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Original poster

Urgent help please!

15 replies

MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 11:19

DD is 13 months. It took us a long time to get her to sleep at night, but now she does reliably. She will sleep in the day, if she is in the pushchair/carseat. We decided to get her to sleep in the day in her cot. I put her down and she was fine in there, now she's calling for me and sounds upset.
What do I do? We had to use CC to get her to sleep in the cot at night, do I need to let her cry a bit? I hate hearing her upset!

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witchandchips · 28/11/2007 11:23

did she sleep at the same time each day in the buggy?

Original poster

MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 11:24

Yes, it was always now that she slept. She's had a bottle of warm milk too, which is a "sleep signal" for her. A couple of weeks ago I tried the cot and she slept without crying.
I'm so

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witchandchips · 28/11/2007 11:28

Sleep cues in the day (apart from warm milk) are very different to those in the night. I would try rocking her to sleep at first. So bottle-cuddle-story then pick her up and dance her around for 5 or 10 minutes until she fall asleep. Once she gets used to this you can then try putting her down without rocking.

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VictorianSqualor · 28/11/2007 11:29

Leave her there, I know it's hard, but if she is used to being tired now, she will sleep eventually.

lilymolly · 28/11/2007 11:32

keep going in settling her with no talking just sushing her and eventually she will sleep, I had exactly the same thing with dd
please persevere it will be worth it in the end. promise!

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MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 11:34

Oh dear. I just went and fetched her. I'm off for a walk with her, and I'll check back in when she's asleep in her pushchair.

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MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 12:03

OK, I'm back!
Here's the thing - I'm really nervous about "demonising" the cot and messing up the nighttime sleep. It took months of work to get her to go to sleep without fuss and to sleep through. We had prioritised nighttime sleep for obvious reasons, and just let her sleep in the pushchair in the day.
On the other hand, I'm going to start fertility treatment at the beginning of next year, and I couldn't cope with another difficult pregnancy (or a newborn) and stomping around the streets everyday. So it would be really good to get her in the habit now.
Any help gratefully received!

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VictorianSqualor · 28/11/2007 12:16

When Ds was about 8months he started nursery as I had to work, and would fall asleep every day between 10-12 (depending on what time I left) on the walk to nursery. When I stopped working at about 18 months he was used to his nap in his buggy so I ahd to get him into a routine of his cot.
TBH, I just did the same as I had at nighttimes, I would put him down in his cot, with a drink, and close the curtains, then go downstairs.
If he cried for more than 5 minutes then I'd go back upstairs and lay him back down, it only took about a week or so til he got used to sleeping there instead. We also used to go out in the garden or for a walk (him walking rather than in buggy) so he was a little mroe tired than normal, then he slept easier.
It's better getting it done now than when she starts climbing out of her cot, beleive me!

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MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 12:32

Does shush-pat work better in the day than in the night? I ask because we tried it with DD in the night and it seemed to "restart" the crying from the beginning. Whereas if we left her, she would have a good moan and then go to sleep.
It's much more difficult now that she calls for me, rather than just random shouting.

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LoveMyGirls · 28/11/2007 12:36

Stick with the pushchair in the day and cot at night if that is what she's used to, i've always put dd2 down to sleep in her cot and now if i want to go out anywhere it's rare she will sleep in her buggy (will sleep in car) so is just tired and miserable so we end up leaving and driving home where she falls asleep and peace reigns!

witchandchips · 28/11/2007 12:38

It is a big change for your lo. First she has to learn to put herself to sleep in the day and second she has to learn to be in the cot alone when it is not night time (as she is now old enough to understand the difference).

My advice would be to get her used to sleeping in the cot at a certain time and then try getting her to sleep by herself. So for the first thing do anything you can to get her to sleep. Rock her, lie down with her etc and then place her asleep in the cot. Then when she wakes up play with her in the cot so she gets used to the cot as a nice place to be when awake. After a few weeks you then perhaps think about doing cc but she may just play for a while by herself and then fall asleep in a heap on her teddies

LoveMyGirls · 28/11/2007 12:39

Do you have to go out walking with her for her to fall asleep in the buggy? Can you just sit her in the hall in it with a blanket and drink?

Even with a newborn though 10mins of fresh air everyday will do you all good and your dh can do it while hes on pat leave leaving you with a cuppa and mn for 30mins or so.....

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MrsTittleMouse · 28/11/2007 12:44

Yes, the pushchair has to moving (and outdoors too, we tried that trick!). I'm a bit concerned as in my last pregnancy I was prone to fainting spells and couldn't really be trusted to be outdoors on my own. I think I'd rather tackle this now rather than when I'm hormonal!
I think I was lulled into a false sense of security when she did it a couple of weeks ago. I wonder whether I should arrange for her to be completely exhausted somehow (not walking sadly, or I'd march her around the park for a bit!), and then try again.

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LoveMyGirls · 28/11/2007 12:51

I've always gone to toddler groups in the morning come back give them a good lunch then change them and put them up to bed. I've had a few tough weeks here and then when they have been out of routine etc but overall it's quite a nice routine.

(Im a childminder and this has worked for 3 of the children i have cared for in the past year and also my own dd2) age ranges from 6mths to 2 and half. One of them never had a routine and came to me at 11mths her mum said she only slept 10mins here and there yet the first day i had her she slept at the same time as my dd2 for over an hour and didnt cry at all.

mrsgboring · 28/11/2007 13:46

I know what it's like to be dreading a difficult pregnancy - I'm starting to fear the all day sickness and nausea I had last time round. So I really feel for you and appreciate it's an issue you want addressed.

However, I would agree with another poster that having a child who will ONLY sleep in a cot is a right royal pain. IME all the friends who've trained their DC to a cot have then found they won't sleep anywhere else (except poss car) and then they are pretty much housebound round naptimes. I know I couldn't live my life if DS was cotbound (which is good because he won't go to sleep alone anywhere and we've ditched the cot)

Also, think about the possible timings of when DD will need to be moved from cot to bed (when they can climb out of cot, you really do need to do this, especially if you're doing CC, as they could have a fall trying to thwart your purposes). And also when she might drop the nap, and how that corresponds to timing of pregnancy/newborn.

Cot sleeping may well be best for you, in which case I've no idea, but I wouldn't ditch the buggy just yet if it works.

Can you get someone else to walk a buggy round for you during the worst months of pg?

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