Nearly 3 weeks of the worst sleep ever!!!

[Taler]

DD (23 months) has been sleeping SO bad for the past few weeks. She goes down about 7pm, tends to sleep through until 10:30/11:00 ish and from then on its - I kid you not - every hour or a good few times within an hour!

DH & I have tried everything!

I think it must be teething (although DD won't let me have a look or feel in her mouth so can't be sure). BUT if it is teething then why on earth is Calpol and Nurofen not having any effect??

If you are asleep you are asleep and if you are waking it's for a reason. Teeth seems to be the only possible explanation but just baffled why the meds aren't helping her?!?

I also acknowledge that she's going through so many changes at this age, learning an insane amount and accept this may well be a contributing factor.

But how long is this gonna last? I can honestly say this is the WORST period of no sleep we've been through with her as every night it's insanely bad!! Me and DH can at least take it turns but poor DD is so shattered! Today she laid down on the hard wooden floor and if I'd let her she would've gone to sleep :(

Anyone else experiencing this?

Was she a previously good sleeper?

There doesn't need to be specific reason she's waking up, we all wake up during the night at various points (whether we realise it or not) but the problem occurs when we are then unable to get back to sleep.

There is a big sleep cycle around 10/11pm which is why many babies wake up around that time - what do you do to get her back to sleep?

Fingers crossed it's just a phase!

Yes previously a good sleeper.

Surely there has to be a reason for her many wakings?? Seems odd otherwise.

If she's not properly crying (so more of a whinge-type cry) we leave her to see if she'll settle herself, which sometimes she will.

Other times it's a more full-on cry so tend to go in and all that's required is giving her the dummy (if she hasn't already got it), telling her to lie down (if she's stood up) and stroking her hair for a few moments.

Could she be having nightmares? I think I read that they can start having them at around this age. My ds is 22 months and a great sleeper generally but recently we've had a few times where he's woken up, crying loudly but re settled easily with, as you say, a bit of head stroking only for him to wake up a short while later. I thought this might be a nightmare which then re occurs when he starts to fall back into deeper sleep-hence the waking up a short time later?????

Otherwise, could something be waking her- neighbours heating now it's getting colder???

Yes its possible that she's having nightmares but I don't personally feel this is what is continually waking her up. Partly because when she has nightmares (at least when I think she has had one?!) she wakes up full-on crying whereas most of the time when she's been waking every night for the past 3 weeks it's more of a moan-type cry.

SOMETHING is waking her all the time and I just wish I knew what it was!!! Every time I think it's her teeth I then change my mind as would have thought that Calpol and/or Nurofen would at the very least take the edge off but it clearly doesn't!

Can it be a sleep regression? Can it be that she is developing so rapidly and learning so much that her mind is in overdrive each night? I just feel SOOOO sorry for her as at least DH and I are giving each other a break. She has had such poor quality of sleep every night for 3 weeks now.

Is she warm enough? The temperature in our house has dropped dramatically over the last 3 weeks so I've added an extra blanket and told my 3 year old to wear fluffy socks if she feels cold! Being too cold in bed is enough to keep me awake at night! Just a thought :)

The temperature in her room is an on-going battle between me and DH and has been ever since she was born!

Unfortunately her room does often have a bit of a chill to it. It's at the front of the house (as is our bedroom) and that side of the house doesn't get the sun.

A while back we actually split our heating system so that the front of the house is controlled independently from the back. Its controlled with a thermostat that's in DDs room. At night it's set at 18 degrees.

We read a while ago from a few different websites that the optimal temperature for a baby/child's room is between 16 and 21 degrees.

DH has a real issue with the heating being on all night. He says no one has their heating on all night (not sure how he knows this?!).

In fairness to DH I do agree with him that its really not healthy to grow up surrounded by central heating. Being too hot isn't healthy. But being cold is really unpleasant and a) girls feel the cold more - FACT; and b) your body temperature drops at night so surely you need to feel warm more at night than in the day???

I would actually be REALLY keen to hear from others on this point as maybe if enough people agree with me then DH MAY be more inclined to up the temperature a little in her room.

I'm not proposing to up it to 21 degrees but even 19 or 20!

He says that if the temperature is controlled and is ALWAYS set at 18 degrees then the temperature outside shouldn't have any impact. I know what he's saying and that does actually make sense, however it DOES feel a little colder in there!

I'd be tempted to get her room a bit warmer just to see if it works! If your dh doesn't like it you could always suggest he does the wake ups

He does go through the night as much as I do. No complaints there. Just wish we were on the same page re the heating!

You say you have some heating on ALL NIGHT - does she also have a small window open? We have never had heating on all night, although our DS did have a very small room, but he always had a small window open.

If there is no open window, so therefore no ventilation, maybe it could be stale air contributing to the problem. Provided there are enough duvets/blankets on a bed, or child is in a 'bag' (as ours used to be) unless a room is bitterly cold, I would have thought a healthy child should be able to maintain a correct body temperature.

[Did you try giving her a bath earlier in the day, as I mentioned in my PM?]

Thanks Ferguson. I have only just read your PM - my apologies! I read this on my phone and didn't even notice a message. Sorry!

Re goving her an earlier bath, I'm not sure it'd work as he goes to nursery 3 days a week (full days), so for consistency bath time needs to be late afternoon/early evening. Thank you though for the suggestion.

She doesn't have a window open. We live in a bungalow so wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it open at night.

Currently she sleeps in a sleep bag but in a few days/ a week we are gonna move her to a toddler bed (read somewhere that they can feel too enclosed in a cot around this age and maybe that's contributing to the poor sleep)

What's her nap situation in the day ? Also have you tried any kind of sleep training? At this age if you give them an expectation that you'll come in when they cry hard enough, they can keep crying to force you to come in ..and you might have to break the habit by refusing to go in once you've checked that everything's fine.

Last week we did controlled crying because she wasn't settling when she went to sleep each night. She always used to settle fine (story, cuddle and bed), going into her cot awake and putting herself to sleep. Then the past few weeks she would scream when we left the room.

DH and I felt we had no choice but to go down that route. It only took 2 nights of it and she was then fine - back to putting herself to sleep. BUT the problem is the numerous night wakings as even though she is setting herself at bedtime she is still waking lots throughout the night.

Naps used to be about 2 hours at home and about 45 mins at nursery but now it's switched?!?!? I do t know why???

Could it be the cot???? But if so why??

What happens if you do controlled crying for the night wakings? Do you notice any difference in her night time sleep on nursery or non nursery days? I very much doubt it's the cot and I think most sleep specialists would advise not to change to a bed while you're having sleep problems. Try putting an extra blanket/long sleeved top on for warmth but I normally find that my twins sleep better if slightly cooler. I think best option would be to give nurofen for teeth at bed time and then do cc for night wake ups for a couple of nights to see if that helps ..I know how unbeatable it is :(

Unbearable not unbeatable !

There is supposed to be a sleep regression about this age. See this article
www.babysleepsite.com/toddlers/toddler-sleep-regressions-explained/
Good luck with it. Try to remember it's all just a phase. Even though a phase can seem to last forever at 3am

Bebo100 a very interesting read - thank you.

Last night was a little better and I did do a bit of controlled crying when she woke at 4am. I went in, gave her a drink, told her to lay down, stroked her hair, told her mummy loves her and will see her in the morning (what I say every night). She was pea full.

As I went to leave she started crying and I just went back into my room. She continued to cry, hard. But it lasted for about 30 seconds! A bloody long 30 seconds mind!!

If this is a regression I just hope it ends soon. She hasn't had a good night sleep in too long now! :(

Hope last night was a little better