DD historically a crap sleeper but we'd felt we'd finally got somewhere and she was starting to sleep through or at least going til 5/5:30 and being convinced after a bottle of milk to sleep another hour or so.
Terrible week of sleeping this week, waking at least twice and every time starts with almost calling out cries immediately followed by her "soothing" noise as she sucks on her dummy. Eventually she can't self soothe anymore and I'm so sleep deprived I can't even remember how long she ends up awake and screaming and how we've eventually got her back to sleep. She never really seems fully awake though.
We try medicine (she had jabs day before yesterday), more milk, rocking, cosleeping, nothing is particularly effective.
It's now midnight, she's been doing this weird crying out then soothin routine for about 40mins. I've given her calpol and tried just striking her head, she's definitely still asleep despite all the racket and it's impossible for me to fall asleep.
Could she be having bad dreams? Sometimes when she does get worked up we just get her up, put sedate tv on for a bit or at least dim lights, but try to fully wake her before trying to put her down again. Sometimes this works sometimes it doesn't.
It doesn't seem like she's in pain - what can I do? I'm exhausted, she's 20mo and I really though the end to sleep deprivation was in sight 