Don't know where to begin?!?!

[charr9]

HI Everyone   I will try to keep this as short and to the point as possible but it's a big mess!!!

My DD just turned 17 months and has never been an independent sleeper which is my fault I know lol......I should have sleep trained her ages ago for her sake.
She wakes a lot at night and I don't know where to start?

She generally wakes at 9:00, naps from about 1:30 to 3:30 (sometimes less, sometimes a bit longer) and then bed at about 9:30
I know this is late and we got into this later BT when she switched to 1 nap but I didn't want to mess with it too much as it is what works best for us so far.  I'm hoping when the time changes in November it will all just be an hour earlier (fingers crossed)

She goes to bed easily but falls asleep in my arms in a rocking chair in her room after she nurses.  I lay her in her crib and walk out but she will wake after a few hours calling/crying for me.  It has gotten to the point where I just bring her to bed with me because when I have tried calming her back to sleep she gets very upset to the point where she was purposely banging her face on the crib for me to pick her up

When she naps in the afternoon I have been laying with her in my bed as well because everyone was soooo tired it just seemed to be the only way we were getting sleep.

My DH works away and is only home every 3rd week which makes this hard but also agrees we need to do something but I have NO IDEA where to begin???  I'm thinking GW would be our best bet but really don't know......Please Help!!

[charr9]

I would like to convert her crib to a bed so she can't bang her face but that could be a whole other mess.  What if I do that and sleep in her room for a few nights and try GW that way?

[HenaV]

Hi!

I think you're right on the money re: GW. I think that is going to be the way you can change your current situation. To start off with that does mean that your LO needs to stay in her own bed. Given that she is used to coming into bed with you it may be that you have to sleep in her room initially next to her crib, gradually moving away until you're at the door and then the other side of the door iykwim?

Re: converting her crib... I guess you could convert it given you're going to do something anyway, but equally I wonder f that may exacerbate the situation. if it were me, I would persevere with the GW 1st and when that is fixed change up her bed.

Re: your day I'm just wondering whether your morning is a little short at 4.5h. You have a 12.5h day so could perhaps push the morning out a little to balance ut ut say to 2pm for the nap. If you are going to do that then Id push out 15m hold for a few days and then push out for another 15mins and hold again - rinse and repeat until you're happy that you're happy with things.

what do you think?

[charr9]

Thanks HenaV

Sounds good to me......I was thinking the same thing about our morning and am going to push it slowly like you suggested.  She's used to nursing to sleep beside me for naps so today was way later than 1:30 anyway because she fought me tooth and nail wanting to nurse.  She had her lunch then nursed about 1:15 in the living room instead of in bed with me so naptime was at 2:40 after she threw up from crying but she did finally lay down and go to sleep and I stayed beside her crib until she woke after 1h35.  Bedtime was much the same because she wants to nurse but she finally fell asleep on her own with me next to the crib and thankfully didnt get sick! But it was nearly 11:00 eeek!!!! Poor thing. Is it crazy to try PD at this age? That seems to be the one thing that worked for us before?

Thanks for your help......ill let you know how our night goes (fingers crossed)

[HenaV]

I don't think so. My DDs an independent sleeper but we went through some crazy sleep shenanigans just before her 2nd birthday. Because she's in a BGB I also had to use PD in that I had to put her back in her bed, lay her down, use our sleepy phrase and do WU/WO.

I think if you can be firm with what you are doing and remain consitesnt PD and GW will work a treat for you.

I hope that your night was better. Keep up
The good work!! X

[charr9]

Well last night was a rough one with 4 nws but she did go back to sleep on her own one of those times lol the other times I did use PD which does work eventually but she is very persistent!! I now think sleeping beside her is a bad idea because when she sees me she wants to nurse back to sleep where as if I'm not there she sometimes goes back to sleep....aaahhhh lol.........the worst was at 5:30 when she really wasn't happy about going to sleep on her own but we got there eventually.  She was definitely OT for her nap but happily played in her crib before falling asleep easily but way late!! She then woke 20 mins later and absolutely refused to go back down.  I tried for ebt but it ended up being 8:45 and she went with not much fuss which was a great relief Fingers crossed for a better night

I changed her window coverings so they are darker now so hopefully that helps too. 

Thanks for the support!