12 months tomorrow and toooo many props disturbing night sleep.

[Eva's Mummy]

DD2 will be 12 months tomorrow. We had STTN from 10 weeks but that stopped at around 5 months and we haven't had it again.

We have had great help routine wise and I think we are there or there abouts. She is a very HSN baby however all the NW's have taken their toll and my total lack of sleep has meant I've fallen into a few bad habits just so i can get back to bed quicker but ultimately I think that is what is stopping her STTN in the long run.

Our props are:

1) Bottle
2) Dummy
3) Picking up and cuddling

So she generally wakes about 1hr after BT, here I pick her up give her, her dummy and blankie, cuddle for about 30 secs then lie her back down.

The she always wakes between 22:30 - 00:30 here she will not settle like this. No matter what I do she will arch her back, cry, scream, when I lay her in her cot unless I give her milk. Now I can give her as little as 2 oz then remove the rest of the bottle and put her dummy in and she will happily let me lie her down again. So I think its the action of having the bottle she is looking for.

She will then wake around 2 - 3 (occasionally she will not wake here). So the NW is the same as above.

We then get another 1 at 5/5:30ish but she SS for this one.

I really need a plan of action please, I don't really know where to start  . She is starting with a CM on Monday so I would like to keep the dummy for a couple of months until she settles into sleeping there, then I would like to remove that too as she does snuggle her muslin blankie and suck on the tag so I'm hoping she will be happy with that. Or is doing it all together a better idea?

[cath~]

Does she settle independently at BT or nap time, and the props are just for NWs? Or, does she have any props for nodding off at BT too? What does BT look like?

[Eva's Mummy]

Thanks for popping on honey. For bedtime she has milk then a song then she goes onto her cot awake with her dummy and I leave. She usually nods off within 5-10 mins for naps and BT. She had a wee crawl around and a mumble then off to sleep x

[cath~]

Sounds like BT is really good.  I would prob be inclined to go cold turkey with ditching props 1 and 3 in that case.

Just stay with her, perhaps do PD if she stands up, and shh, put a hand on her , hum, sing , say a reassuring phrase, whatever works best.

At this age she will protest and it might take as long time for her to resettle the first couple of nights , but I think after 1-3 nights it should get a lot easier. You just have to stay strong and be prepared for the first couple of nights to be tough.

We recently stopped bfs at night with H (2 mos ago).  The first couple of nights she was v upset and it took a long time to resettle her. Night 3 was much quicker and more peaceful and night 4 she didn't wake!  Since then she STTN quite a lot (just wakes if teething or has a cold).

With the dummy, what about putting several in her cot and showing her where they are when she wakes to help her learn to find them by herself?

[Eva's Mummy]

Thanks. I can manage 3 days or so that gives me hope.  I'll start tomorrow night as I need to go to work tomorrow for the 1st time in 13 months but I have the next week off. With the dummy we have one of those wee rabbits where you attach 4 dummies to it and we have 2 lose ones aswell but she still won't get it herself during the night. Once she's awake in the morning no problem.  Sometimes it's right next to her hand and she still won't do it x

[cath~]

That sounds like a good time to tackle it then

Good luck and us know how you get on x