Hi guys,
My DS is 16 mo and he is spirited and has always been a poor sleeper. But now it's RIDICULOUS!!!! He has all of his teeth (other than 2 yr molars which are a ways off yet) so I know it's not teething. I'm almost certain it's separation anxiety. He is very clingy during the day and when he wakes at night he eventually resettles himself but only if I lay on the floor in front of his crib or if I bring him into the pack and play set up in our room. We've been opting for the pack and play lately because a) he'll wake his twin if we try to resettle him in the nursery and b) I'm exhausted and can't stand laying on the hardwood floor in front of his crib for 2+ hrs. and c) He resettles MUCH more quickly in the pack and play in our room. Here's what his waking "looks" like...generally he sleeps with occasional brief wakings until somewhere between midnight and 1am. When he wakes during this hour, he is quite hysterical. He stands immediately and is looking towards the door, waiting for me to show up. The wakings in the earlier part of the evening (if there are any) are different than this. He is easy to resettle at those times with simply a pat, or a shush. We do not pick him up. At midnight/1am though, he just gets more and more hysterical the more we do p/d. Sometimes I'll be successful at getting him back to sleep but then 10 minutes later he's awake again, checking on me to make sure I haven't snuck out. You'd think he'd get the idea....that I'm not going anywhere and he's safe but he just doesn't seem able to start trusting. I've done nothing to break that trust. Never done CIO. I just feel like he's adamant that he wants to come into our room into the pack and play and he won't let up until I do that. Problem is, I honestly don't have the strength right now to lay on his floor night after night for hours on end. We've tried that for as long as a week. It showed no signs of working. Do you guys have a suggestion for how to stop him from waking in the first place? I tried WTS the other night but the problem is the time he wakes isn't consistent. Can WTS be successful if the usual waketime varies by as much as an hour?
I'm seriously at my wit's end. If you need me to post routine I will but I won't bother unless you think it's necessary. Basically they both wake for the day between 6 and 7, they are starting to consistently have just one nap 11:30 -1 or noon - 1:30 and then they're asleep by 7:30.
Thanks so much...
Sarah
