanks.

[suza24]

Yes, bed at 8pm.  she naps about 1 ish for about an hour.  Sometimes she has longer.....She has also started waking earlier in the morning (usually between 7 and 8, now between 6 and 7) in a real state.  takes ages to calm her down and she is pretty misserable all day.  really getting us both down now....

[sianie]

A 1hr nap is on the short side for a LO her age so I wonder if this is causing the OT. Most LO's around her age would be having around a 2hr nap. I also think the nap may be a bit too late.

I would try pulling the nap time back to 12pm (especially as she is waking earlier). Try this for a few days to see if it makes a difference......let me know how you get on!