12 Month Old - Great Sleeper Waking 4 or 5 times at night!

[cbg]

Hi,
My dd is just over 12 months and has been a great sleeper all of her life (with a few bumps along the way....but mostly great).  We put her down for the night at about 7:30 and she usually sleeps until 7am the next morning.  Lately (last 2 weeks) she has been waking up crying every few hours from 10pm through dawn.   Half the time she puts herself back to sleep, the other half we have to help with paci or bottle or back rubs or something.  I think that there may be a few things going on....not sure what to tackle and would love some advise!  Here are some ideas:

Naps - She still takes two naps/day - a short one in the am, and an hour and a half in the afternoon.  Rarely any issues going to bed or for a nap, however we messed up the routine over the weekend and she skipped her afternoon nap on both Sat and Sun.  Monday was back to normal however with perfect naps.  Is this a sign that I need to move to one nap?

Paci for sleep - We put several in her bed.  She doesn't use them any other time and there has never been an issue.  Since she started crying at night, I would say that 65% of the time she still has her paci when I peak in on her.  The other 35% of the time, she falls back to sleep when I put it back in.

Hunger/Growth Spurt - For the last 3 nights, we have been giving her a bottle during one of the wake ups.  She will take the whole thing.  Have tried giving her more food during the day with some success.

Teeth - she already has 12 including some molars.  I can't feel any more coming in, but she is displaying some of her typical teething signs (screeching, chewing on everything, irritable, etc.).

Cold - just yesterday the sniffles started.  Nothing major, but I can tell that she has a runny nose and head cold.

So there you go....anyone have any tips as to what we should tackle if anything?  I miss my uninterrupted sleeps and I know that she does, too.   To complicate things some more, we are going to the doctors today for her 12 month shots.  (#&$(#&$(&#!!  Won't be expecting too much from tonight

Thanks in advance for your help!
CBG

[Bryony]

Sounds as if you have identified a comprehensive list of possibilities!  I would think it could be any of those, which probably isn't very helpful of me....  if she's generally getting herself back to sleep though that's great.  Does sound like it could be discomfort so might be teething or the cold. have you tried giving her some paracetamol (UK) / acetominophen (US)?

When did this problem start in relation to skipping the nap on the two consecutive days, I wasn't 100% sure?    And how were the nights after the skipped naps?

I hope the jabs aren't too bad 

Bryony

[momofclaire]

CBG- I am going to pop your post over to the Toddler Sleep forum as it will be better served there, Ok?  Yep, that little girl of yours is officially a toddler! 

[cbg]

Good news and bad news - no shots today, but definitely a full blown cold!  Byrony, the sleep issues started 1.5 weeks before the missed naps, and no, sleep was not good at all on the missed nap nights either.  Will try some Tylenol before bed to see if that helps.  So you don't think it's a paci dependency?

Ugggghhhh.....

Thanks for your help!

[cbg]

Well, a bit better of a night last night, however a big wake up at 5am and took a full bottle.  That's 4 nights in a row.  Yikes, am I accidental parenting??  Will try adding in a few more snacks today.

I miss my full nights of sleep!

[momofclaire]

Can you post your current routine.  You might be about to transition to one nap as early wakes are generally a sign.  Layla is fab at helping people though this.

[cbg]

Here's the normal routine:
7am wake and bottle
8am bft
10am 45 min - 1 hour nap
11am bottle
noon - lunch
2/2:30 nap 1.5 hour
4pm bottle
5:30pm dinner
7:30pm bottle then bed by 7:45/8pm

Thx!!

[momofclaire]

Well, the first thing I would suggest is to try to have her in bed a little earlier, like 7:00-7:15. I would limit the first nap to 45 min and watch for signs that she she might be ready to go to one nap.