I have a DD who is almost 1 year old.
I have got ourselves into a mess with regard to sleep habits and I don't know what to do.
DD usually falls asleep at night having her bottle and transfers into her cot. However she wakes up multiple times and can only go back to sleep if her hand is held. She cries if you try and sit next to the cot and not hold her hand. This can happen 5-6 times between 7pm and 11pm and means time with DS is fragmented and getting anything done (packed lunches, ironing etc) is really hard. I usually take her into bed between 11pm and 1pm as she always wakes and she sleeps contentedly until morning.
I thought I should try teaching her to self settle, rather than using me as a sleep aid. So for the last two nights I I put her into her cot awake after milk and held her hand for a bit and then went away. She cried so I came back after 5 minutes and held her hand until she calmed down and then left again. This repeated on and on until midnight when she slept for a couple of hours.
She then woke at 2am and cried - I called out to her that I was still there but it was sleep time - she cried some more then was quiet for ten minutes. She then cried some more, I called out to her that it was sleep time, she cried some more then was briefly quiet before crying again. This went on until 5 am when I could not bear it any longer and brought her into bed and she settled until 730am
What can I do? I need to have some time in the evening without her to focus on DS. But I am wrecked from listening to her cry. Please help.