After some recent sleep problems we have had to resort to controlled crying with our 20mo DD. Having always been anti CC when she was little and favouring co-sleepin it is a difficult but, I feel, a necessary thing now. THought I'd keep a kind of diary or record of how it goes so others wanting to try it can see how it works (or not) for us. If nothing else I coan always print it out to show DD when she is a teenager
This first post may be rather long (sorry).
Background
DD was born in April 2002, 2 weeks late. Even in hospital she slept with me in bed and didn't like being in the hospital crib. When we got her home she had an instant dislike to the rocking crib and she spent the first 2 weeks sleeping in my bed. At 2 weeks she got a bedside cot and things were much btter from her point of view. At 6 weeks she started sleeping through in her cot from midnight to 6am, increasing this time till she was 16 weeks. We then broke her routine by going on holiday and from then on spent part of everynight sharing with me and DH. She would always settle herself to sleep on going to bed originally though but struggled when she woke later. At 15 months we moved house and DD had her own room for the first time. After a shaky couple of days she was able to go to sleep on her own again, but still came in with us during the early hours, after waking herself up hitting the cot bars.. At 18 months she went into a toddler bed. Again - same routine prevailed.
Recent Problems
This Christmas holidays she has had lots of breaks in any form of routine and then got a very heavy cold. Her cough was waking her up every hour or so and he really struggled for a few days. AS a result DH and I brought her in with us pretty much all of the night so we could at least get some rest and not be in and out of bed al night. Trouble is once she improved and we tried to put her back in her own bed problems have begun big style. She will not settles at night at all - getting out of bed, coming to the gate and crying and screaming. THis is happening whenever she wakes as well which can be 3 or 4 times a night.