Night wakings 17 months old has slept through since 12 months old.

[Lovejoy]

help we are shattered!
My dd used to sleep through from 6 month until just before she turned 1 when she became ill.  She recovered and then we had major issues putting her to bed, we tried CC, hated it and it didn't work, so we did GW and after a couple of months that worked. However throughout she has several NW a night. 
 The times are random, but she wakes up crying, stands up and will only go back to sleep once we've been in the room and comforted her and walked out.  She may then wake up 1/2hr later or couple of hours later.  we've experimented with heating in case she's too hot/cold, can't blame teething for it, we have a radio in her room on all night (vol low) to drown out external noises - tried switching off radio and she wakes up still.
Why won't she sleep through, what can we do.

her easy is

Awake 7am
Nap 12noon
Wake 2pm
Sleep 7pm

thanks

[imsmum]

What do you do to comfort her when she wakes?  She may have developed a dependency on that even if you are not doing much.  You may have to do GW again or wi/wo.  i think the usual recommendation is to go in, lie them back down and either leave  (repeat as necessary!) or to then move away from the crib further and further each night but in general it is to keep the interaction minimal.

she may also be overtired because of the nw's so try putting her down 30 minutes earlier for a few nights and see if that helps.  Since this has been going on for a while you may need a few early nights  before you see any improvement.  HTH

[Lovejoy]

we literally go in put her down shh her and walk out.  Maybe sometimes offer water.
I will try the early bedtime....

[imsmum]

Can't imagine there would be much of a dependency there then!   Do try the super early bedtime though--it was a llife saver for us!

[mari]

How does she go to sleep for naps and bedtime?

[Lovejoy]

when we put her down for naps she immediately goes to sleep.  Bedtime she's generally 5 mins, we used to have issues in the past with bedtime being a nightmare too.

Rough example of last night's wakings.

Sleep 6.45pm
Wake 7.50pm (i ignored her she settled herself)
Wake 8.10pm 
Wake  8.50pm
Wake  12.30am
Wake 1.40am
Wake 2.00am
Wake 2.45am
Wake 3am

Wake this morning 7am
Surely they can't be all nightmares?  She is teary and crying?
We really are exhausted, and we were hoping to try for another baby in May, but I don't think i can handle pregnancy and sleepless baby.

[mari]

I would try to move her sleep forward half an hour whilst the night wakings are going on, she seems to be tired.  How does she sleep for her nap, is it a solid 2 hours?

[Lovejoy]

generally she sleeps 2 hours solid for her naps.  She might stir but then gets herself back to sleep.  although last 2 days she woke up early from nap really cried, so i had to go into calm her, left her and she slept again (but that's not normal)

if she's so tired but managing to sleep at bedtime, why is she waking up cos she's overtired? 
Should we continue going into her to comfort her?

Will it ever get good?!

[imsmum]

hang in there--it will get better. 

I found when my younger dd was having night wakings if I got into her room quickly and just put my hand on her she would settle without fully waking.  this was only effective in the first part of the night though when she was in a deeper sleep. 

Believe it or not, her wakings seem to fit the pattern of overtiredness--my dd would wake usually 2-3 hours after going down (when i could resettle her quickly) and then would wake up at somepoint in the second part of the night and be up for 2 hours!!  The second half of the night is usually tougher because they are in a lighter sleep and any time they "surface" slightly from sleep it will wake them.

keep up with the early bedtimes--it may take some time but it will help.  the other thing I did which is pretty controversial was AP--standing by my dd's crib with my hand on her to help her sleep--i just wanted her to get better rested--and then did GW once she started sleeping better.   It worked for us because of my dd's temperment and the type of AP but it's risky so you have to judge for yourself if it is something that may work for your lo.

[Lovejoy]

well we are doing 1/2hr early bedtime, still no change apart from her waking earlier, but will stick it out and hope for the best.

When do children stop having sleep issues?  my HV said they can improve by the age of 4 years, I don't think I can survive 2.5 more years of no sleep!  (although if we have another baby it will start all over again) 

[mari]

Does the half an hour make a difference to the way that shse falls asleep? Is she still going to sleep as soon as she goes down?  Do you need to stay with her or do you leave the room?

[Lovejoy]

generally she goes to sleep within 5-10 mins we've put her down  (we walk out of the room).  although yesterday she :
sleep 6.40pm
Woke 7pm went
back to sleep 8.30pm (she wasn't upset, just playing and chatting to herself, did a poo once, sleeping back came off - so understandable)
Slept through!
Woke 6.30
So although we had that 1.5hr wake up, ?I'm sticking to the early bedtimes.

Do you suppose that she's overtired since going to 1 nap a day.  She get's shattered by 10.30/11am (when she wakes up 7am)

[JNate]

Imsmum, you said:

my dd would wake usually 2-3 hours after going down (when i could resettle her quickly) and then would wake up at somepoint in the second part of the night and be up for 2 hours!! 

Thats exactly what we are going through as well, and I think after him being sick he's become dependent on us to help him back to sleep....