DD is 14 months, was a terrible sleeper, got down to one wake-up at 11 months then knocked off course by canines and jabs; back to anywhere between one and three wake ups but generally sleeping longer stretches now and settling back down by herself or with less intervention.
She has a routine of teeth (lately just throws the toothbrush), bath, nappy in bathroom, then her bedroom for PJs, stories, sleeping bag, milk (breastfed – used to feed to sleep, now feed to drowsy and cuddle), cuddle to sleep; unless it's DP's turn in which case he doesn't do milk and walks around with her on his shoulder. He can get her to sleep in under 5 minutes, lately it takes me forever because she wants to play. Usually comes into our bed at some point – on a bad night by midnight, on a good night around 5am. She can often settle herself back down after wake ups, even if she stands up (we've got a video monitor and have watched her do it).
She's currently teething back molars (she's got 16 teeth already) and her back bottom gum looks like she's snuggling golf balls. Rejecting milk a lot in the day, won't eat apples or other favourites. Last night at bedtime she was fine – happy in the bath, when we got to her room she grabbed the cushion from her chair and lay down with it as a pillow playing her favourite game "I'm going to sleep", giggling all the while (it's funny because she's not going to!), cuddled up quietly while having stories, and was wrestled into her sleeping bag without protest.
But when I offered her her usual feed she latched on for half a second, bit me (gently; and she never bites), started to cry and pulled away. I tried to cuddle her as usual but she began writhing like a spawning salmon and getting more and more upset and screaming and pointing at her bookshelf and the door and just going demented. After a couple of minutes of this, DP took over and she calmed down and was asleep in minutes. He's had to take over bedtimes in this manner the past fortnight, sometimes because she just won't stop playing when I do bedtime, other times it's like last night and she's just beside herself and won't feed at all, even though she's a milk hound first thing in the morning.
She feeds fine in the night, though for the last month it hasn't got her back to sleep – so I've just put her in our bed where after some singing practice and rolling around, she falls asleep herself (usually feet on DP's face, head on top of mine, or something equally pleasant) – and has a feed, or 8 million feeds, first thing.
But at bedtimes she's inconsolable with not wanting it, inconsolable if I try to get her to sleep some other method. and fairly tearful at various points in the routine, even when it's something she loves, like her bath. Is this just the back molars? Anything we can do besides calpol and riding it out? Or is it nothing to do with teeth and just another bastard regression? She started nursery settle sessions last week too, if that's relevant.
(Nb not interested in the "she's got to fall asleep in the cot herself" brigade, we're happy helping her to get to sleep and bringing her into our bed.)
Sorry for long-windedness. Zzzzz. I can live with the wake-ups but I want our nice bedtimes back instead of wrestling a demon banshee.