Waking every hour, can't take much more.

[eggsnbeans]

DD is 17m and sleep has been crap for the past 7m. Up to now I've been able to blame it on teeth/nap transitioning/illness... but now we have 16 teeth, settled into 1 nap and totally healthy, yet we are still awake every hour from around 12-5, with a period of being awake of a 2-3 hours somewhere in the middle of that. I am so tired I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm 7m pregnant and just can't do it anymore. She's not just grizzling, well we get that too from bedtime-12 and inbetween wake ups, but she wakes up screaming like the world is ending and doesn't stop until we go in. Sometimes we get to just turn on Ewan and leave, other times we have to sit in her room for hours until she goes back to sleep. When I'm really desperate she comes into bed with us, but it doesn't really help as she thrashes around so much and grizzles every 10-20mins.

Our routine is 6-7.30 - awake for the day, time depends on how long she has been awake for in the night and what time.
10.30/11 - nap for 1hr (the only time I ever get any longer is when I have made plans and need to leave the house!)
4-5 - very tired and grumpy so needs to have a sit down and chill out with me
7-7.30 - in bed. Needs me to sit in the room until asleep. I have tried popping out of the room quickly while she is settling, even quick exits result in screaming!

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm so angry at her for the way she is making me feel, which I know is ridiculous, but I've just had enough

Hello and hugs, this is so hard and rubbish. It is a typical time for sleep regression.

The routine looks pretty standard but the daytime sleep is a little short and quite early on. Have you tried pushing this back to after her lunch? I would suggest lunch at 12.30 and nap from 1-3 ideally.

Re nighttime wakings, personally I would be very strict. Leave a non-spill water bottle in her cot and go in every 15-20 minutes just to say 'it's time to go to sleep'

I wouldn't touch her unless there was a need to. Take it in turns with your Dp if you can.

Does she have a bedtime routine that is the same every night? I would suggest pjs, milk, teeth, book (the same one every night) and then bed. Cuddle , kiss, love yous and bye bye.

I hope you see an improvement soon

How awful for you, and so tiring! I agree, try a later nap? Maybe after lunch? But this won't work if you think she is knackered by 10am, do you think she could go to after lunch? Possibly not at the moment because her night sleep is so broken, but if the nap was later, she might sleep better, and then her nap would be easily pushed back. Have you considered controlled crying? I know friends who have tried it for LO your baby's age and it has worked after a couple of hard nights of lots of crying....
good luck, don't blame yourself for getting cross with her, we all do it, tiredness does not help the brain process problems!!

Oh poor you.
I have just been through 20 months of this, she is our third and the other two were much better sleepers.
I don't know what cracked it but here are some things we have done.
Night light
No milk after breakfast. I think she has dairy intolerance but not sure. This also meant she ate more food through the day. Water in spill proof cup in cot at night.
Big meal at 6.30pm
Fresh air. Let her walk a long way.
If she wakes up I go in and say repeatedly in calm voice go to sleep" , don't go near her, sit in chair with blanket over me and try to nod off.
Long nap after lunch but also in car in the morning for 20 minutes. The less overtired she is the better.

It is terrible. I really feel for you. Good luck

You don't have much time to sort out her sleep before baby arrives.

Don't sit in her room until she is asleep in the night. Say "Good night" and leave. If she cries, let her for a bit, then go in for a few seconds and say "It's time to sleep" etc and get back out. Repeat as necessary.

She will eventually fall asleep.

When she wakes up in the middle of the night, do as above. No staying in her room for hours - that is madness.

Don't be afraid of a bit of crying. Your current situation is not good for anybody, including your DD.

Thanks so much for your suggestions, sorry I haven't had a chance to reply until now! Thanks for the sympathy too. Our last couple of nights have been slightly better, but getting up for the day before 5am makes a verrrrrry long day!

I had been wondering whether her nap was a bit early, but she really seems tired then and if we are having a bit of chill out time (for me ) on the sofa, is often falling asleep by 10am or if we meet up with friends in the morning, is pretty knackered by lunch. But I might even try an early lunch and nap just after. Anything is worth a shot!

Yup that's pretty much been our bedtime routine since birth too thereslotsoffarmyardanimals although no milk anymore as she doesn't like it!

I'm working on leaving the room while she falls asleep, CoteDAzur the past 3 nights i've been sitting by the door and it's been fine, so might try tomorrow sitting outside the door. She used to go to sleep fine by herself, then suddenly started getting really upset about 6 months ago. When she stands up and starts talking to me i tell her to lie down and go to sleep, has been taking a few goes but gets there after 15 or 20 mins now.

I have also tried the water bottle/book/toy in bed... she just doesn't seem to find them, but her room is really dark, so you might be right about a night light newblueshoestoo. Would love to get a big tea into her, but she's a terrible eater, especially at dinner time (maybe because she's so tired?)

I'm definitely considering CC claremoss, hoping I won't need to and not entirely convinced it will work with her (very intense and head strong personality from birth!) but hoping to keep it as my last resort!

Thanks again for your suggestions and moral support!