Help! My daughter is 17 months old, and until recently was a very easy (textbook) baby. We had the occational challenges with her, like when traveling and during teething, but generally speaking haven't had any ongoing sleeping problems, until this past Monday. Here's what's been going on...any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading this, as it may be a bit long...
2 weeks ago (tomorrow) we decided it was time for her to get rid of her soother. She only ever got it at naptime and bedtime, but during those times more recently she had started using it as a prop to get me to come back in her room; throwing it out of her crib, etc. When she woke up 2 Saturdays ago, I told her that we wouldn't be using her soother any more, and asked her to say 'bye-bye', she waved. I then told her we had to put it in the garbage since we didn't need it any more. I gave it to her, and she proceeded to throw it out. She had some challenges winding down for the first few days, and I gave her extra cuddles during the 'withdrawl' time, even to the point of letting her nearly fall asleep in my arms (did this for 4 days). Then we got back on track and for the next week or so, she was going down at night and for naps no problem...I was so proud of her for getting through it and no longer needing her soother!
Well, on Monday morning at about 3:30am, she woke up crying, so I went to her room and tried pu/pd, but she got even more upset, and was wide awake. I gave her a cuddle, and she just cried more and more. I couldn't understand what was up. After 30 mins of this I figured it was teething pain, so I gave her some medicine. She finally cried herself to sleep, while I was holding her - which seemed totally out of character for her. I thought this may have been just an isolated incident, but since Monday, each naptime and bedtime she has been crying her dear little eyes out (and sometimes me too!!!) I have been holding her until she settles, and then putting her down in her crib. This only happens at naptime/bedtime. She is in a great mood the rest of the day. She eats well, and had regular diaper changes, and when she does finally fall asleep, she sleeps right through the night...usually about 12 hours, without waking or fussing. Finally yesterday I took her to see the nurse here, since I thought maybe she might have an ear infection, but the nurse said that the canal looked ok, although wax was blocking the ear drum. She suggested I try tylenol to see if it helps. I did, and the results were the same. She is also getting her 4 'I' teeth, so today I tried Ibuprophen 45 mins before naptime) to see if it was inflamation - again not working. The sound of her cries to me sound like she's in pain, but clearly if the medicine isn't making a difference I can only assume that it's behavioural (I am going to take her to the nurse again tomorrow if this doesn't change, just in case!)
Could this be soother withdrawl? Have I created a bad habit? Is she just having a phase/tantrum because she doesn't want to go to sleep?
Assuming it is behavioural, any suggestions on what I can do to get back on track? Her crying is breaking my heart!
Thanks so much for any suggestions!
Christina
