HELP! 23 month old waking up several times at night after being sick

[mcdonjo]

Hello,

My 23 month old daugher has been a great sleeper - sleeping through the night starting at 3 months and always putting herself to sleep at night. She recently came down with pneumonia and an ear infection and not surprisingly was having a very difficult time sleeping. She would not sleep by herself in her crib so my husband and I took turns sleeping with her in our guest room. We knew this would create bad habits that we would eventually have to fix but she was sick and not feeling well and needed comfort. Well she has been better now for almost 2 weeks and we have tried everything but she is now waking several times a night and not only crying but screaming. She has gotten better to the point that we can go into her room once and reassure her and she will go back to sleep but last night she was waking up every 2 hours! So she went to bed at 7:30 and was up at 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30 and then 6am for the day (she typically would go to bed at 7:30 and sleep until 6:30 or 7am without waking up). We also recently moved her into a new bedroom over a month ago - I do not think this is related as she was sleeping in there before the illness but figured I would mention. I am expecting our second child in 5 weeks and am desparate as I was not expecting to be this exhausted BEFORE the baby came! Any suggestions for us?

[Buntybear]

Hi there,

Sorry that your LO has been so poorly. You were right that she needed comfort through those times and I too would have done anything to help her through.

Could you post her nap times and lengths? Is she going to sleep on her own in her room now?

There could be a regression at play here too? Olly's sleep always goes wonky a month before his birthday 

[mcdonjo]

Her typical schedule use to be wake between 6:30 and 7 and then nap at 1/1:30pm for anywhere between 1.5 hours and 3 hours. She then goes to bed between 7:30 and 8. She is now going to sleep at night on her own which is a big improvement but the last 2 nights she has woken up at midnight and 2am screaming/crying. She has been getting up at her normal 7am though which is good. I cant tell if its now a habit or if there is really something wrong....We go in there and reassure her and sometimes she will put herself back to sleep quickly and other times it takes time for her to settle herself down. She has never done this before - at least not for this long. We are going on almost 2 weeks! I just wish I knew what was going on so I could try and fix it.....

Her naps recently have been terrible too. She wont go to sleep on her own during the day (something I know we need to fix but just fixed the nighttime going to sleep so naps are next). So we end up putting her down asleep which is bad and she has been sleeping for an hour or an hour and a half.....Overall she just isn't getting enough sleep between her night wakings and short naps....

I am really desperate for any suggestions as I have a baby coming in 5 weeks and really don't want to have 2 kids not sleeping!!!

[Buntybear]

Hi there,

Be reassured that you are making progress! If she is going down on her own at BT that is GREAT, means she can do it for naps too. Have you tried some WI/WO or gradual withdrawal yet? This may help her self settle at any NWs too.

She seems to be getting 11.5 hours at night and 1.5 in the day? I know she is having NWs but I *think* this seems to be a good amount of sleep? If you are worried could you put her down earlier for her nap and let her have longer or put her down ealier for her BT?

[mcdonjo]

That was her schedule before she started waking at night and was getting plenty of sleep. Last night for example she got maybe 7 hours of sleep. It was the first time in a long time that she didn't go to bed easily by herself and spent some time screaming from her crib - not crying just screaming for water, etc. Finally went to bed around 10pm and was up at 12:30 until 3am, then up at 5am and up for the day at 7:30am. She would cry a little but mostly just standing in her crib and yelling for us to come or ask for water, etc. I am at a loss for what is going on.....she has never been like this before and not sure if its tied to her being sick before this or moving to a new room or what.....As I write this she is also just standing in her crib yelling for water so looks like we are going to have another repeat night....

As for naps, I have tried to leave her but she will just stand there and scream for over an hour and never sit down or even try and go to sleep so then she ends up not napping.....