Don't want this to happen again

[clazzat]

My daughter is 23 months old and has always been a really good sleeper - settles herself to sleep, more often than not has to be woken in the morning.  For the last 3-4 months, she has not settled particularly well - we put her down as usual and then any time from 10 minutes to an hour later she wails, we go back to her and give her a brief cuddle (max 2-3 minutes) and put her down again and she goes to sleep.  Very rarely we'll have to do this more than once, but that is very much the exception.  This is all very irritating but not a huge issue.  Over the last week, she has added waking up between 5.45 and 6.30 (back from 7) and refusing to go back to sleep  - she'll wail until we go to her, quiet down as we go into the room and during a cuddle and then wail again as soon as we leave the room.

Last night, for the first time in ages, she added a NW - she was up and down between 11.15 and 3, whingy crying, going quiet as we walked in the room and starting again as we left.  There didn't seem to be anything wrong, as the crying didn't seem to be particularly urgent and did stop as we walked in the room.  I think she is starting to get her second molars, but I really don't think that this was the issue as it didn't seem like a teething cry.

During the day she sleeps for 2-2.5 hours - I know this is quite a lot for her age, but she seems to need it.  On days when she has less (she goes to nursery once a week and never sleeps more than an hour and a half) it doesn't seem to make any difference to the settling or the waking time.  She is absolutely exhausted this morning, and practically asleep on dh's knee (at 9.50am!).

We have a 6-week old baby, and I have a feeling that these wakings are somehow linked to that, but I'm really not sure what to do to prevent the NW happening again.  I have been trying my best to make sure that she is reassured during the day and that we are doing things to keep her entertained.

Is this just a phase that we have to deal with, or is there something we can do to get her sleeping later and making sure that she doesn't wake in the night?

Thanks for any suggestions.
Cx

[speechie]

Have you tried Motrin at bedtime to see if it makes a difference? It may not be molars, but it may not hurt to try...
We had trouble w/NW with our 13 mo and he started waking for teeth, but then got used to getting a cuddle in the chair for 2 mins.
Had to gradually break that habit, gave Motrin, and he's sleeping through the past 9 days...tooth also came through!
HTH

[becky1969]

I think those molars are the culprit. The 2 yr molars are interesting -- in my experience, they don't cause the hideous pain that the eye teeth do, but they are persistent and annoying for weeks/months on end.  My son also periodically had NWs and trouble settling due to molars.  I'd medicate and see if that helps.  I have a feeling she's just uncomfortable -- maybe not in LOTS of pain, but definitely has discomfort.  I think the baby is coincidental.

My son still sleeps 2-2.5 hours/day at 33 months old, so that doesn't seem like too much daytime sleep at all.  The fact that she's so sleepy (falling asleep on Dh's knee) sounds like teething as well.  Owen gets EXTRA tired when teething.  Try an earlier bedtime by about 30 minutes and see if that helps.  She might be a tad overtired from the teething, which is causing NWs/EWs, and difficulty settling.  I know my idea sounds bizarre, but try it for 3 days and see if it changes anything! Good luck!

[clazzat]

Thanks for the advice - I was expecting the second molars to be the same as the other teeth, but I guess they are a bit different.  Some of the time she does say "sore" but her language is not such that this is hugely reliable (her trousers were sore the other day!), so I have not been taking this a definite indication.  Maybe I need to start listening to her more!

I'm certainly not going to be unhappy about putting her to bed a bit earlier - she's being a 2 year old!  This morning started at 5.20, and her behaviour was dreadful all morning, but I have taken the opportunity to put her to bed at 6.30.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a long peaceful evening - highly unlikely given that dh is away on business, but there's always hope.