Hi
Just to recap as it has been a while since I last posted. My little girl is nearly 19 months now. Once her molars came through followed quickly by 1 canine she has been so much better sleeping at night (I don’t want to speak too soon but we have not have a long night wake for a good few weeks now)! I think when she does this it is a real sign that she is teething as once her teeth were through then she has generally managed to start sleeping through the night. She has been an independent sleeper since around 6 months. Nap time has always gone well. I have been consistent at putting her down while she is awake/teething or ill and I can usually leave the room without any issues. Her EASY currently is:
WU 6-6:30
S: 12 pm (usually between 1 and a half to 2 hrs) I have been capping at 2 hrs.
BT 7pm
However, bedtime has always been a trickier, this has mainly been due to her falling asleep on the bottle in the past and me not putting her down when she is awake. There was a time around 4 months ago when I was able to stop her falling asleep on the bottle and start sleep training her to fall independently at night time. This went well and for a few weeks she was going down fine but sometimes I would have to go back into the room, it wasn’t a big deal (but not as successful as nap time). I felt we were making good progress though but then since September she has had cold after cold and really struggled with those teeth which have come through. It has really hindered the bedtime sleep training and I have done a lot of AP (ing) her to sleep at bedtime just to get through either illness or teething. What I have been doing is actually putting her in the push chair and rocking her to sleep. This really helped when she was teething and soothed her but of course I want to get out of this bad habit now but I’m having difficulty and I’m not sure what is going on.
Last week I started the sleep training again. I put her down she cried and I sat by the cot and said her sleepy phrase. She settled after about 40 mins and she didn’t get extremely distressed – a great start to day one, I thought! The next night the same thing happened with perhaps less crying. However on night 3 although she settled quickly and was lying down trying to fall asleep she just could not sleep. This went on for an hour and a 45 mins. She was mainly laying down, not crying but just rolling around trying to settle. I was still in the room by the cot at this point but I had been on the previous nights and she had fallen asleep without a problem. My plan was to start moving out of the room over the next few days which I have done in the past and it has always been successful. So as an hour and a 45 mins had past I was getting anxious about her becoming OT and I ended up taking her out of the cot and AP (ing) her to sleep. I then tried the sleep training again the next night and again this happened, after an hour and a half she could not fall asleep and she started to bang her head on the wooden cot. She wasn’t crying but I was worried that she would hurt herself so again I AP (ed) her to sleep. I haven’t tried the sleep training since as I have felt so perplexed as to what is going on. When we were struggling so much over Christmas with her teething, she did sometimes take an hour or more to fall asleep in the push chair and I put this down to her teething. Right now she is happy and settled in the day and is generally sleeping well at night and I can’t see any obvious teething signs. She won’t let me look in her mouth though so her gum may be swollen but I’m unsure. I am certain that she will get those 3 canines soon though so teeth could be in the mix.
The other thing is last week, I had problems putting her down at nap time (again this sometimes was happening when she was teething around Christmas). Although it was worse this time as before she was crying but would settle around 20 mins while I sat by her cot but this time, like bedtime, she just could not fall asleep. It got to 1 pm and I was so worried about her not getting a nap, I took her out for a drive to fall asleep. The strange thing is, my sister has her 2 days a week when I am at work. She has never had a problem putting her down for a nap and even last week after I had these problems she settled fine for her. Over the weekend my husband put her down and again she settled fine for her nap. I will try myself tomorrow but it does seem that she is less likely to sleep for me. In the last month or so she has started to walk everywhere and I have noticed that she has been more mumsy than before so I don’t know if SA is playing a part in this but surely it wouldn’t stop her from falling asleep? I would have thought that teething may though? Also I do really want to continue with the sleep training but what do I do if so much time has passed and she still isn’t asleep? Also I’m worried if she starts head banging then she will hurt herself.
Any ideas?
