Toddler starting to wake again

[hawaiigal]

Hi!  My daughter is 14 1/2 months old, and she has been sleeping through the night since about 7 months (aside from occasional teething issues).  However, she has been waking up at night for the past two weeks, and I'm starting to lose it.

Her wakings are at different times every night, but in general she wakes up every 15 - 30 minutes (for up to 2 hours or longer) until I give her Tylenol & Orajel & sometimes I also have to keep my hand on her until she is deeply asleep.  I do not know for sure if it's a tooth causing the problem because I cannot see back into her mouth (perhaps it's molar - I will try to look with a flash light today).

Last night I tried to let her cry (for about a minute) to see if she'd go back to sleep, but she did not.  After about 1 1/2 hours (and Tylenol & Orajel), I completely lost it & screamed (UGH!!!) and hit my bed a few times out of frustration & fatigue (we have only one bedroom, so her crib is in our room).  This of course did not help, and now I'm worried that we'll have trust issues. 

FYI - I do not ever let her cry-it-out.  I cannot handle it, and I do not think that she has the personality for it.  We used PU/PD (mainly PD) for her nap & bedtime, and so she now gets herself to sleep, but I must stay in the room until she is completely asleep.

Any suggestions?  Has anyone else gone through this?  Oh - one other thing - for some reason she doesn't like taking a bath now (actually, of me getting her wet & washing her).  She's never had problems with this before.

Thanks!

[Layla]

HI

Can you tell me how she is sleeping during the day... how many naps, how long, what time is bedtime & what time does she wake


thanks
Layla

[hawaiigal]

This is her typical schedule:

-Wake up around 7:30 - 8am & play in bed for about 15 - 30 minutes
-Change diaper & get dressed; snack on Cheerios & milk
-Breakfast usually around 9am
-Play independently & with me (read books, play with toys, go for walk, etc)
-Snack
-Nap time wind down around 11:30 (clean up toys, read books)
-Nap time - usually asleep at around 12:00pm = she typically sleeps around 1 1/2 - 2 hours (sometimes longer), and then plays in her crib about 15 - 20 minutes
-Lunch
-Play time (at home or at the park, sometimes goes swimming w/daddy, etc.) or run errands, depending on the day
-Dinner - usually around 5:30 - 6pm
-Plays a little (or we go for an evening stroll)
-Bath time & Pre-bed rituals- typically at 6:45
-Bedtime - usually in bed at 7:30 & asleep at 7:45 or 8pm

Let me know if you need more info!  Thanks!

[Layla]

You might want to try pushing her nap out closer to 1pm... as she seems to be awake for too long before bedtime. The av A times is about 5-5.5hrs so I woudl do:

7:30-8am - wake up
12.30/1-2.30/3 - nap
7.30/8 - bedtime

Try adding about 15mins to her A time in the morning so that you don't push her the whole hour & risk her getting overtired.

Also how long has she been on 1 nap for? You could also try a short catnap in the morning & a long nap in the afternoon until she is comfortable to stay up for 5-5.5hrs... so something like this:

7.30 - wake
11-11.30 - morning nap (you would wake her from this nap)
2.30-4pm - afternoon nap
7.30/8 - bed

hth
Layla

[hawaiigal]

Hi!  Thanks for the advice.  Annabelle will no longer take two naps.  She weaned from her morning nap about two months ago.  I tried to keep the nap (because I wanted two breaks, for one thing!), but it was no use.  Her nap has alway been 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours long.  If she wakes up later (around 8:30), I put her down at 1pm, but I have found that if she sleeps later than 3pm it is very hard to get her to bed at 7:30.  I actually used to put her down for her nap at 11:30, and she'd get up around 1 - 1:30.  She didn't have any problems sleeping through the night then, so I don't think it's her pre-bed awake time that's causing the problems.  I will make careful note of it in the next week, though, just to make sure.

My sister suggested that she might be hungry.  She's a pretty good eater, but I'm trying to make sure she gets enough during the day, in case that's the problem.

I wonder if she's just having some separation anxiety issues at night.  I'm afraid that she's getting used to me being there for her when she wakes up, and likes it.

[Layla]

If she's sleeping till 8.30am & taking a nap from 1-3 then she should really be going to bed about 5hrs later.. so around 8/8.30pm. She only needs about 11hrs at night... some do 12 but the av is 2hr nap & 11hr night.

It could be separation anxiety... especially if she seems to be more clingy during the day. I think maybe reduce the amount that you are with her at night. Give her meds, soothe her with words & let her be. If she's mantra crying or fussing then leave her. Its also hard because you are in the same room & she knows that. I am not really sure how you would deal with it then...

Hopefully someone else can come up with something else