20mth waking up screaming

[samoa]

Dear All,

Since our dd was 9mth old she has slept through the night without any problems. We did controlled crying and it worked wonders.

Now dd is 20mth and has started waking up during the night screaming, started 2 weeks ago. We have tried to do controlled crying but last time she cried for nearly 2 hours at 1am. At one point i just went and slept on her floor because we live in an apartment building and we are the only ones with a child. So now, dd wakes up every night, sometimes at 1am or 3am, screaming and the only way she will calm down is if i sleep on the floor next to her cot.

Just for info we moved countries 2 months ago and dd started nursery 3 weeks ago. I know that this can be quite stresful for toddlers but I have kept her routine up and she seems to be doing really well in nursery.

I can't take this anymore, I am exhausted. Does anybody have any ideas? Is it a phase????

thankss

[mousyfledermaus]

sounds like nightmares to me.
a lot of changes in a short time.
give her re-assurance, maybe co-sleep for a while until she's settled.
what about the father, can he do every other "night shift" so you can get some rest?

[samoa]

thanks mousyfledermaus. Yes it has been a lot of changes lately, but we have tries to keep routines in place.
Co-sleeping is impossible, dd absolutely goes berserk and takes hours to get to sleep, it is really weird. the only thing that works is dd sleeping in her cot and me on the floor.
At the moment my husband is stressed with his job. It is a new job in a new organization so he is finding it quite difficult.
We shall persevere!

[Hols77]

Hi there,
I had the same with my now 23 month old when he was around 15 months I think. It did go on for what seemed ages- 3 or 4 months I guess but he is fine now.
Obviously a phase and I put it down to night terrors but I also understand from talking to various people that it can also occur when they are going through big developmental stages.
Hope thats helps - you wont be tired forever I promise!

[samoa]

Thanks Hols77! Just seeing it through and hope it is only a phase. Spent another night on dd's floor and my back is killing me!

[reenee100]

HI there, we also have the same problem with our twenty month old twins> We have put a mattress on their floor so we can at least be comfortable and get more sleep!

[lukewarmmama]

I've seen lots of threads like this over the time I've been on MN, and DD1 went through the same thing as well at about the same time - lots of nights on the floor (not so good when you're 7 months pregnant!). I think it was a greater awareness of the 'scariness' of the world, and looming changes at home, causing anxiety or nightmares. A lovely nightlight helped greatly - we called it her 'sleepy light', and it meant the transition of us leaving again after she woke up in the night wasn't so dramatic (and we could get back to bed more quickly!).

That and industrial quantities of calpol and calprofen as her back molars were coming through as well.

It passed, hope your DD's does too - good luck!