Sleep help

[BelliniButterfly]

My baby is 11.5 months old and luckily has always been a great sleeper. Up until now she has consistently slept 7-7, would go into cot awake turn over and go to sleep. When she woke in the morning it would be babbling to herself until we went to get her.

However, for the past 3 or 4 weeks it has become a nightmare to get her down, she cries as soon as she goes in the cot. I can't do CIO. I've tried pick up put down but she now pretty much exhausts herself and then sleeps. She's been waking frequently in the night always crying. She's not hungry. Again when she wakes in the morning it's always crying and she's waking up early.

She's always been a baby that needs a lot of sleep. She still has 3 naps per day and needs them. Normally 45 minutes in the morning then 1.5 hours after lunch and another 45 minutes in the afternoon. Shes not ready to drop any of these however she has been fighting going down.

She has been teething and had a couple of cold but I'm worried that the solid sleep routine she had which I worked so hard to establish is gone never to return! I don't want her to associate bedtime with upset and negativity. I'm suffering with pnd and anxiety and this is stressing me out. She's just come out of leap 7 so I don't think it's developmental.

Any ideas what I should do?

When baby can pull to standing, which is somewhere around this age, sleep can go to pot.

Have you tried staying in the room with her as she goes to sleep? Keep tapping the mattress to get her to lie back down if getting up, or you lie her back down if she can't do it. Then keep your hand on her chest/back until she's fully asleep with you there.

Hi Fate

She can stand up and holds onto the bars so you may be right. Ive been doing exactly as you suggest but not getting anywhere, I was still there an hour later 😮

What makes you think she's not ready to drop the third nap? That's usually dropped around 6-9 months. Have you tried stretching awake times? Baby may react well and extend her naps.

Hi Fate thanks again for your reply. I guess I haven't considered dropping to 2 naps because she always seems tired after 2 hours but as she is starting to get more difficult to get down I should try that. She actually went down awake as usual tonight at 7pm which I wasn't expecting. If she wakes between 6am and 7am and goes to bed at 7pm how would you suggest I time the naps? Also if she wakes after the first cycle how do I get both naps to be 2 long ones? Thanks

My DS went through this phase a while ago. It lasted about a month of screaming as soon as he was put down. Luckily it’s over now and he is sleeping 7-5.

A reasonable approximation for awake time on 2 naps per day is 234 (hours between waking and 1st nap, 1st and 2nd nap and 2nd nap and bedtime).

This is only a guideline. Mine, for example, was better on 225, others might do 334 and any other possibility. But generally speaking you stretch awake time through the day.

You don't have to have two long naps. The Gina Ford type routine would be a 45 minute morning nap and then longer 2h-3h afternoon nap. Mine did two 1h30m-2h naps and was just better like that. Do whatever suits your child.

I'd try a nap at starting 9am and then 12.30-1pm. If you get 1.5h rather than the nap extending, you may need to be flexible with bedtimes and offer an earlier bedtime through the transition.