What is going on ???

[momofnewbaby]

Sorry, haven't been around much, but really need help in finding out what is going on with my dd these days. She has been a great sleeper, and thanks to bw techniques, we haven't really had much problems that we couldn't solve, but for the past few days we're stumped as to why she's crying when we put her in bed. She can cry and cry, and its the desparate cry,
and she'll call for me to come in, and this usually lasts for about 5-10 minutes; but if we intervene, the crying escalates, and could last for upto a 1/2 hour - 45 minutes. Her routine looks somewhat like this :

wake up b/w 7:30-8
nap from 1-2:15
sleep 7:30

Is it that she needs less sleep. We've tried pushing bedtime to 8, even 7, but nothing seems to be working. And it breaks our hearts to have her CIO, but because she gets more agitated if we intervene, we're left with no choice right now. Please give me an idea as to why this could be happening.

What do your 2 year olds schedules look like? Should I be putting her to bed even later? I'm at my wits end, and any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sumita

[Erin M]

That doesn't sound like a good situation - do you ask her what's wrong?  Can she tell you what's wrong?  I know my 22 month dd can often give me a clue as to why she's upset and we can solve her problem.  Does she have a lovey or other "friends" in her bed?  How about some books or a sippy of water?  We tell my dd that she needs to take care of her friends in her bed which helps her.  She's also got a Fisher Price Ocean Wonders aquarium that she watches which helps her wind down. 

If she's two, does she have her molars yet?  It could be teething pain. 

Not sure if any of this helps, just wanted to throw some suggestions out to you so you don't leave her to cry.

[*Natasha*]

My DD is doing this at the moment and we are almost certain it is due to her cutting her eye teeth. All we do is stand outside her room if she starts to get upset and just Shhhh until she settles down. If we go into her it often akes her longer to resettle.

[Katet]

One thing I have found almost always works when I've had bedtime problems ie being upset when put to bed, is to actually spend more time getting them ready for bed eg longer stories, or longer cuddles with time spend talking about what we did that day, As they get older I think they need more time to "process the day"

[momofnewbaby]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Can't see her eye teeth coming, but maybe thats what is bothering her. We're trying to spend a little bit more time before bed with her, that seems to be helping. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Sumita

[Leah's Mom]

It sounds like a lot of us are having these problems right now. My DD has ALWAYS gone to sleep like an angel. She is very spirited, but because of BW is an excellent sleeper. Since Christmas she screams at bedtime. She still sleeps through the night, but does not want to go to bed. She too gets very upset and screams louder when I go back into her room. I read in another post to lay beside the crib while she goes to sleep. I tried this tonight. She was very agitated and screamed to the point of almost throwing up, but I kept telling her I was there etc. Eventually she calmed down and went to sleep (after about an hour). I'm really glad I stuck to it and didn't do any AP. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! Worth a try! (BTW, my DD is getting her 2 year molars. I think this may be part of the issue)