Annabel is a well documented bad night sleeper! I am posting here since she is almost 1, and given that she has been NWing for months I would probably end up moving the thread over here in a couple of weeks anyway.
She does STTN sometimes but generally with a WU of 5:30ish which is bearable but not ideal. Most night she has one NW, which wouldn't be so bad except it is nearly always 2hrs long. The times vary but she usually wakes after midnight.
Obviously I would love for her not to wake up, but since it's still happening I'm more looking for a way to handle them, or if anyone has any ideas how to at least get her back to sleep quicker. What usually happens is that she wakes up and will fuss / mantra cry for a while and then go quiet for a few minutes. Repeat repeat repeat. Since she seems like she's settling herself I hold off on going in but she keeps starting up again. I am reluctant to go in because then what happens is she goes quiet and seems like she's asleep but when I leave she goes nuts. She never screams until after I've intervened so I try to stay out, but if I don't go in I'm just sitting there listening to her cry on and off for hours
I don't know why she wakes, what she wants, or why she can't go back to sleep. She is an IS, has no props, and it doesn't seem to make any difference what her day has been like. So basically I'm spending 2hrs most nights either listening to her cry and wondering whether to go in (to be clear this is obviously not CIO, she is fussing but I end up feeling bad that it goes on for so long), or trapped in her room wondering whether I can leave! I also don't know what it is about the 2hr mark that that is nearly always the point at which she goes back to sleep. Not sure if I'm missing something in a sleep deprived haze, or if she really is just a night time mystery. I'm sure I've missed out a load of relevant details, but she's awake right now and I'm tired
