Total nightmare after illness

[mummybones24]

Dd is 14 months old and was really unwell last week with a viral infection. Night time sleep was disrupted and there was lots more sleep during the day (often laid on me or dh) as her body recovered. She was off her food too and the whole sleep and mealtime routine went to pot.

She's better now but the routine hasn't come back. Having previously always napped well and gone down well at night in her cot she now refuses. She stands up and cries. She won't sleep in her cot unless she's really exhausted and even then she stands up and cries at regular intervals until we go in and lay her back down and soothe her. This has been happening up to 20 x per night! She never needs or wants anything as she just goes straight back to sleep but why is she standing and crying?!

Naps are now happening as and when. Usually in the car or buggy when she's totally knackered rather than at a fixed time in her cot. This is really hard for me as I'm self employed and rely on her sleep times to get work done. 10-15 minute cat naps also make her grumpy whereas her previous one hour mid morning nap in her cot would set her up for the rest of the day brilliantly.

Is this it now? Is there no way to get our previously fairly solid routine back?

I suspect that she is still not feeling 100%.

Go back to basics with nighttime routine, bath bed cuddles milk etc and then in cot.
Sit next to her to soothe if you need to but stick to the cot. Then night by night do gradual withdrawal.

The easiest time to crack will be bedtime, and then hopefully the nap times and nitgh waking will follow. It is a matter of reteaching that sleep happens in the cot.

But it may be that she still feels off and needs that reassurance. So it shoudl improve with time.

She is a particularly clingy baby and co sleeps with us at night (as in when she wakes during the night and is impossible to settle!) but prior to this illness she's always been great at going to sleep alone in her cot in the evening or during the day for naps.

I'm just so worried that we won't get back on track with it now.

hmm, I htink she is getting mixed messages.
Sleep on your own, but if you wake up come into our bed.

So it might be harder to get back to going to sleep in her own bed. Personally if she is ahppy to settle at the beginning of the night in her own cot, then I would keep her their when she wakes in the night.

I do think it is a matter of persevering though, and recognising that she porbably still feel out of sorts. And now over tired due ot poor sleep, so that doesn't help.

It is tough, in the end you do what works so that everyone gets some sleep. x x

Will she accept a teddy and a photo of you? I gave DS a special teddy to keep him company in bed (that way there was no risk he'd get lost when we went out.)

I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's just that she's so 'spirited' in what she wants that when she wakes up in the dead of night it's really hard to settle her without waking the rest of the house up. I hate the phrase making a rod for your own back but we completely have by allowing her into our bed. It just seemed like the only way anyone would get any sleep.

That said, I didn't mind it so much when she was happily sleeping independently. The first part of the evening (from say 6pm-11pm) we wouldn't hear a peep. So when she woke up at midnight wanting to be in with us it didn't seem too much of a problem. Especially if it meant everyone getting back to sleep quickly and my older dc not getting woken up by her screaming. But it's definitely mixed messages for her.

It is tough isn't it? As I said sometimes you just have to do what works so that everyone gets sleep.

x