HELP!!!19 month wakings!

[kp#01]

Hi there,

My daughter is 19 months old.  She WAS a very good sleep until about a week ago.   Her schedule was something like this:

7 am - wake
8 - breakfast
10 - snack
11:30 - lunch
12:30 - sleep
1:30 - wake
3:00- snack
5 - dinner
7:00 - sleep

Its still the same but she gets up about 11 pm and doesn't get to bed until 3 a.m. (that was last night).   

My sister put dd to bed one night and since then, dd  has been getting up every night screaming and won’t go to bed. She crys when she gets up and as soon as I come in she calms right down but I need to hold her. 

I have tried, leaving her and letting her cry it out (at the expense of my 4 ½ year old son getting up and dd crying so hard she vomits), rocking her, giving her milk).  This goes on for about 2 to 3 hours.  She will be almost asleep while rocking her and then when I take her to the crib, she starts crying.  I’ve placed her in her crib and told her that I’m going to sit and that doesn’t work either.  Last night my husband and I were so exhausted I just brought her into our bed and she played!  It took her over an hour to get to bed.   She sang, gave kisses, patted us – it was cute but just wrong timing!

I don't know what to do!!!  Do I need to be more patient and just rock her longer?  She is in a crib right now.  I don't like her cyring it out too much because my son is in the next room.  Last night was an exception because he stayed at his cousins house.

Your advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you.

Kam

[kp#01]

Anyone???

[momtonb&ab]

you mentioned your sister put her down one night and this has started since then?  do you know what happened when your sister put her down?  did something scare her?

also, both of my lo's and my girlfriends twins did go through a stage right on 19 months that lasted a couple of weeks where there were multiple night wakings.  it was like a developmental hurdle of some sort (although tbh i have NO idea what development it was ........and then just as fast as it started it stopped.   the best thing we did was stick to our routine as close as possible and because WI/WO works for us, we kept doing it in spite of our sheer exhaustion. 

can you tell us a bit more about what happened with your sister?  has anythign changed at home?  was she overtired over the holidays? molar? i-tooth?

[kp#01]

My sister is really close with both of my kids but hadn't been around the last few weeks because of work.  So when she came that night, she really wanted to put her down.  She did exactly what I told her that I do.  The only thing that I can think of is on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve she went to bed around 10 pm (3 hours past her bed time) and maybe she is getting her 2 year molars?

I am so scared to put her down tonight cause I just can't think of getting up for another 3 hours!

[momtonb&ab]

ok, so it could be as straight forward as OT mixed with the molars.....that sounds very plausible.

did you say she goes down ok but then wakes at a certain time?   

[kp#01]

yes, she goes down at the same time but wakes up about 11pm.  Last night she was up at 11 pm and didn't go down until 2:30 a.m.  My dh and I are exhausted.  She has a futon in her room so I just pulled that out and dd and I slept on that.

Right now, she is on the futon sleeping.  She refuses to sleep in her crib.  Could it be that she has outgrown the crib and for some weird reason she doesn't want to be sleeping in that.

Her whole schedule is screwed up because she is getting up at 9 a.m rather than 7 a.m.  I need her to get up at 7 so I can get my son off to school starting Tuesday. 

I feel like I am in a nightmare that just won't go away!!!!

[momtonb&ab]

have you tried wake 2 sleep to see if you can break the pattern of waking at 11?  try gently stirring her around 10:30? 

as to the wake up time in the morning, unless my kids were sick i always make sure they are up by 7:30 at the latest, and I adjust nap time to earlier if the night has been shorter (like in your situation) to avoid the OT nightmares.   I would say avoid letting her sleep late and adjust your nap accordingly.

i wish i had soem advice about the crib - i thought for a while my guys might be ready, but really they aren't, they are quite fine in there.   

huge hugs to you!  even if i can't help, i am here to listen!

[kp#01]

Thank you for your response.  I am going to try and get her to bed by 6:30 with Tylenol and see if that works tonight.  I just wish I knew what the problem was so I could fix it rather than just guessing.  I just keep telling myself that I am blessed to have her and its just a phase..."it will pass"!

[momtonb&ab]

it is possible that is just a phase, but while you are going through it it sure doesn't seem like anything but a catastrophe.  i know, when my good sleepers get off track, i panic!

my instinct from what you tell me is that you need to try wake2sleep to break the habit and you need to work with walk in walk out to get her back on track.  regular wake up in the morning, early nap to compensate for bad nights, and early to bed.  hang in there!

[kp#01]

Thanks again.

Last night she woke up at 10pm when she fell out of the futon.  I tried patting her back to bed but she wouldn't have it.  I ended up sleeping with her.

I woke her up at 7 a.m.  She was very tired.  She had her nap at 12:30 pm for about 45 mins or so.  I am planning on putting her to bed at 6:30.  Hopefully that will work.

We are also going to get a mattress for her.  I hate the futon!

[momtonb&ab]

hey there!  based on the night she had i would have considered an even earlier nap (around 11:30 - 12 at the latest)......just temporarily, until things get straightened out. 

also, if she is sleeping in a bed - have you thought of the side rails?  pretty cheap from walmart/zellers or somewhere like that. 

[kp#01]

My son has the rails.  We have a really low futon.  My DEAR husband was supposed to take the frame out of her room but came home late last night so I thought she would be ok and not move around so much.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  Tonight she is on the futon mattress but on the floor.  We ordered her mattress today and will get it next week.  That's what we did with our son but he had a mattress rather than the futon mattress.

I'm hoping "today is the day", that things turn around!

[momtonb&ab]

hang in there~!