Hi all,
Just need to get an idea of whether anyone feels as hopeless as me when it comes to trying to gauge what's wrong with DS... DS has previously been a good sleeper, he loves his sleep and will have a meltdown if he misses a nap. He's 10.5 months btw, Over Christmas, he caught a nasty virus and over the new year, he was sleeping till 8 or 8-plus, having gone to sleep at 7 previously and would still have a morning nap (usually over an hour) and then afternoon nap (another hour or an hour plus) and then climbing on me at around 5-ish for another quick snooze. All these I put down to him recovering from the virus.
In the last two days, all hell have broken loose in terms of his sleep. He will not sleep in the morning (basically stands up in his cot and start bouncing up and down, though he has been able to do this for a while or the new thing is to try and reach the curtain to open it so he could look outside!). Fair enough, maybe it's time he dropped his morning nap... But this morning, he refused his morning nap, when it came to his afternoon nap (he was tired, rubbing eyes etc so I gave him an early lunch and tried to put him down around 12). Took half an hour before he finally went to sleep (had to cuddle him till sleepy then put down, otherwise he just gets up and starts crawling around the cot and standing up!) for only 40 minutes! Just managed to put him down (rocking till sleepy, put down in cot and then patting) again for hopefully another half hour or so. I know I shouldn't complain but I'm fairly used to a good night's sleep and I am shattered from 2 nights of bad sleep!
I know things change but he's always been so good at self-settling. Before, when he shows signs of being sleepy, I will take him upstairs, put him down and he literally would turn over and go straight to bed. Now he just looks like he wants to play! Also, his two top teeth are cutting through and they look like they are bothering him a bit. He's still going to sleep okay at night (but then again, he must be knackered!) but will now wake at 4-ish, 5-ish and then is up at 6 for good (when in the past he used to sleep till at least 7). He can't be getting more than 12-13 hours of sleep when just last week, he was getting a good 15-16 hours!
How in the world are you meant to fix this? Should I continue rocking him to sleepy before putting him down? Or should I do as I did before and hope he figures out how to self-settle again? How long do you let them grumble or cry for during a nap before you give up? I just can't believe how he's gone for a i-will-have-a-complete-meltdown-if-i-don't-get sleep baby to a sleep-is-for-the-weak baby. Is this a developmental thing? He's been cruising for a while and does look like he will attempt to walk soon? I just feel so tired and hopeless. I just can't tell anymore what is what???? Any help???? Thanks!
Ax