So many sleep problems!!!!!!

[lizzie27]

I don't know where to start with this one. We have lots of sleep problems with 19 month old dd. Most of them probably created by us!!!
Firstly we have constant night wakings. DD slept through the night from about 12 weeks old to about 9 months of age. She then developed really bad bronchiolitis and ended up in hospital. This was followed by a winter and spring of constant visits to hospital before she was diagnosed with Asthma. Since this time, on and off we have really bad sleep issues. I must also add that when she doesn't sleep very well, dh's answer is to bring her in our bed. For the past couple of months she just hasn't slept through the night at all. She will wake up several times a night. Sometimes she just cries and we put her dummy back in and she goes back to sleep (she doesn't make any attempt to find it herself) and other times she will wake up and chatter and whine in her got for anywhere up to 2 hours. She will need us to settle her. We are both totally exhausted and need to change this pattern before it gets any worse but I don't know what to do.

On top of this since Christmas she has been really clingy with me and screams when I leave her at nursery. For the last couple of nights she has refused to go to bed and screams when I put her in her cot. She stands up all the time. If I go to her cot she will reach up for me and if I put my hand on her and she can touch me she is fine but the minute I move away she screams. If I do manage to go out of the room she will start talking to herself for ages until she starts crying again and I have to go in. The other night it took us 2 hours to get her settled. DH and I were away last night and Nanna and Grandad put her bed and she went down fine no problems.

Sorry to go on but I am really at a loss.

Lizzie mum to Evie

[yaya]

hi there! HUGS to u, sounds as tho u r going through a tough time!
Firstly I just want to say that hospital and illness REALLY throw my DS off and soudns as tho ur DD may be the same. In which case, u will need to work hard at the sleep training. It also sounds as though she is going through soem seperation anxiety so I would suggest gradual withdrawal raterh than wi/wo.
How does DD go to sleep?
Does she wake at same time every night?
Are there any patterns to her wake up?
What is she like during the day? naps?
Is she eating well in the day?

Sorry about all the Qs!!
is she in any discomfort? teething, illness etc?

[lizzie27]

I would definitely agree with the separation anxiety. She just clings to my legs all the time and if I leave a room she follows me! I thought that she would be over this by now - we had a brief spell of this about 12 months. To answer your questions, she normally goes to sleep fine. We have a wind down - read a book in her nursery, milk then in her cot wide awake (she has a dummy). I turn off the lights and leave her and she falls to sleep within minutes - no problems - until recently. Last night she just screamed and screamed every time I put her in her cot. She doesn't wake at the same time everynight although normally it is about 3am. Sometimes it can be as early as 12am. She has one nap during the day, about lunchtime and sleeps for about 1hr1/2. Her bedtime is normally 7pm. She eats really well but I have been wondering if she could be hungry. This is her pattern (mostly dictated by nursery)

7am wake and bottle
8am breakfast, weetabix and toast
mid morning fruit and milk
11.30am lunch
3.30pm dinner
5pm yogurt
7pm bed and milk

I have been wondering if I should give her another dinner at about 5.30ish instead of the yogurt. I'm not sure that it is enough for her.

She is teething and seems to have been for ages now - fingers in mouth and constant dribbling.

Lizzie

[yaya]

hiya! well i think it'd be hungry if I only had yoghurt before bed LOL but its hard to say with LOs, if she's used to that then it may be fine. You could try however giving her a snack at 3.30 yoghurt, fruit etc then dinner around 5.30? Does she have a bottle before bed?
It does sound like SA in which case, u have to kinda ride it out!! We had the same prob, maybe still do to some extent. In which case I would try a gentle removal plan to get her into cot and soothing herself, rather than attempting wi/wo.

Ds was waking every 20mins to 1 hr until recently then 2 molars popped out, have u tried giving pain meds? this may help with some of the nightwakings.