Help - 7 month old dd getting worse & worse

[Twistedheartache]

Will try & be as concise as possible - appreciate any advice but tolerance for crying is about 30 secs
Dd2 slept brilliantly til 5.5 months ish. One-way up per night around 4 - occasionally 2 if she was v hungry, but resettled better chatting away to herself than with me holding her. Napped anywhere. V v v lucky me! (DD1 didn't sleep through til she was 3 so I earn it)
However in the last 2 months she's just got gradually worse. Won't nap unless it's on me for more than about 10 mins, waking up at least once an hour from 7-11 at night, getting more and more difficult to get to sleep.
Culmination - she's sat with me in the lounge just wearing a nappy, giggling away and chewing a book. I'm tearing my hair out & want to cry.
I need to fix this. DD1's only regular 1:1 time is 10-15 mins in bed when Dd2 has gone to sleep, I need an evening to get my house sorted & a break & some dinner - lone parent so no respite.
Any ideas, suggestions? Reasons why it's all gone wrong?
Other info - she chews everything in sight but won't take a dummy, she's got some hearing loss so white noise etc wasted on her, I know her room needs to be darker.
Help!

[FATEdestiny]

Could you co-sleep?

What are her daytime naps like?

[dajmibuzi]

I could have written this OP.

I'm hoping it's just a phase because it's so frustrating!

[Limpetsmum]

Is she hungry? Have you started weaning?
Would you try control crying...?

It's tough (and I imagine a lot lot tougher as a single parent) - but it will be just a phase and she'll get out of it soon enough. If I've learnt anything, everything is a phase and things improve with time (although length of 'time' varies!)

[SummerDreams13]

I've got a 7.5 month old who (touch wood, cross fingers, clutch tail of rabbit) had a weird sleep regression thing from about 6-7 months that has now settled, which seemed to coincide with some clingy behaviour in the daytime - I wonder if it's the start of separation anxiety? That's what yours sounds like - albeit from my virtually nonexistent experience apparently this is also the age where they start developing nightmares which can frighten them out of sleeping. No great advice here but might be worth googling sep anxiety - lots of games of peekaboo and draping my face with a muslin, asking her where I've gone and letting her pull it off seem to have helped with us, weirdly! I also introduced a comforter that I stashed in my cleavage while I fed her to sleep at night and put in the cot with her when she went down- it seems like when she wakes up now, she grabs it and uses it to self settle as I see her holding it when I go and check. Hope there's something there that helps - good luck

[Twistedheartache]

Thanks
Would prefer not to co sleep purely because I would need to go to bed with her & I need some time to get house sorted/chill - would also be logistically difficult because DD1 has moved in with me since her dad moved out. I do bring her in after 5 am coz it's so close to getting up time I've given up trying to resettle.
Naps are OK - longer if she's on me. Roughly 45 mins 9:15-10 on me 1-2/2:30 in bed/pram and short catnap around 4
She's eating well so far. Not dropped much milk so would be surprised if she was hungry. She does sleep better with porridge for dinner! Not up for controlled crying - I know it "works" from friends who have brilliant sleepers that have been gina'd but it's not for me. Would rather moan about being tired for the next 2 years!
Separation anxiety makes sense - she was screaming when I wasn't around on & off last weekend & she is looking over at the spare double bed when I go in to her which is where I sleep when I have visitors at the moment. Hmm off to Dr google - thank you

Fingers crossed it's a short lived phase - yawn