Hi friends! I so appreciate reading all of your posts. I am having problems with my 11 month old daughter.
~She was sleeping through the night until about a month ago. It started when she cut two teeth and then got a cold. Now she is better but still waking every 4 hours.
~ I have always had problems getting her down at night. I do pu/pd with her. I nurse her with the lights on dimmly, then I stand up and burp her, turn on her white noise machine, and turn out the lights. I lay her down in her bed and she instantly starts screaming. She crawls to the edge and stands up. When she stands up I begin pu/pd. I only pick her up if she stands up and cries. If she stays laying or sitting I leave her. I have a could of questions about pu/pd:
When I put her down is it ok for me to keep my hand on her? I was doing that for awhile while she was sick. Now it seems that she will only settle if I stay there with my hand on her until she falls asleep. If I take my hand off she whips her head around to check to see where I am, and even if she can see me she starts crying. It also seems like she wakes up about an hour after I put her down- I think she may be checking to see where I am again.
I have a small couch right next to her bed. If I sit there she can still see me in the dim light. I started last week to try to wean her off of having my hand on her. But she gets absolutely hysterical every time I move away from the crib and sit down. She reaches her hand out and screams. I dont know what to do.
~She has always taken great naps. She was napping at 10 and at 3 (we start our routine at
. I would lay her down in her bed and she would curl up and fall asleep within a couple of minutes. She would nap for an hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. I would wake her up if she tried to sleep more. Well, for the last week she has not been taking her afternoon nap. She just screams, the same way that she does in the evening. I dont know what to do for her. I tried pu/pd but it she gets hysterical. And now she is even more tired at night when I am putting her down. Which I know doesnt help her to fall alseep. She seems to still be taking her
~Is she at the point where I should try to switch her to one midafternoon nap instead of trying two during the day?
~ What should I do with her in the middle of the night when she wakes up? I normally nurse her. I know she doesnt need it, but I am exhausted at 3 in the morning and I dont know if I have the energy to do pu/pd. I guess with it taking over an hour at night I dont know that it will even work in the middle of the night. I expect to stop nursing in about a month, so I dont know what I will do with her then.
I dont know if this type of stuff is seperation anxiety...I am not familiar with what that looks like or what to do about it.
I would appreciate any suggestions. I lent my book to a friend and havent gotten it back yet. I miss it daily! I want so much to teach my baby to sleep well and to do what is best for her. I feel so discouraged. I am dreading bedtime- which is only an hour away.
Thanks so much!!
Steph
