I returned to work after mat leave on 23 Jul, about 3 days before this DD and I both became ill with bad colds. Due to just being back at work I didn't feel as if I could take time off ill and so kept going in, DD kept going to nursery, she was well enough to be there (and I at work) but we were just not well. We also weren't recovering. I lasted 3 weeks back at work before I literally couldn't get out of bed to go to work last Monday. We both went into the doctors who said we both had flu and we were both given antibiotics. I have now been off almost 2 weeks (doc signed me off on Monday gone) and I feel rubbish about it.
DD is now hugely better and has gone to nursery today but I am still ill. In fact I am worse and have now come down with an ear infection and been given more antibiotics. I am really suffering and struggling to see how I am going to get better when I don't seem to have any time to look after myself. DH works most of the time but helps in bucketloads when he is here. I now have 4.5 days stretching ahead of me until I am due back at work and I should be sleeping BUT.....through all this illness DD has forgotten how to fall asleep.
The last few nights I have been up with her for 2 hours trying to get her to go to bed and it's literally killing me. We put her in a bedtime routine at 6wo and by 9wo she was sleeping through the night. We've had the occassional night where she would wake up, usually when a tooth was coming through or if she was having a growth spurt but this is like nothing else. She's 9.5mo now and I know she knows how to do it. Once she's asleep she'll stay asleep but it's the constant patting, singing (when I have no voice), walking around etc which is making me more ill and the doctor told me I had to stop it.
When DD was 7mo we tried 'the gentle retreat' to teach her to self soothe because up until that point she fed to sleep. It worked really well for us and we've been able to put her down and just go. She usually sleeps from 7-6.30 and then takes 2 2hr naps during the day. Last night she didn't go to sleep until almost 10pm and was up at 6.30 for nursery. Nursery haven't been able to get her to sleep today at all. I even suggested they try giving her a 9am bottle (which we dropped 2 months ago) which I did yesterday but it didn't work for them.
She has a tooth coming through and I am hoping this is why she isn't herself. If I needed to then I would stay up all night long with her but ultimately I'm not going to get any better and I already feel like I'm pushing it with work. A couple of friends have suggested a 9mo sleep regression. I just don't/won't believe it and am determined that anything that can be done can equally be undone. Any thoughts? Teething? Remnants of being unwell. Anything I can do?
When I try to put her to bed she either screams or just sits up and bounces on her bed. I've tried leaving the room but all I get are devestated tears and I mean tears like "someone is killing me mummy" not the attention seeking tears.