Having a bit of an ‘end of my tether’ moment so hoping a vent on here and some advice from other mums will help... ☹️
My DD is 16 months and has never been a good sleeper. She’s never consistently slept through, we have had the odd night here and there but it never lasts. Up until 10 months she was queen of the 30-40 minute nap as well. They did extend for a few months, an hour or so in the morning and again in the afternoon, but that’s out the window now and we’re back to the crap naps again.
She still has 1-2 bottles during the night. I know this needs to stop but she’s a small thing (20lbs at 15 months) and she’s an incredibly fussy eater / eats like a sparrow so I’ve just never felt comfortable depriving her. Also I know if she has the milk she’ll settle and, quite frankly, I’m a coward when it comes to her crying.
Her current routine goes something like this:
6:30-7am - wake up
8am - breakfast
10:30-11am - nap #1
12:30pm - lunch
2:30-3pm - nap #2
5pm - dinner
7pm - bath, bottle, bed
11pm-midnight ish - wakes up, bottle and back down
2-3am ish - wakes up, bottle and back down
5am - wakes up, sometimes self settles but if not then offered water and back down
Couple of other things to note:
- She is able to self-settle. At naps and at bedtime, I put her down in the crib awake and she has a Ewan sheep thing. She’ll rumble around for a bit but is normally asleep or nearly asleep before Ewan turns off. This is partly what frustrates me as I know she can put herself to sleep, she’s proven she can do it.
- She’ll only be comforted by me, just cries more if DH goes in. Ever since he worked away Monday-Friday for a few months when she was younger, she stopped settling for him. He tries but it never works.
- We’ve just got back from a fortnight in Florida and due to jetlag etc I think she’s got used to having multiple bottles overnight again (I just fed her whenever she woke up after the flights because she was jetlagged and so was I and it got everyone the most sleep...).
- She has one molar through and two more pushing out currently.
Basically, I know I’ve established bad habits. I just don’t know how to break them / worry I don’t have the courage to do it. Equally, I don’t think I can take much more of this. I daydream about the day she consistently sleeps through the night but right now I wonder if we’ll ever get there. I love her to pieces and she’s a happy, gorgeous girl but she’s so much happier after a rare long nap or long block of overnight sleep.
Sorry this is so long and rambley. She had me up every 1-2 hours last night, which is what pushed me to post this, so my brain is a bit all over the show today. Any tips or advice much appreciated. Even just solidarity at this point. Feeling like everyone else’s baby is blissfully sleeping by this age and I’m doing something v wrong so that’s why mine isn’t!