17 month old not herself

[chloeeeee07]

Wise mumsnetters..looking for any advice please.

DD has turned 17 months old and has always been a good sleeper but in the past week has resisted bedtime and day nap, ending up being so overtired and grumpy. She screams and screams (not done this before) and is so strong willed. Last night I was sure she was possessed because she woke and NOTHING would settle her - it wasn't tired whinging, it was whole body throwing herself and screeching for an hour!

Things to note are she seems to have gotten a long bigger overnight so lots of development changes and also is having to settle into new class at nursery so could be why...?

She is usually so happy and smiley and it seems like she's overnight become permanently unhappy and wanting to assert her independence constantly. Is this normal?

Also to note - ANYTHING we seem to do that she doesn't want to do or like, she throws her head back, wails and is inconsolable...

She was such a chilled little baby!

My DD is 19 months and this last couple weeks has been the same. Apparently there's some kind of developmental stage/sleep regression at 18m, so I've put it down to that, she seems to be coming out the other side now 🙏🏼 but it can last 6 weeks or so they say.

Thank you for your reply. That's interesting about their developmental stage and possibly could be that. It's always a little easier when you think there's a reason behind it, though I know sometimes there just isn't!

It sounds like a normal development stage. The waking up at night and screeching sounds like a night terror. It can happen when they are overtired or there are changes going on. It’s distressing for you witness but they don’t actually remember it the next morning as they are asleep. My dc sometimes has them but will wake up in the morning happy and completely oblivious to what’s happened in the middle of the night. If it is a night terror, trying to calm them down sometimes has the opposite effect to just sitting quietly next to them and waiting it out.

Thank you, great advice. If it happens again, I'll try and wait it out as yes, when I was trying to calm her, it seemed to make it worse.