I have toddler DD Benadryl for sleep

[HannahsLife]

DD 21months has always been a bad sleeper. Slept through the night less than 10 times and never consistently.

Dd has bad eczema which we have mostly under control but a couple of weeks ago had a flare up. Her pediatrician prescribed Benadryl when her itching is really bad which we did for 2 days and she slept amazingly and woke up refreshed and alert which is rare. When the rash calmed down so she wasn't itchy we stopped the Benadryl and went back to awful sleep. Waking at 2
12am for 3 hours kind of sleep, after taking over an hour to get to sleep! And when she does go back to sleep it's only while laying on me, and scratching, rubbing and wriggling so you can't go back to sleep.

DH has been working so just me and her this weekend and I felt awful and exhausted, after maybe 10 hours sleep over 3 nights. I work full time too and have since she was 10weeks old (I live in backwards land) and I just lost my mind. I gave her a dose of Benadryl and so far she has slept so well.

But I'm awake at 4.30 because I feel like the worst parent ever. I know I was BU.

What sleep tips worked for you? We'd never fully CIO, we do let her try to settle herself for a few minutes on a night, but she just gets more and more upset to the point of sobbing and I can't leave her like that. We have a good bedtime routine, the same every day except it's either me or DH doing it, and can't have daily bath due to skin issue.

Help.

Honestly OP its hard, DD1 and 2 slept a dream because we had good habits, DD3 we let them slide and she was a nightmare.

it really is consistency, so firstly make sure you are ready and committed to start, secondly be aware it will take a good few nights and wont happen instantly.

I assume she is in her own room? when she wakes go in and pick her up for a wee cuddle and give her a kiss and lay her back down, im sure she will scream, keep your hand on her back for a bit so she knows you are there.

Then slowly transition this to just putting her back down and staying in the room so again she knows you are there.

Crying it out isnt just leaving them screaming.

We did sleep training with number 1 child who was an incredible non sleeper, at age 24 months.

We did basic shush pat, no lifting out of the cot, yes lots of protest night one, night two a few, night three grumbles, night four, slept through. Then ofc I fell pg straightaway as y'know, we were erm well-rested and eager. The subsequent babies were good sleepers, neither needed more than nudging to become good sleepers.

Don’t worry. I took dd to the gp about 6 months ago for advice on sleep, thinking they’d refer us to a sleep clinic and the gp said give her low dose antihistamine to get her into good habits. I don’t give it regularly at all but I have done when we’ve had a run of bad nights when we’re all desperate for sleep. She has started sleeping through much more regularly now she’s 3.
If she’s struggling with eczema I would try wet wrapping at night. I have a eczema and I get good relief with wet bandages

I don't know anything about eczema so please check if this is something that could cause an allergy but Camomile is soothing and aid digestion as well as sleep.

Make it the last drink before bedtime. Lift baby out of bed between ten and eleven to place on potty or toilet. Keep room dimly lit or dark and after their wee, put them back to bed.

You may be able to source Camomile tea elsewhere but this is an example -

amzn.eu/d/6n8J1ZR

The lifting out of bed for a wee was brilliant for mine and my sisters and brother did the same with their children. Sleeping on an empty bladder is hugely beneficial in getting them to have an unbroken sleep until morning.

To be fair you said she woke up and was scratching and itching so it is possible that's what's been waking her anyways and the meds stopped her itching?

My doctor prescribed piriton when my dd wasn't sleeping so I'm sure there's nothing wrong here

It does sound as if she’s still uncomfortable if she’s scratching etc when she wakes. I’ve currently got a strange rash and it wakes me up in the night with a burning feeling. Piriton helps.

Id discuss this with your doctor and I certainly don’t think you are awful for helping your DD sleep comfortably.

Ah reminds me of the 90s where my grandmother used to dose me and my sister up on calpol when we stayed over. She was prescribed Benadryl so if she seems itchy still you’re not doing anything wrong.

I feel for you in general - I have two children with ASD/ADHD and I barely remember what sleep is. My eldest is on melatonin and at the end of the month I’ll be begging the paediatrician for a prescription for my other son at his appointment. All the sleep training in the world won’t work if a child is not naturally able to switch off, sometimes medication is what’s needed to reset the brain’s ability to learn what switching off is.

Honestly I've seen people do this on flights so you're not the first parent and not the last. As long as not overdosing her and she's safe it's ok as a one off. but please get some help with her sleep. A friend of mine had this til their daughter was 20 months - never slept for more than 3 hours straight - and they just couldn't cope any more so they got in a sleep trainer. within 48 hours she was sleeping through the night and all three of them were much happier with it.

People assuming sleep training is just leaving a kid to cry and it's not. there's loads of help and advice about getting into good sleep habits out there. please seek some help!

I also did this with pretty much the same results.

It's absolutely awful when you are getting no sleep. If you can, I'd recommend taking some time off work purely to try and resolve this. I took a week, and within 4 days mine was sleeping through the night in his own cot in his own room, having previously been a co-sleeper. He's 12 now, still glad I did that!