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Smelly_Kelly 
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Joined: 12 September 2009
Location: Auckland
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 Topic: I need SLEEP!
Posted: 12 October 2011 at 6:45am |
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My daughter is 17 months old and for the past week or so she has been finding it really hard to get to sleep. She will be dog tired when I put her down for a nap during the day, she will muck around in her cot, and an hour later she will still be talking to herself, having not slept a wink. Eventually she will go to sleep. At night shes been waking up 3-4 times wanting a bottle.
Should I just leave her to her own devices, let her cry at night? Or is there something else I can try?
She has never slept though at night, normally she wakes up twice. It would be awesome to actually get a full nights sleep...
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E&L+1
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Joined: 15 April 2009
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Posted: 12 October 2011 at 7:01am |
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We've had inconsistant sleeping through from our DD too. There are lots of things to try.
First I'd try moving her nap time slightly earlier so that she's not too tired when she goes down. I find my DD finds it hard to go to sleep if she's too tired.
At night I've been getting thirsty as it's warmer. You could try giving her a sippy cup of water to drink during the night. We don't leave ours in the cot but you could, when she wakes up I don't pick her up she gets offered the cup, I check her temp (add/remove blankets) and once she's had her drink she generally lies down and goes back to sleep, if she's still really unsettled I'll try giving her some bonjela as she seems to be getting her molars.
When we started doing this she would cry for a while (a few minutes usually but sometimes longer) when I left and then go back to sleep, I'd just reassure her that I was still there and I'd see her in the morning. They can also go through some seperation anxiety at that age so leaving her to cry without any support may not work.
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gooseychew
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Joined: 18 August 2010
Location: Auckland
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Posted: 12 October 2011 at 8:25am |
I have to say, i am on the side of cry it out or controlled crying. I had a DD who whilst teething at about 10 months old went back to waking every hour wanting a feed. I was at my wits end and totally exhausted. I ended up crying hysterically myself after going to bed for half an hour before she woke wanting a feed. I had been ok with her 2 times a night wakings but every hour was just ridiculous. My DH found me in tears and put his foot down, from then on he was in charge of night crying and i had to either go to my parents for the next few nights or invest in some earplugs. So he spent a couple of nights sleep training her. That involved letting her cry for first 2 minutes and then going in to roll her on her side, tuck her back in and give her a dummy. Next it was 5 minutes, then 10, then 15. I was rocking in bed with earplugs in but when i couldn't take it anymore and pulled them out it turns out all was quiet and she was asleep? She took a couple of nights to sleep right through without needing him to go in but from then on she has slept solidly for 11 hours every night. Sometimes she might be sick of have a bad dream and i have no problem going in to rock her and hold her. She even sleeps perfectly in a portacot in the same room as us when we're on holiday. She loves her bed and going to sleep. I thank my DH all the time for the gift of sleep and DD2 has 8 months to learn to sleep through the night or she is also going through Daddy boot camp. This time i might go to my parents with DD1 for the night. 
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hils10
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Posted: 12 October 2011 at 12:00pm |
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I'd love to hear if you find a solution to the nap problem as we have the same thing going on here with DD who is 20 months (ie endless mucking about playing in the cot and no sleeping). Usually after 1-1.5 hrs I give up, put her in the buggy and within 10-15 mins she will be asleep (at which point I go home and park her in the backyard for her nap). I'm afraid I don't have any useful advice but youre not alone!
As for the night sleeping, things got worse around 18 mths for us as well. She was sleeping through fairly regularly then started waking up again 1-2 times a night every night for a month or two for no apparent reason. It has now gotten better by itself, so I think it was a separation anxiety phase (she was definitely clingyer during the day too!). Maybe thats whats going on with your DD as well? If so taking a softer approach might be better as their fears are pretty "real" at this age. It definitely has been a better approach for us. I actually found giving her extra cuddles seemed to improve her sleeping - like she has a quota of Mama-cuddles she has to fill before she can sleep well!. I do also leave her to cry for a few minutes though if she wakes up as sometimes she will resettle herself.
It is really hard though, finding the right balance being firm with a willful toddler who cries like she's heartbroken when she doesn't get what she wants, and giving enough comfort/support to make them feel secure!
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Smelly_Kelly
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Posted: 12 October 2011 at 6:26pm |
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Thanks guys, all your comments have been really useful. Ill have a think on what I am going to do >.<
<3
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crafty1
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Posted: 12 October 2011 at 9:15pm |
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We had similar issues at that age. He went from being a super sleeper to a shocker. We just comforted him tbh and he is now back to his old good sleeping habits.
With naps, have you tried lots of stimulation, physical exercise? Take her somewhere she can tear around and get some social interaction. That can help with some kids.
Naps at this age go through good and bad periods too, don't give up cos they will need it again later! My 3.5 year old still naps everyday but at around 2.5 he had almost dropped it altogether. I just kept up the quiet time in room and used whatever i could to get him to sleep. Now he goes down happily.
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Smelly_Kelly
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Joined: 12 September 2009
Location: Auckland
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Posted: 16 October 2011 at 5:56pm |
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Things are a lot better now since I turned the monitor off at night :p I am still giving her 1 bottle a night, but all the other times she wakes up and grizzles, I either sleep through it, or I ignore it and she goes back to sleep.
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I need SLEEP!
