Cot 2 cot bed - how old was yours???

[mmmmchocolate]

My dd is 13 months and is refusing to go in to her cot, for last 3 weeks. she has been a perfect baby sleeping through from 8 weeks etc tillnow. And if i let her fall asleep on me during her bottle she wakes about 12ish and screams so much makes herself sick. I have tried cc and also sitting with her but makes no difference and when i do pick her up she clings to me so hard and ends up bed sharing with me!!! What can i do???????

Okay this is going to sound crazy but it worked for me. Is she a comfort baby. ie. likes being wrapped etc. I took a soft toy (it was a soft bodied doll) to bed with me and my husband for 2 nights. I then put it in the cot beside DD and it worked. She had our scent so didnt miss us. All she needed when she woke in the night was the doll to be moved near her face and she was fine. She is 4.5 now and still has the doll. Told you it sounded mad, but trust me it really works.

Will try when she wakes to night i'll give her my top??!?!? Did you have to keep reloading the scent? if you know what i am trying to say?

Hi, No we didnt, the doll became her comfort. I actually started off putting my pyjama top over her and that worked, then I moved from there on to the doll. I was a bit panicked about washing it for the first time but because the doll was part of sleep routine and she had seen me and her dad with it she accepted this as her comfort. She looked really sweet with it actaully.

How long did you try CC/other methods for?

every night i try cc, but she gets in such a state sweating and not breathing in between cries, vomitting. As she has always been so good about going to sleep i worry something is wrong.... or is she just getting clever?

I tried the CC for a while and it worked in that before I did it she would not fall asleep in her cot. The problem I had with DD1 was keeping her in bed. She would go to sleep no problem but would wake several times a night for hours on end. When we discovered Molly (the doll) it was a godsend. It really worked.

but presumably you have given in?, she is getting wise .

By the time she was 2.5 fortunetely she had grown ouyt of the waking in the night thing. SHe is 4.5 now and goes to bed at 8pm and stays there until 7am. Baring the night terrors I mean. THere is light at the end of the tunnel.. Your childs sleeping will improve. PROMISE!

i am gonna try the smells and use her dolly too.... I can hear her stiring now!!!!!! my mum says not to worry she will grow out of it and aslong as we are all getting our sleep just to go with it, but i'm not sure some of my so called friends love to tellme their child sleeps through all night every night making me feel i am doing something wrong!

I used to hate it when people told me that their child has been sleeping through since they were 8 weeks old. Dont you just feel like hitting them in the face and telling them to be quiet???? Nasty aint I???

i do now!!!!! why are mums so competitive?????? thanks for the tips, let you know how i go xxx

Good luck!!!!

Hi mmmm, two things, if you're thinking of moving to a cot bed just cos of night wakings I would say hold off as long as you can. The only reason we moved ds to a cot was 1) he was getting too big and 2) baby no.2 was due, he was around 20/21 months old then. This was the biggest mistake we ever made! He went from sleeping through most nights to waking most nights. The ability to move around and get out of bed opens up so many more issues. I wish we'd listened to the advice and got two cots instead of moving him. The advice I was given was not to move him unless he was climbing out, which he wasn't. Only now at 2.3yrs is he realising he can lift his leg up and over the stair gate!

So if you're thinking of moving her yet I would hold off. I think most people move from 16mo+ if they really have to, but the avg seems to be between 2-3yrs.

As for the night wakings you really have to get her to fall asleep without the bottle and you. If she starts to look sleepy then stop the bottle and put her in the cot to 'drop off'. If she stirs you just have to keep doing it I'm afraid. If she starts to cry pick her up to calm her then put her back in again. There's lots of threads (definitely under Archive) on the pick up put down technique by Tracy Hogg. Is definitely worth giving a go if you have a babe that makes themselves sick with crying. Then gradually you move yourself out of the room and after about two weeks you're finally at the door when they drop off. You're at the final hurdle and you're out the door! It does take about 3-4wks IME with Ds but does work. I think some people call it the gradual removal technique.

As for the middle of the night you have to be quick and strong willed, a quick kiss and then out again or try the pu/pd technique again.

HTH