2 1/2 yo, become restless in early hours shouting for me!

[HorsemadBev]

My DD is 2 1/2 yo. She has always slept 13 hours at night, Last few weeks she is waking during the night usually early hours and singing, not a problem at first but now she is shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly and very loudly through the night. I've just started a new job last week which requires my full concentration and I'm going in like a zombie as really broken sleep. Does anone else have a baby monitor on their toddler? Am I being over protective by having one? She does not appear fearful when I go in and as soon as I go into her she lays back down and settles for half hour or so, then she starts again. She still in cot with sleeping bag, but was thinking of changing to bed and duvet soon. This new development is making me rethink as I believe she would get up during the night and the disturbance would be worse. Is this a normal development stage she is going through??????

my DS same age went through a similar phase of waking every 30-40 mins from 2ish onwards for no apparent reason and I sympathise as it is exhausting.
We would lay him back down with minimal fuss and he would go back to sleep but still kept waking up. In the end we told him that it was sleepy time until the alarm clock went off (he's in our room due to delayed house move but that's another story!)
It took a week or so but it seemed to work and now if he occassionally wakes i hear him say sleepy time until the clock goes beep beep and he settles himself.
You can get childrens clocks (i think glo clocks are good) that show a moon until the time you set so that if they wake they know it's not time to get up yet.
Good luck Hope you get some more sleep soon xx

Could it be linked to you returning to work/her still settling into childcare and maybe missing you a bit?

My DS, 2.2yo, misses me hugely now I work FT, so I try to make up by a later bed-time (he has a longer siesta-style nap during the day) and also co-sleeping so that when he does wake, I can resettle him virtually in my sleep (I too turn into a zombie otherwise). Often, just saying 'back to sleep' or flinging an arm over him is all he needs to be reassured that I'm nearby and he'll pass out again.

You might not want to go down that route but could you bring DDs cot or bed into your room for a while so you can at least have as good a night's sleep as possible? You might find that you can resettle her by talking to her when she wakes so you don't have to get out of bed. Or, if she is moved to a bed in her room, then could you teach her to come through to your room when she wakes and wants a cuddle, rather than you going to her?

Just some thoughts.

Hi,
Thank you both for your ideas. I will give some of your suggestions a go, I'm not a fan of co- sleeping and will try to avoid it if I can, plus I'm sure hubby would not go for that either. But moving the cot may be an idea once I have tried other avenues. With reference to work it may have unsettled her a bit more this week but it started a few weeks ago. I'm sure it's a developmental stage she is going through but the timing is really bad as trying to relaunch my career.