Almost 20 month old night waking.

[GingerDoodle]

Caveat: I know my DD is not a bad sleeper; compared to many she is amazing and we are very fortunate.

My DD hit the 18 month sleep regression on cue with much hysterics at bed time but now (touch wood) is miles better.

The issue we now have is that she 8/9 nights out of 10 will wake between 12:15 and 14:00 and will not go back in her cot. We normally just put her in with us and she drops off.
I don't mind her in with us but now its almost every night I'm trying to figure out whats going wrong so I can reclaim my bed but more importantly help her get an undisturbed nights sleep!

Last night she would at 12:30; laying her back failed in an epic fashion so I put her in with us and she dropped off quickly. I tried to move her back to her bed once she had dropped off (which sometimes works) - didn't go well. I tried sitting with her for an hour (something i've never done and would rather not do) but the minute I moved she sat up crying.

Any ideas?

She no longer asks for milk so is not hungry
Her room and ours are equally dark; she has a night light which we had started to put on time but seems to prefer it on
She's not cold as she has kicked her duvet off and she won't have a blanket over her in with us

She has a 1 - 2 hour nap during the day from 11ish - 1ish and goes up at 7:30, she normally sleeps till 7. She settles fine when put down normally so its just the re-settling when she wakes in the night!

Watching with interest as my 20 month old screams blue murder!

Yup. Exactly the same here. It got really hard as I'm currently 33 weeks pg and she would lash out in the middle of the night. Decided to try controlled crying and on night 4...... So far there's a definite improvement. Couldn't think of what else to do!

I didn't mention in my original post but we took the side off her cot on Sunday which initially improved things if anything but last night.. well that was uncharted territory - went to bed fine; was up, out and screaming at the stair gate within 5 minutes.

Took her for a 40 minute drive - she fell asleep but the minute her backside hit the cot on transfer (normally transfers fine) it was a repeat story.

We bought her downstairs till 9 isn and she ended up in with us but didn't settle till gone 10:30!!!

I am seriously considering a sleep consultant. I wouldn't mind CC if it worked but she is a stubborn little thing and I'm not sure my ears will take it.

Yes it's really hard initially. Last night (day 4) she slept from 7.30-6 with a couple of grumbles but I didn't need to get up. Don't think it's sorted but it's definitely better but I know the minute a tooth or a cold appears we will probably be back to square one

Elvis, if you don't mind me prying - what exactly did you do and how long did she cry for?

Last night my 20mo woke at at 2am. He didn't go back to sleep until nearly 4. I tried to ignore him at first; I can tell when the crying isn't urgent. But it went on for so long I just went in to comfort him. Which made matters much, much worse. Do you think I should be taking the sides off the cot? How do you know when to do that??

Ginger - do you think its because the sides of the cot have been taken down?

No prying required. I always vowed I'd never do CC but I also never knew how tired I would be by patting her to sleep for 1/2 an hour every couple of hours.
I've chosen a week where DH is away, he's rubbish at this sort of thing. I also know there's not much going on at work so know it'll be ok if I'm tired.
First night I put her down at 7 and she woke at 10.30, I let her cry for 4 mins, went in picked her up and patted her twice but didn't say much then put her straight down so she wailed. I then repeated leaving her for 2 minutes more each time. It took a little while but worked eventually. It helped because I could tell she was angry at me as opposed to feeling frightened or in pain.
Did the same each night but left the gap that I left her for on her first wail, longer.
It's not the best because it's quite tough and I think there are other approaches such as pick up, put down and gradual retreat but it's all about what works for you.