I was spoilt by DD1 - can you tell me if DD2s sleep is "normal"?

[SaltResistantSlug]

Just wondering really, as DD1 slept through from a very early age and has always settled herself, no trouble at all.

DD2 (8 mo) however, screams when I leave her in her cot so I have to sit with her until she drops off (which sometimes takes ages as she tries to "fight" the sleep). Plus we have REALLY creaky floorboards so if she hears us trying to creep out she wakes!

She wakes in the night and is often wide awake for anything between an hour and ninety minutes. She eats three meals a day, but still has an entire bottle of milk during the night. As for daytime sleeps, if she'll go down at all it's for 2-3 hours in the afternoon. I don't find it makes any difference to her night sleep if she has one during the day or not.

So, in comparison to DD1 she seems like hard work - or was I just spoilt by DD1?!

Thanks in advance!

I would say that was pretty normal.

At 8 months my son was waking up about 8.30, having a nap after lunch, going to bed about 9ish and would wake twice in the night, though he would resettle after a bf fairly easily. He also did the random 'being awake for an hour or two in the night', but slightly later - at around 9 months onwards. This wasn't every night but maybe every ten days or so, however it lasted until about 17 months.

as someone who had a dd that didn't sleep one night through until she was 14 months old I can't begin to tell you what's normal.

Sounds about right to me though. I did try gradual withdrawal with dd from about 14 months so that she now happily settles herself (she's 2.6 so about bloody time :o). Start as you do now and gradually (really gradually in our case) move further away from her cot. A little bit (perhaps even only an inch) every night. It can take weeks to get the bedroom door. Eventually when she's happy to fall asleep with you standing in the doorway, start working on her falling asleep with you standing in the hallway. Until finally you are able to put her in her bed and walk away saying a cheery goodnight :o

Good luck!

Sounds normal to me!
I had it the other way round to you - DD (3.4) was a bloody nightmare and didn't sleep through until 22 months. She hated self settling/Moses basket/cot/being left and given the choice would've slept on me all night if she could. she also ate ok but wanted milk constantly too.
She is an amazing sleeper now (7pm - 8/9am)
DS (17 months) was a brilliant sleeper from birth (slept through at 3 weeks) and still is. (7pm - 7am) takes himself to bed when he's tired and will happily self settle with a blanket or pillow (but prefers cuddles).

I'm praying DC3 will be more like DS!