Where to go now to solve 4yo DDs sleep issues? please help!

[olivo]

Bit of history - DD4.7, has been shouting out up to 8 times a night , for nearly 7 weeks now. SHe started having night terrors, then they sort of down graded to nightmares; now she shouts out, often not aware the next morning. After 3 weeks I took her to the Dr, who said that she seemed fine, and it didnt seem to be behavioural, as she was not responding to sticker charts, bribes etc, which she normally would. He gave her phenergan , so that we could get a few nights' rest, as we were on our knees. I asked if it could be related to the mmr booster she had, as it started the day after that, but he said no unlikely.

I am now at a total loss as to what to do. I cannot leave her to shout as she wakes DD2. I cannot go on like this as it is starting to make me ill.

Any suggestions - please?

sounds very hard.
i imagine even with any gradual withdrawal type methods there will be an element of letting her have a shout. could dd2 go and stay anywhere just for the first night or two? or camp downstairs with one parent while the other sees to dd1 upstairs?

Thing is, she doesnt realise she is doing it. SHe resettles immediately I go in,but i f I dont go, she just shouts and shouts. It's almost like sleep talking -sometimes she spouts utter rubbish! Neither will be resettled by DH.

Millpond book has something like this - a case study about an older child. He was overtired. They solved it with early nights for 2 weeks. Theory is that night terrors are signs if overtiredness.

Any chance that could work?

definitely worth a try, thanks. We are now on school holidays so have organised absolutely nothing so that she can have some downtime. We'll still do stuf but only as and when. Can you buy the millpond book, do you know, or is it only for those who 'sign up'?

I'd second the over tiredness theory, DD1 has nightmares if too tired (she's 4.5). Also, could you sleep in her room for a few nights, see if that helps her? Obviously very short term, but I think once you've broken the pattern you can quickly start to change this back to normal? If you're right there when she wakes or semi wakes, she might settle quicker and get better quality sleep overall, making her less tired, making nightmares less likely....

I got mine from amazon. Brilliant book!