HELP! 9 month old getting worse not better.

[AlCrowley]

DD has always been a terrible sleeper. I joked before she was born that I was due a non-sleeping baby this time after DS who slept through from 8 weeks and it really has come true.

After months of struggle, we'd finally gotten to the point where she was finally having 1 nap in the day then having a BF at 7pm and going to bed and waking at 1.30-ish for a feed then sleeping till 5.30-ish for a feed and being wide awake from then until her nap. We weaned at 5 months on the advice of the HV because she wasn't napping during the day at all! She now eats really well.

Again on the HV's advice, 4 days ago, I added a FF at bedtime along with her BF. She's never taken a bottle - just screams if you put one in her mouth - so we've been giving "bedtime milk" from a tippy cup. She maybe takes an ounce or two before she cries for boob at which point I BF her to sleep as normal. But since then, her sleep has gotten even worse. We now have the 7pm feed, an 11pm feed, then the 1am feed and an extra 3am feed before the 5.30 wake up. The only bonus is that her nap has extended to more like 90 mins most days.

So I'm giving up on the HV and asking MN - what do I do now? Do I ditch the FF or should I give it a few more days to see if she settles? Is there anything else i can do to encourage her to sleep through - or at least go back to just 2 wakes? DH, DS and I are all desperate for a full nights sleep now

Any advice would be appreciated

Good point that might be it too.

She's 3 and a quarter. She had a very vivid one the other night too about a little boy hanging from my lamp shade singing and apparently she was trying to protect me from him?

Bearing in mind she only watches CBeebies and a few disneys and I never ever have anything vaguely adult on with her awake, I am at a loss to where these ideas come from. Poor thing

Oooh! DS is 3years 7 months and has a good imagination but he's not come up with anything like that yet!

He was telling us about a boy who jumped to the moon this morning over breakfast :)

Hope she forgets about the snakes before bedtime tonight so you can both catch up on your sleep. At least its the weekend and you can have a duvet day today.

She slept better last night.

How's life in your house? Saw a thread last night whose child is sleeping horrendously. Poor thing and she lives in Dubai and is miles away from friends and family support.

Had another 6.30 till 6 last night but naps today are not going well so far. She had 20 minutes and then woke up really upset. I gave her Bonjela then Calpol and then an extra feed before she was calm.

Blinking teeth

Hope your DD had a better night tea

Is it me or is there a pattern on when she sleeps through at night her naps in the day don't go as well? Almost like her routine needs to be more fluid depending on what her night before was like?

Definitely. Although she was tired when we got back from dropping DS off so I think she was ready when I put her down for the nap.

She started coughing a few minutes before she woke up. Maybe it's the teething drool again??

DS2 up between 3.30 and 5 with teeth/ear. Then almost as soon as I got back to bed DS1 needed a cuddle - woke up in his bed this morning - so not a great night for us either.

5 minute nap this afternoon!!!

I'm going to try again later

6.30pm till 5.45am last night and a 40 minute nap this morning.

Fingers crossed for this afternoon.

Hope you had a better night Blue

Oh how lovely

45 minutes in bed this afternoon - plus the 10 or so she was asleep on me!

She didn't go down till 3pm, maybe that was the key?

Hard to tell sometimes isn't it? Try again tomorrow at 3pm and see?

All sounds good though.

loving the new halloween name :)

Yours is rather good too

We got 6.30pm till 5.40am this morning. I was expecting her to be up early as her last feed was really short so 5.40 felt good.

I'd gone to bed with a headache at 9.30pm too so I got some good sleep.

3pm sleep today might be a no go today as DS has swimming at 3.30pm but I might try 2 instead of our usual 1pm. We need to leave at 3.15 at the latest so that gives her a good hour after her feed.

We got a 40 minute nap this morning. Had to miss toddler group but I think it was worth it.

I need to get the sleeping routine so ingrained that it works anywhere.

Right - now to get her worn out for this afternoons slightly early nap so that we can get it done before swimming :)

We seem to have gone back to 1 feed in the night (6 or 7oz so definitely hungry), and teething. Still an improvement on when I joined the thread.

Enjoy your swim BlathAaarghskite!

My DD suffered Night Terrors for a while where she screamed but wasn't really awake She was a lot younger, she was only 14 months or so, not an age where they were supposed to start yet anyway. Not good. She had a period of 20 months of good sleeping and now she's started having nightmares, they're still happening here and there at the moment but perfecting a new technique with them which I'm hoping will improve things....

Well, she's had 2 fab naps today of about 45 minutes each and has gone to bed quite easily. She's seemed more comfortable teeth-wise today too so I've not given her any Calpol which will be a test as the past 4 nights she's slept through, she's had Calpol at bedtime. I did give her some Bonjela though.

For the second night in a row, she's had hardly any milk at bedtime . This morning and yesterday morning, she had a huge feed (both boobs) when she woke though so maybe she's just changing when she wants the milk?

So hoping tonight goes well. It would be our first 100% day in terms of sleep.

C'mon baby, you can do it!

Good luck with the night terrors Bloodandsnakes. Maybe I should name change again too? BloodAaarghsKnife maybe?

Not quite so good today. She woke at 5.15am this morning and has only had a 10 minute nap. I did get her to have another 10 minutes laid on me quietly so she's had a bit more rest.

Going to try harder to get a bit more food into her at bedtime to push that wake-up back towards 6am again. She's not interested in cows milk after her bath but maybe I could give it to her before the bath? Last night's feed was really short. Maybe a bit of prodding to get a bit more into her?

I have switched DS2's evening milk feed to before bathtime, so I actually get a chance to brush his teeth and have them clean for a few hours before the next feed.

Still suffering from teeth/ear, and hasn't wanted any solids for 24 hours. Up twice last night, once for food and once for calpol. Otherwise he's quite happy.

Had an awful night last night. Screaming at 10pm, 3am and 5am!

She's had some good naps today though. 50 mins this morning and then another 25 mins on my shoulder as I cuddled her when I brought her downstairs and 40 mins this afternoon in her car seat after she fell asleep on the way home from soft play.

She's been bathed, calpol-ed, bonjela-ed and Olbas Oil-ed and is now in bed. "nd tooth is still working it's way out and she has a cold to match her brothers Fingers crossed for a good night as it would go a long way to making her feel better I think.

It was a very good job I'd gone to bed at 9pm myself last night else I'd be even more tired than I already am!

Poor thing. My DD has a cold too. Hope tonight is better x

DS has a horrid cold and I think he's sharing. Blinking pre-school germs.

Hope your DD is OK.