Sleep advice wanted ......

[Nicolaplus1]

Dont know where to start

DD is 17 months old and is a terrible sleeper, i cant think that we have ever had a full nights sleep! current arrangement is her cot up to bed with side off, this has been the case since just before xmas when she was poorly.

So routine at the mo...... bath around 7 pm, steih into bed with bottle,more often that not she falls asleep streight after with me or dh at the side.
We thn sneak out so not to wake her.

She is soooo fidgity literally siting up flopping back down, rwisting round etc.
More often that not she stirs numerous times and then wakes usually around 2am sometimes not fully, sometimes fully and wangto play

Anyway we are getting to out wits end and i have 2 weeks of work very shortly and my mission is to get her back in her own room.
She has a junior bed i there ready and waitng
Any tips on best way to tackle this??
Do i just go wih the super nanny plan back in the bed 500 times lol are are we expecting to much to young??

I found a book called 'sleepsense' by Megan Faure and Ann Richardson was a lifesave r for my little boys sleep problems.
It sounds like the supernanny approach might be a bit harsh considering there is the issue of changing her sleeping room as well as bed type.
Can you move her cot into her bedroom first and get her used to that before swapping the bed?

Thanks turtle will have a look for that.

I did think about that but the bed is allready in her room, maybe ill go with the bed but continue with theroutine as normal for a while ie wait til s falls asleep.

When we moved dd1 from a bedside cot to a bed in her own room, we had a midway stage where she was in her own bed next to ours in our room. It meant she was a bit more separate in the night - couldn't just roll over for a cuddle - but not too shockingly separate all at once. We moved her into her own room after that with no problems.

My DD managed to climb out cot at 18 months so had to put her in bed, it took about a fortnight of her getting out and banging on door and us putting her back to bed while saying "ssshh its bedtime" before she stayed in bed all night. It wasn't fun but the consistency paid off in the end, she sleeps fine now.

Just go for it but keep as much the same as you can, eg bath, story, cuddles routine.

My DD is 19 months old and only ow gradual improving with the help of a book by the Millpond Sleep clinic. Lots of sensible advice with loads of suggestions from controlled crying (not for me) to gradual retreat. Have a look.

Thanks ladies some good tips, cant decide if to go with araneas idea to put the bed at the side of us for a while or senseofhumourfailiures and just go with it and perservere.....

If i go for the " go with it plan" do you think should take the cot down in our room?

Nicola, DS was pretty shit at sleeping until 3 months ago. He is 22mo.

We spent his entire life up to that point agonising about his sleep but in the end he just started sleeping all night all of a sudden. No rhyme or reason, it just clicked for him.

Anyway, if you want her sleeping in her own room do just go for it. If the rest of bedtime is much the same, and you can talk up being in her own room (because she's such a big girl etc) she'll be fine. May put up a bit of a fight at first but if you are convinced it's the right thing to do, she will be too.

If she ends up in with you throughout the night, fine but apply rules- DS was a wriggler until I said that he must lie still or go back in his cot and he lay perfectly still after that.

Hi hairymelons was wondering if she was a little young to be expected to sleep in a big girls bed on her own lol

She is just 17 month.

But dont know if im just trying to convince myself that being in her own room is going to make it better, tbh could be worse am guna have to physically get up and walk to another room!!!

She might LOVE the idea of being a big girl even if you don't!

It's true, it is so much harder to haul your arse out of bed to see to them and once you're there it is so hard to not just scoop them up and stagger back to bed....however, it is worth perservering so they get the idea that they sleep in their own room now.

I am a lazy get pregnant & need my sleep though, so when DS woke last night (after randomly doing a 1 am poo) I brought him into our bed. He said 'Mummy, cot please' when he couldn't get comfy Never thought I'd see the day...

17 months is quite little in my opinion. My dd2 is 19 months, and we've still got her in a bedside cot. I don't think she would be ready for a big girl bed all by herself at the moment. And I'm not convinced enough that she would sleep better by herself to risk having to get out of bed and sort her out! I'd rather just stay in bed and settle her when she wakes.

We waited till dd1 was about two and a half before putting her in a proper bed, and it was all very easy because she could take ownership of the whole scheme and pick out her duvet cover etc. Much earlier than that and they are still such babies really.

I think there are lots of different ways of approaching it but really it's going to be to do with how you feel about it. I don't think any change works well with small children unless you are 100% confident that you are doing the right thing. And I would expect that if you set her up in her bed in her own room and leave the bedside cot up, you'll just end up with her straight back in with you again. It's a way of you indicating that you're not convinced by what you're asking her to do. That's not a disaster, but personally I would prefer to leave the whole thing until I was ready to commit to it wholeheartedly and not go back on myself.

Good luck - I hope you find a solution that works for you all!