Waking in the night & wont go back to sleep......

[1818molly]

Hi,  This is the first time I have posted on here! 
I'm in need of some advice.....
I have a 9 month old daughter who over the past 10 nights has woken in the night for a period of up to 3 hours!  She will only fall asleep after being awake for a minimum of 1 hour if she is held, cuddled or has her hand held.  How we got in to this I realy dont know.  Once she has been awake for 3 hours we are at our witts end and she usually ends up in bed with us.  (Big mistake I know!) She has also recently refused to go to sleep during the day getting herself so distressed unless we are either stroking her back or cuddling her and occasionally by having her bottle.
She usually sucks her thumb and does not want this as much lately.  She stands in her cot crying and as soon as you walk into her room she stops crying and smiles.

This is her usual day

Wakes at 06.30 am - 6oz bottle
08.00 - Breakfast
10.45 - 5oz bottle
11.00 - sleep for 45 mins
12.15 - Dinner
14.30 - sleep for 45 mins
15.30 - 6 oz bottle
17.00 - Dinner
18.30 - bath
19.00 - Bottle & bed (usually falls asleep towards the end of the bottle)

I would appreciate any advice and tips.

Love
Gillx

[Katet]

Firstly her falling asleep while having her bottle is not a good habit & will be supporting the night waking (also very bad for teeth), so I'd suggest giving it to her before the bath & just giving water at bed time.
Second 9mo is prime seperation anxiety time, & her smiling when you get there sounds like she is probably going through that... spend as much time as possible with her in the day & play games like peekaboo & also going away & quickly returning type stuff, so she knows you come back.
Did you do any CIO or CC shen this first started??? Have there been big changes recently? They can all exacerbate this time in their lives
Also I would suggest you going to her & having a mattress on the floor rather than bringing her into your bed. As she learns you are there for her in the day & night, she should settle faster & get to cope with the seperation anxiety.

[1818molly]

Sorry to sound thick!  What is CIO and CC?
I cant think that things have changed that much.  I work fulltime and leave at 06.30am which is when she is usually just stiring in the morning.  I collect her from the childminder at 16.30 and spend the rest of the day with her. (all of 2 1/2 hours, not much i know)

Thank you for the advice though.

[Katet]

CIO = Cry it out, leaving them to cry for the time it takes them to fall asleep & CC = Controlled crying, letting them cry with breif response every few minutes
Honey I'm afraid it is a need of hers as she doesn't see much of you & her age, she needs that time with you as she goes through this stage.
It might feel a bit backards, but I think she needs to spend that time with you... some babies need their mums more than others, I know mine did. So if you really have to ride it out with lots of extra love & attention those times you spend together & help her through learning that you are there for her.