Hello all,
Please excuse the long post...
My 23 month old daughter was breastfed to sleep until she was 18 months then from then on (on her own choosing) she started settling herself after a bedtime story and cuddle and slept beautifully (we were very grateful!). Now, at 23 months, like a switch, she has changed. She happily completes the bedtime routine (bath, teeth, dressing, singing and stories) but then as soon as I actually say goodnight she becomes hysterical. She screams, kicks, struggles and throws herself out of the bed. What makes this harder is that she shares a room with her 5 month old brother and as my husband is in the military and is away a lot, I have to be able to manage the bedtime by myself. Up until now I do the bedtime routine for both together and then after I read stories and snuggle her in I sit in their bedroom to feed my son. When they are both asleep I put him down and leave. So she knows that I stay in the room until she’s asleep.
I leave a red nightlight on for her, she has white noise on her Ewan and I have given her one of my scarves to cuddle. I have tried saying I’ll return to her in two minutes but she throws herself out of bed to leave me. If I cuddle her she calms down slightly but still cries. Even with cuddles and staying with her it takes a good hour or two to get her to sleep. By this time my son is waking for his next feed. I’m completely shattered.
In addition, she has been waking at 4/5am screaming and will not settle at all, not even if she’s sleeping on me, in our bed. This is completely out of character for her.
I can’t stand seeing her upset or getting so tired the next day. I just want to do the right thing for her to help her get through this as quickly as possible.
Any suggestions gratefully received!
Thank you 😊