Iam desperate for some help. Apologies in advance for the long post.
I've had the night from hell.
My dd has been an exceptionally awful sleeper since birth. I am a single parent and we live alone and it's becoming almost unbearable.
I have co slept with her since birth until the last week when I've started putting her in her own cot in her own bedroom - using the controlled crying technique.
She has a bath, bottle and then bed routine starting at 18:15 and she's usually in her cot, fed and sleepy but still awake by 18:50
First night self settle took 40 mins - checking her at increased intervals and she simply whinged a bit and fell asleep. Fantastic.
Second night it took less than 20 mins
Third night the same
Fourth night she's In her crib laid awake and content no crying and was asleep in 10 minutes.
She however, will not stay asleep. She can be in the most glorious of slumbers and like clock work between 1/2am she will wake and refuses to resettle. Continuing the checking in intervals and laying her back down she won't have any of it and it seems to be getting worse through the night and easier when first putting her to bed? It makes no sense.
The first night she woke up (always between 1/2am) it took around an hour and she went back down. However every evening she is waking and taking even longer the resettle. Last night it took over 4 hours. She eats 3 meals, snacks and her bottles throughout the day she isn't hungry. She isn't teething.
What I will say is her naps are atrocious and she has two a day that both last a maximum of 40 minutes. Could this be the issue? Does poor day sleep really effect the nights sleep ahead?
She's becoming increasingly whiny because of her exceptionally awful sleeping habits and I know that with the right structure shed be much happier and content. I just don't know where to turn or where I'm going wrong.
Perhaps it's the habit of the night feeds/feeding back to sleep thats creating such an issue and I should simply persevere and trust the process
Has anyone else had success with finally getting there little one sleeping through the night using this technique?
Any positive points will be greatly appreciated.
(Spare me any negativity in regards to my chosen method please, I am exhausted and I've spent my morning crying - go easy on me)