My DD is 8 months old. She has always been a good sleeper. I had very little trouble getting her to sleep on her own and she has almost always been put down awake. Over the last month things have progressively gotten worse.
She started off with early wakings. We increased df amount (only daily bottle) to try and counter. It didn't help. then she started waking middle of night. At this point we thought she might need to drop df as it was interrupting her sleep. This didn't make any difference in sleep pattern so we left it out as she is at the age suggested to drop df anyhow.
Over the last week the night wakings have progressively gotten worse. She is now sleeping maybe 2-3 hour stretches at night; waking approx. 9,11,2,5 (sometimes even once more) She screams -escalating scream- when she wakes and doesn't settle easily. In fact I generally have to stay until she is asleep or she pulls up and we start all over again. This is very difficult because sleep has never been a large problem in the past. I am finding this very trying. I was just getting to the point at which i was feeling better (PPD) and now I feel i am sliding. Everyone is suffering. Both my daughters, my husband, and myself.
Now I think the issue is a compounded one. She has been teething. She just cut the top two teeth over the last week. I figured this was the cause of the increased wakings. Nothing seems to ease it, I have tried Tylenol to help and the doctor i saw today said to try ibuprofen but giving her medication doesn't seem to ease the problem.
On top of the teething i fear we are also dealing with separation anxiety. It seems for her to be calm i have to be standing next to the crib with my hand on her stomach. This hasn't been necessary since she was a couple months old. As well during the day i am often unable to put her down without her becoming very upset. She just crys and follows me to pull up on my leg.
Over the last few weeks she has also began crawling (forward that is), pulling up, and cruising. All within the last three to four weeks.
It gets even worse. Due to the irratic night sleep her daytime routine has become a bit messy as well. But generally:
7am wake, bf - breakfast within the hour
9-9:30am morning nap (1-2 hours)
11 am bf - lunch within the hour
1:30-2pm nap (1-2 hours)
3:30pm bf and small snack
5:30pm dinner
7pm bath and to bed by 8pm
Depending on her day, there have been times she has had a catnap in the evening but we try to keep it out.
Her activity time can very greatly 2-4 hours. Usually 2 hours in the am, 3 hours after first nap and almost 4 in the evening. I put her down according to her cues, she sometimes is awake a long time in the evening. I was worried her activity time may be too long, or too short but if I try putting her down earlier for naps or bedtime it doesn't seem to work. She only fights sleep harder.
I am trying very hard to keep her routine stable but her sleep patterns are so erratic. One day she slept barely one hour all day long.
Breast feeding has been challenging over the last couple months. She will only eat if we lay down now. She is very easily distracted and sometimes won't take a full feed. I think i have mostly rectified that problem and she generally eats both sides.
She is also eating solids. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sometimes a snack. Her appetite fluctuats greatly and we never know how much she will eat in a day.
I am so tired now i am going to try and get some sleep before she wakes again but if anyone has any ideas i would greatly appreciate it. I feel almost at my wits end here. I was really hoping the doctor would say she had an ear infection or something to warrant all this missery. I just hope i haven't done anything to bring this upon us.
I forgot she doesn't use any props, she is a thumb sucker though. I tried with lovie but she hasn't taken to it.
