Desperate - 2.5 year old suddenly not sleeping, very PG, at wit's end!

[DMCWelshCakes]

I'm 36 weeks with DC2 and for the last 3 weeks DiddyDragon has got out of her bed & come into our room for a cwtch at least once a night, mostly more often & hitting a personal best last night of 18 times. She's not upset, having nightmares, teething, wet, sick or complaining of any other obvious reason. She's also going to bed without any problems & staying asleep until about 11.30 before she wakes & starts getting up.

We have taken her straight back to her bed each time, have read her books on staying in your own bed, have bought her a groclock (which she loves but doesn't follow), have ignored her so she gets bored & wanders back off of her own accord...

DH & I are absolutely shattered & need to stop her doing this before DC2 arrives as it will be in our room in a moses basket to begin with. (Also, the thought of being woken separately by 2 small children is making me very anxious which isn't good for my already slightly dodgy mental health.)

Nothing's working & we're begining to panic.

Just to complete the picture, it started when I had a chest infection & wasn't seeing very much of her as I was in bed for a week. Since then she's also had a hacking cough that won't go away, but doesn't seem to be coming in to see us because she's ill. Her mission is very much to sneak into our bed & sleep with us for the rest of the night.

Please help!

(Am off to bed now to try to sleep before she starts wandering about again, but will check back tomorrow. Or with desperation in the early hours depending on how the night goes.)

Our 2.4yr old DS started this 6 weeks ago when I was 37 weeks pregnant. I think it's because they are getting anxious about not seeing you as much because of the baby.

Our DS now cannot come in our bed because of the baby, and so for the past four weeks I've dealt with the baby and my DH has been on the floor in our DS's room.

It had progressed to taking over an hour to get him to sleep at bedtime and him waking at least 3 times in the night by yesterday, the earliest waking being 10.30 one night. Before this he went down alone awake and slept 7.30-7.30.

Last night we tried rapid return, which took 45 mins and he slept until 4.30am on his own.

I think it may get worse for you I'm afraid as with us it was all about missing mummy and adjusting to the change so we decided to be very soft with him until he had had some time to adjust. However, splitting the waking to having a child each has meant that the sleep deprivation isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Good luck though, our gro-clock arrives tomorrow, I hope we have a bit more success than you have had with it!

Does sound like she's unsettled. I think toddlers are a bit more complex. Can you try the gradual withdrawal method so she is reassured that you are around and slowly get used to separation. Maybe use some music so she doesn't feel alone dropping off.

I too am preg and my son 25 months has been unwell such a lot that he needs me' near by when falling asleep. I am withdrawing slowly. Hoping to get a clear run before baby comes. Can't imagine how I am going to cope so totally feel your pain!

Thanks for your replies! I'm happy to report that DiddyDragon stayed in her own bed all night last night. She seems to have go the hang of the groclock and the cough is retreating so she's not as unsettled as she was. I'm also spending more time giving her cwtches in the day, which also appears to be helping her to feel more reassured.

Hope your sleep problems have improved & hope that last night wasn't a one-off before going straight back to the sneaking in again.