My dd has been through all the major sleep regressions but we'd finally got to a point where it felt like we didn't need to worry about her sleep anymore. She generally naps from around 1.15 til 3.15 Sat-Tue (might be later/less depending on our plans and her level of tiredness) - I often have to wake her up - and goes to bed between 7 and 7.30 (merrily telling us yo go downstairs then singing herself to sleep) and sleeps for 12 hours. Wed-Fri she is in nursery and used to nap for an hour mid-afternoon.
However, a few things have changed recently and my husband is currently in her room (at 10pm) with her trying to calm her down with bedtime stories!
Firstly, her nursery hours have reduced from all day to 9-3 so she now won't nap there.
Secondly, Dh is a teacher so we've had a few days out in the holidays whereby she slept late in the afternoon/on our way home.
Thirdly (this is a big one!) we have 10 week old twins!
The arrival of her baby brothers hasn't really had an impact on her sleep habits over the past 9+ weeks so I'm hoping that's not the main problem, although I know it can't help!
She has always had a very dark room. She woke up at 10pm two nights ago crying and it turned out she'd had a nightmare. She refused to sleep without a light on (Dh stayed with her for a bit) so we went out yesterday and bought her an Ikea colour-changing night light. I explained that it would keep the bad things away and she slept as normal with it for naps today and yesterday and last night.
Tonight is a different story though - she went down at 7 (possibly a bit too early in hindsight as she woke from her nap at 3.15) and has been wide awake and refusing to sleep since (normally a couple of stories will sort her out). She wanted to come in our bed (jealousy?) and we explained no (it's crowded enough!) so my husband has been in with her most of the time. We're worried she may work out a way to climb out of her cot - which she's always been happy in - if left alone.
Add to this the fact that her twin brothers won't settle tonight either (I could really do with Dh's help!) and you have a recipe for extreme stress!
So, has she outgrown her nap #despite still sleeping well for it)? Is it fear related to nightmares/fear of dark? Have we messed with hee routine too much? Is it just plain jealousy?
Any thoughts/tips would be gratefully received (thank God for my tandem breastfeeding cushion which has allowed me a free hand to type this!)
Thanks in advance!