I am so desperate, can someone help me?

[RACHPEM]

Well we are back and had a lovely time, although so hard being on my own without hubby around to help.  We managed quite well with sleep although by thursday the OT monster came knocking and she was not good to be around!! tbh she did well, she was not going to bed until 10-10.30 most nights and although she still woke at 5am she would fall back to sleep until about 7-7.30 most mornings, she was normally beat by 10.30-11 and would take 30 mins and then a longer nap in the pm sometimes! but at least that got her through til a later bedtime, one evening she did fall asleep in her pram while we had dinner so all in all not too bad.  First day back she only slept 30mins all day while travelling so I put her to bed as soon as we got back at 6am and she slept til 5.25 only took 1 hr nap the next day, early to bed again at 6.15 and up at 4.50!!! I know it is going to take a few days to get back on track but at least it is no worse.  Cant say the same for me I cam back with food poisoning and spent all day in bed yesterday, so much for holidays.
Hope you are all well, I will keep you posted.
Rachaelx

[skatty]

Sorry to hear about the food poisoning but I'm glad you had a nice break and LO did well. Sending vibes that she gets back on track quickly and you too 

[RACHPEM]

Just updating, did not fall asleep until 6.50 and awake at 4.30!!! I did get her back off at 5.15ish until 6.20 but only with me in the room, but I guess this is another cross I will have to bear from going away as she got used to me in her room and most morning I did take her into bed with me as she was waking srtill at 5ish which meant only 8 hrs of sleep and the walls were so thin I ciould not do any sleep training and thought I would do anything to get some more sleep into her which I managed 1-2 hrs extra.  So I know this is going to be a tough time again so I hope I can have a moan now and again.
Rachael xxxx

[bethanys mummy]

welcome back. glad you had a good time. So yes its back to the ol' routine. Hopefully it wont take long. They have better memories now so they protest like crazy about having to settle back down but then usually accept it quite quickly

Deep breath and off you go

E x

[becky1969]

Totally agree with Emma -- be consistent about going back to your routine, and she'll get it!  It will take a few days for her to realize that holiday time is over, but it will happen! You might also get some weird SA stuff from being away from daddy.  It may not come out as being clingy to daddy, but as clingy to YOU! So, that may also make sleep training complicated. But,hey, that's life! And hopefully by next holiday she'll be a bit older and her sleep more cemented, and coming back will be even better! 

[Vicku]

Welcome back Rachael! Hope you get back on track again quickly

[jcsmom]

Welcome back. You deserved the break! I hope things get back on track soon.

[RACHPEM]

Hi again, we had an hr nap yesterday with bed at 6.30 , she woke at 5am but did go back to sleep after approx 45 mins for another hr so wake up was actually 7.10!!! I was in the room though which I know I am giong to have to break sooner rather than later but I really want to get as much sleep into as possible at the mo. still aimed for the same nap time although it was nearer 11.50 when she fell asleep but barely slept an hr!!! woke up happy though so really unsure what to make of that.
Rachaelx

[NiknLily]

Hi Rachel
So glad you had a lovely holiday, pity about food poisoning!  I wouldn't make too much out of her waking happy from a 1hr nap, just be glad she did. Keep in mind to look at the big picture like a week's progress, not daily progress or failings, hopefully she will be back on track real soon.
Love Nik

[becky1969]

Absolutely agree wtih PP! From day to day they may handle a 1 hour nap, but cumulatively it really starts to stagger them.  I know that you are always looking for a reason not to have early bedtime!    Stick with your routine, and hopefully in a week or so she'll be back to where she was before the holiday!

[nike]

Welcome back Rachael   Glad to hear you both had a great holiday, food poisoning excepted. Hope you're all recovered now.

I'd also agree that it may take a little time to recover from the holiday but if you're persistent and consistent then she should slip back into the great routine you were in the process of estabishing before you went away.  I think, from memory, once you'd estabished the early bedtime and were consistent with it, it really only took her a week to get back on track.  I stand corrected on that, though, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't too long.

You're doing great!!  And I also know you're not keen on the early bedtimes, but once you've really laid the OT monster to rest, and she's caught up, you can then start tagging 15 minutes or so onto the end of her day for a later bedtime.  I'd stress, however, not to move too quickly in this regard.  You don't want to undo all of the good work you've done!  Alternatively, if you're getting those longer naps consistently then you could aim for a bedtime slightly later too.  She should let you know anyway - instead of just crashing when going down at 6.30, you may find she'll start having a little chat or fluff around a bit before dropping off.  You know your DD best.  I think the holiday would have set you back a bit, so don't start worrying about later bedtimes just yet.  Baby steps

[RACHPEM]

Hi Nike, nice to hear from you, I have missed you.   I have been sticking to early bedtimes and this morning we got a 5.30 wake so 11 hrs which is great.  I am just a little concerned over our looming time change, not sure how to handle this best, I dont want to end up with a 3.30 start!!!
Rachael x

[NiknLily]

Rachel, you've still got 2.5weeks for her to get over any OT, should be long enough especially as you've been doing early bedtimes for last few days already, thats a total of 3 weeks between holiday and time change.  As long as she is caught up on sleep which if you are super consistant she should be then she should handle the time change no problem.  Just put her down slightly early (albeit that will be slightly late for her) for a few days and she will adjust no probs. I honestly never really do anything for time change and Lily always sorts it out for herself in 3/4days. 

[becky1969]

ditto! if she's not OT, the time change shouldn't affect her.  Owen always adjusts after 1 day.  I just stretch him a bit at nap and bedtime to push his bedtime to the 'normal' time, or close to it, and then by day 2 he's waking at the new normal time.

[RACHPEM]

Well we had a 4.20 wake this morning!! although I did manage to leave her for a while and she called me again at 5.10 so I think she must have gone back off for a little while, at 5.10 I stayed with her and she did fall back to sleep until 6am!
Rachale x