11 mo Mystery....

[Karin3]

I'm hoping someone can take a look at this and shed some light on our little mystery...  Mimi is 11 mos (10 mos adjusted) and has been sleeping through 11.5 to 12 hours for the past month or so.  This last week, we've started having trouble. 

It started with her not going to sleep at bedtime.  We hardly ever had a problem with her going to sleep on her own.  Our history has more to do with waking up in the middle of the night to nurse...  She would lay down, roll over like she was going to sleep.  Then, 15-20 mins later I would hear her crying.  It starts out as more of a fuss, so I wait to go in.  Then, after about 5-10 mins, it turns into a real cry.  I go in there, and she's usually sitting up in the crib.  I try to lay her down (she knows how to lay down on her own), but then she totally freaks out.  I've ended up getting her out of the crib and holding her.  She'll calm down, then arch her back (that's how she tells me when she wants to go into the crib... for all sleeps) I put her back in the crib and leave.  Then, it's the same thing, quiet for 20 mins, then she starts up again.  Dh started going in there and pretty much rocking her to sleep after 1-1.5 hrs of my in/out with her.  He assures me that she's awake when he puts her to bed though, but barely.

I thought maybe she was getting too much stimulation before bed.  So, last night we kept everything super low-key and I was really careful during the w/d not to get too animated during story time.  She went down fine, but woke up at about 10:45 and it was the same thing, except this time, she wouldn't let dh rock her.  So, I ended up nursing her at about 12:45.  She did the same wait of around 15 mins, then started fussing, but this time went to sleep after a few mins until 7:50am.

She's teething right now (I think about 4 teeth) but I've been giving her Motrin before bed, and maybe a little orajel before she nurses at night.  I give her Hylands during the day.  She's never acted like this while teething though, so I think it's something else.  (Usually, she'll wake when the Motrin wears off and then I give her Tylenol, put her back in her crib, and that's it.)  I limit her 1st nap to 1 hr, because I was having trouble with too much daytime sleep for awhile.  Do you think I need to cut back her 1st nap again?  Her cues are really hard to read, so I tend to watch the clock a bit.  I also thought that maybe it's SA but she seems fine during the day...  She also learned how to crawl about a wk ago...  She's not crawling around though when I go in there.  She's just sitting there, staring at the door, crying.  I kind of need a plan of attack, because I really don't want to form any bad habits, of course it maybe be too late for that, IYKWIM. 

Here's our routine:
0730/0800 Wake & BF
0900 Solids
1030-1130 Nap 1

1200 Solids
1330/1400 BF
1430-1600/1630 Nap 2

1630 Solids - Snack
1730 Solids - Dinner
1900 Bath & massage
1930 BF & books
2000 Bed

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hiya Karin,

I would definitely not make any nap adjustments, I think you're right where you need to be there. Has she recently started getting more mobile - like pulling up and getting back down again, trying to walk maybe? My DS did the same thing around that age when he started walking. He would even sleep sitting up 

[Karin3]

Thanks Jessica!

She just started pulling up on her own about 2 wks ago and crawling about 1 wk ago.  She's not very good at either but she's quickly getting the hang of crawling.  I think the pulling up is still pretty difficult for her.  Maybe it is the mobility thing...  I would've thought, she would be crawling around or trying to pull-up rather than just sitting there crying.  But, of course, that's what she does during the day when she gets frustrated, so why should night-time be any different. LOL 

Everytime I try to lay her down she flips out.  What did you do until he figured it all out?  I don't foresee her falling asleep sitting up, but she could suprise me. 

[Colin Macs Mom]

Do you think there could be some separation anxiety going on maybe?

This sounds worse than it is, but I put Colin in his playpen and let him have at it. All he did for about three days straight was practice, practice, practice in there.    It was the only thing that helped the sleeping.

[momofclaire]

Regarding SA I just wanted to pop in and say that Claire never showed signs of SA during the day around 11-12 months but man oh man at night. 

Now we have it during the day and not at night...I don't know which is worse???
I agree with Jessica about the naps. They look good.

[Karin3]

Thanks Ladies!

Well, last night was no problem.  Here's to keeping fingers crossed for tonight.  She had a short nap this afternoon though.  (I thought she was done teething, but apparently not.  )

There could be some SA stuff going on.  She's been funny with this new mobility.  She's more happy then ever to take off on her own and is a lot less clingy (thank goodness, non-moving frustration meltdowns have backed off), but I've noticed she's been strange in other ways.  For example, she's been refusing the spoon and me feeding her in anyway for about a month.  Now, she wants me to finger feed her and has been eating from a spoon for about the first 5-10mins of each meal.  Then, she's back to being Ms. Independent.  She's been acting different in other ways too.  It's like she's happy to be doing her own thing, but she's unsure about how I fit into her doing her own thing, and she's kind of confused about it.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, thanks for your help!  Hopefully, she'll sleep tonight. 

[momofclaire]

Makes total sense. It continues for quite some time I think.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Oh yeah!