need some CC hand holding.

[BeebiesQueen]

I've had a thread in chat earlier incase any of this seems familiar to anyone!

dd2 is 12 months in 2 weeks. She cant fall asleep by herself. So I'm having to get tough, and its hard! I've decided after trying diffrent things that cc is the way to go, i'm not after a fight or a debate on teh rights and wrongs, I just need support from anyone who can offer.

So her first nap of the day she cried (its not sad, distressed crying its angry cry iykwim) for 2.5 hours before it was time for her bottle so I got her up, gave her bottle, gave lunch, had a little play then it was time for her afternoon nap. She cried for 2 hours 15 minutes until it was time for her afternoon bottle and if she had fallen asleep at that point she would have missed dinner and not been tired at bed time which would mess up dd1's routine.

now here we are, she was so tired at dinner, I decided to put her to bed at 5.30, getting her ready for bed she kept closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep.

I put her in her cot and here we are again big angry screams and lots of 'urgh, urgh, urgh' (up, up, up) I'm goin gin every 10-15 minutes depending on how much shes shouting. each time I lie her down, she settles, closes her eyes, I walk away and she screams again. (ive tried staying by herside and patting her, it was taking over an hour some nights to get her to sleep, which isnt practical with dd1 (who is only 15 months older) around

That was a long explanation if any one around is doing the same tonight or can hold my hand to get through this, please join me.

thankfully dh will be home at 6.30 to take over so I can go out and have a break (in other words go and do the weekly shop!) so I just have to survive another 45 minutes, then however long it takes to settle, but I really do think we are in for the long hall tonight

[breadandhoney]

I remember that feeling well. Congratulations! Enjoy

[teacher123]

Amazing!!! So glad things have improved, sleep makes everyone happier!

[BeebiesQueen]

thanks :O
our new routine is walk in to her bedroom, she starts complaining. I lie her down she shakes her head at me and sits up and complains louder. I say its nap time, or night night (depending on the time of day) she complains until I close the door and she lies down and goes to sleep.
To be honest I'm still in slight shock! I cant believe my child who never sleeps now has 2 naps in her cot during the day, goes to bed at a reasonable hour and sleeps in her cot for most of the night. She also sleeps longer in the morning rather than being up at 5 am she sleeps till closer to 7 sometimes even 8!
Shes a happier more independent baby. she will play with her sister or by herself meaning I can get stuff done around the house. for the 1st time in a year I have an empty laundry basket and an empty ironing basket at the same time!!

It may seem like a harsh way of doing things to some, and I guess it is. I've tried controlled crying in the past with her and she never responded well (she just got hysterical) so it really does depend on your baby, but I think dd2 was ready for a change, I think she wanted to be able to sleep just as much as I needed her to sleep. The difference in her is just incredible, she really is a different child

[knottyhair]

Great news!

[breadandhoney]

Yay! Well done you and your dd

[IHeartKingThistle]

Seriously, you rock.

[BeebiesQueen]

We now have 5 minutes of crying and a she sleeps till 4.30ish in her own cot.
She's been teething for the last couple of days and she's even been good during that!
So pleased I did it.

[breadandhoney]

How have the last few days been?

[BeebiesQueen]

she went back off in about 10 minutes. she didnt cry, just shouting for me again.

I just put her down now as she missed this morning nap (I didnt notice the time) and shes up there shouting again. shes tired but has decided that today she just doesnt want to sleep!

[teacher123]

Did she manage to settle back off? When they cry like that then you know that it's out of the ordinary and you have to cuddle them, don't you? Glad that she had a nice cuddle with DH when he got home.

[BeebiesQueen]

I really dont know what happened. dh got home from work and she happily went to him and tried to snuggle down, so he took her back to bed. I can still hear her every now and then, but shes trying to sleep. It must have been a bad dream

[breadandhoney]

Fantastic progress! Hope dd2 settles for you shortly. You trusted your instincts on that one. Maybe a bad dream or a tummy pain?

[BeebiesQueen]

now not not!

[BeebiesQueen]

I'm not sure what happened. They were both fast asleep and happy then suddenly dd2 dtarts screaming hysterically, I ran upstairs and she is wild eyed and very upset. I picked her up and she held on tight and wouldnt let go. thankfully dd1 is still asleep but dd2 is not downstairs with me not sure I did the right thing, but I've never heard her make a noise like that before and she really was scared. we'll cuddle for a bit then back to bed I think.

[teacher123]

Hahaha! Our stairs are dead creaky-when MIL or DM look after DS I have to tell them NOT to go and peep at him, as it wakes him up! I really hope you get at least some of an evening

[knottyhair]

Just wanted to say well done, it's tough but real progress today by the sounds of it .

[BeebiesQueen]

I put them to bed at 5.45 (figured they are both very tired and it will take a while for them to settle) and they are both quiet! no idea if actually asleep, but as there is no noise coming from their bedroom there is no way in hell anyone is going anywhere near those stairs!

chocolate sounds good, a big bar of choc. On day 7 both sleeping in the same room at the same time. HUGE progress

[teacher123]

Wow! Sounds like progress is definitely being made, when they both go to bed, make sure you have a very large glass of wine and a big bar of chocolate

[BeebiesQueen]

I put her to bed last night, she grumbled for around 2 minutes, she then fell asleep for 45 minutes, she woke up, cried for 2 minutes (I wanted her to know i was still there) re settled her she grumbled for another 5 and slept for 45 minutes cried for 2 i resettled her the she grumbled for 5 minutes. She cried out at midnight by the time i went on she was fast asleep again! She woke up at 4.45 for a bottle then slept till 6.

Today we had to go out this morning and she fell asleep in her car seat. This afternoon she slept for around 30 minutes and she's currently having dinner and then it will be bed time.

I'm also going to do something quite scary, I'm going to put both children to bed at the same time. Up until now dd1 has been waiting till dd2 was asleep before going to bed, and before that we would put 1 to bed before the other too. Quite nervous as its another big step, but a necessity and when its a solid routine I'll be glad I did it!

[pacific407]

I haven't read all the posts so may be repeating, but have you considered her sleeping environment and anything that could change? I'm just wondering if there's a reassurance/comfort element to you being there and, if so, whether you could replicate that with a soft toy (I read on another thread about a microwaveable bean bag toy which I love the sound of), music, lighting etc?

[teacher123]

How's it gone for the rest of today and for bedtime tonight?

[BeebiesQueen]

she woke up soon after I posted and was shouting till 9pm, but she fell asleep again in her cot by herself. I'm clinging on to any improvement!

and this morning there was hardly any fuss, less than a minute in fact and she is sleeping soundly. day 6 and I think we cracked it!

[breadandhoney]

Hope she was asleep soon after you posted.

[teacher123]

Did she go off to sleep ok? Hope you managed to get a bit of an evening! X

[BeebiesQueen]

I put her to bed 5minutes and after the initial protests she hasn't made a noise since. She also didn't get up the second I put her down. After a crap day i could cry! Hopefully she's falling asleep up there rather than sitting staring.