17 month old..night wakings, please help!

[my 2 girls]

Hi,  About 2 weeks ago my DD had a cold and ever since then she has been waking at night, wanting a cuddle.  While she was ill, we would go in and hold her for about 10 minutes and put her back to bed.  We took the opportunity to get rid of her night binky too.  She never wanted it during her illness and we figured she may not miss it.

Now 2 weeks later, she is waking a few times at night, screaming until one of us comes in and sits with her.  I put her back to bed awake so she can settle herself.  She is okay but then a few hrs later, same thing.

Before the illness she slept through the night ( 12 hrs ) no problem and took 2 hr+ naps.  She now naps 1-2hrs ( if I get lucky ).

I am also 28 weeks pregnant, so needless to say I am uncomfortable.  It is hard to hold her.

Any suggestion, criticism etc etc would be appreciated!! { I believe she went through a growth spurt too} I know this will pass, but right now, I am at my wits end!

[Harrisonsmummy]

I have experienced a similar problem after colds and illnesses. I think (certainly with my lo) that they get sleep deprived over a period and then wake as a result of this. I have to make a concerted effort to put Harrison to bed as early as possible for a few days, eg 7pm rather than 7.30pm, and sometimes bring his lunchtime nap forward just a bit (15mins to 30mins) and this normally sorts things out in a couple of days.

HTH

Justine

[Florencia]

Her behaviour seems also pretty normal to me. I'd try only to lay her down when she wakes (even if that takes a bit longer to comfort her), that way you get rid of the holding her (which can become a prop later and she might get used to wake to be held) and you are more comfortable (if that possible) sleep training her. So every time she wakes, you can go in, lay her down, maybe rub her back, forehead (whatever she likes the most) and then leave. That is, doing walk in/out till she settles and you don't need to go back in again. She needs reassurance because illness sure takes a toll on their little bodies, but also you're not reinforcing the waking by holding her. It shouldn't take you long to get her back on track by doing this. If she's having 12 hours at night, a 1.5 hour nap should be enough for her to hold till bedtime.

HTH and good luck!

[alyssa1]

hi there,
I too had similar problems and would comfort my son in the night when he woke with a cold only to find after the cold had passed he would wake and want the comfort - they are too smart for us eh??  What we did - we would go in, reassure him it was still sleep time and leave (wi/wo) and eventually he would wake (we could hear him) but he would put himself back to sleep.  I found that the longer you stay - the more they want you there (this was our case) so we would go in but always leave and not pick him up.
Good luck

[my 2 girls]

thanks ladies for your replies.  She is now back at a somewhat normal routine.  She will sleep through the night but instead of 12 hrs {7.00p-7.00a} she is waking 1/2 hr earlier @ 6.30a.  I don't get her until 7a { she amuses herself for 1/2hr } thank goodness..

Now her naps have changed;  went from 2-3hr to 1hr.  She is not cranky, so I guess she needs less sleep?

It is just interesting how you have been on a certain routine for so long and then an illness/growth spurt changes everything.

[Florencia]

Totally hear you... all our schedule tweakings are due to illnessess LOL...

As for the nap, all you can do is keep insisting on the quiet time, say if she wakes at 1 hour, you let her in bed or do walk in/out if she's crying for you for another 30 mins. IF she's still napping 1 hour after a week of doing this and she's happy... well... she might just need that amount of sleep. Let's hope it's just a resetting and she gets back on track soon!!!!!!!!!

Good luck! I'm glad to hear she's feeling better now

[imsmum]

With the earlier wakeup you might want to try moving her nap 15-20 minutes earlier to see if that helps lengthen it