2 y/o needs me to sleep and won’t stop talking

[MummyDummy11]

Hi all, I need advice! Long story short as a baby my daughter slept amazing. Sadly her dad and I broke up when she was 6 months old coinciding with moving her from bassinet to crib. The nightmare began as I desperately wanted to maintain her great sleep habits but was dealing with emotional issues myself. Since then tried to do sleep training but she’s older now and is wise to my attempts - also I have a hard time hearing her cry at any level. As a single mother I can’t seem to manage to do it on my own. So she wakes me up at least 3x every night, I barely get more than 4 hours of broken sleep a night. Enter a new problem that is now more than too much to handle - she has now started waking at 5:30-6:00 whereas before at least is was at 7:30. She naps for 1-2 hours a day from around 12pm and in bed by 7:30-8. Another new thing she’s started doing is talking non stop at bedtime, keeping herself awake way past the point of me knowing she would be asleep if she would just STOP talking. I can feel my immune system shutting down and I have very little patience during the day with her. Please help!!!!

[stripeypumpkin]

I have no advice really but I am in the same boat as you. My son is 27 months and recently moved from a cot to a bed as he can climb out of the cot. He woke at 3am this morning and then every half hour since then, until at 5:30 we put a gate on his door (we explained that this would happen if he got up again) and left him until the sun came up on his groclock. His first two nights in the bed he slept his normal 8-5:30ish but since then he has been waking up at least twice, usually 4 times a night, coming into our room. If I put him back in bed he usually falls straight back asleep, unless it is after 4:30 in which case we are doomed.

Also, after walking him back to bed 50+ times at bedtimes for the last few weeks I have caved and just sit with him until he falls asleep, but like you I am a bit broken now and lacking in patience as he sings/chats like your DD! He just thinks it is a game.

Have you got a gro-clock? Until this massive regression from my son he was really good with it - and even now he recognises that when the sun comes up I will come in and get him up.

Is she in a bed or a cot?

What sleep training have you tried? Do you think she needs to drop her nap? (considering this for my son, but, particularly now I am WFH I really really need that nap to work in!)

[MummyDummy11]

Thanks for your feedback... I have heard great things about the Gro-Clock so I think I will try working it in to see how that goes. Last couple nights she has actually started sleeping from 8:45 pm to 6:00 am - yay!

I think a new routine is setting in and I hope it sticks. I sit with her to fall asleep at around 8:00, she takes a while to get to sleep but then takes a 1-2 hour nap from around 12:30pm for 1-2 hours.

I haven’t cut out nap but suspect it would solve the problem but I think she’s too young and still needs the nap - so do I haha.

I’m going to keep doing this for now and when it fails again, I will try introducing the clock.