Help - baby standing and crying for 2 hours. finally asleep..what do i do in the middle of night

[iliketrees]

Hi - my DD wakes an hour after being put to sleep at bedtime (admittedly goes to bed fast asleep after BF). Wakes, stands up and cries pitifully. Usually i would go in and pick up and try to do the whole PUPD thing but it just doesn't seem to be working. So on the advice of RL friends I didn't pick up tonight - just sat by her cot and had the odd hold of her..she vainly tried to snuggle up to my neck which was very sad. After about 2 hours she finally gave up after I managed to pin her down and stroke her face. But the question is what do I do now when she wakes in the night. She usually wakes for BF and I would go and cosleep with her but really want her to drop these night feeds now she is 15 months. Any advice please, I am at the end of my tether with this. I have tried the no cry sleep solution and didn't seem to get very far with it. Never let her cry it out like this but really cant go on. I've got health issues and I really need better sleep. thank you

[Teleaddict]

Hi, I think that whatever you choose to do the key is to being consistent. So whatever you do when she wakes in the evening then you do in the middle of night. If you are BF to sleep at bedtime then your DD will asociate BF with sleep which may be why she is struggling to put herself back to sleep when she wakes in the night. She needs a BF to go back to sleep. Have you tried putting her to bed awake so that she learns to put herself to sleep? If she does it at bedtime then the chance is that she will do it during the night.
Have you spoken to your health visitor about weaning her off the night feeds? They may have some suggestions about different techniques and then you can choose the one that works best for your family. Alternatively, there are some really good books that can give you a step by step plan. I used the 'Teach your Child to Sleep' book by Millpond Sleep Clinic. It contains different scenarios and lets you pick the method that you think will work for you.
Good luckx

[iliketrees]

thank you for that teleaddict. Last night was hard - she woke at 2am and cried with me sitting beside her bed for over an hour. But then she slept til 6.30. Took her into bed for a feed which was lovely. she had a good appetite at breakfast for the first time ever (she normally wakes up and burps in my face having had so much milk overnight!) I think you are absolutely right about being consistent - otherwise its just too confusing for her. Tonight she woke again but only took 5 minutes to get her to lie down so that is amazing progress. Haven't needed this sort of method with my older DC but then I was younger and obviously had more energy for continual night wakings. I will try that book you recommended too - thanks for your support.