Screaming herself to sleep - when will it stop?

[Tapster]

80% of the time my 11 month old screams herself to sleep. I won't let her scream for more than 10mins. Most of the time she will settle unless she is teething. She has always been like this and she does it in the car also.

It is beginning to drive me a bit nuts as the screaming is getting worse and more hysterical. I do BF her still before sleep but put her down awake. We have a routine for nighttime sleep but her day naps are now all over the place, she seems to not need 2 naps some days and others she does so its difficult to have set times.

I just can't handle this screaming - she seems to be very clingy too. No other changes but she has been sprouting lots of teeth recently.

When do they stop screaming themselves to sleep?

Hi Tapster

Really sympathise as my ds is also 11 mths and sleep is still a real problem.

Ds has dropped one of his naps and now only naps in the afternoon but still has to be bf to sleep.

At night dh put ds to bed as with me he wants to bf and also clingy.

Night time is the worst when he enivitably wakes. Wants to bf and have been trying pupd method with some success but still lots of crying. He has been known to scream and cry for more than 1 hrs. Really distressing for both if us.

Only problem now is ds is poorly so all that achieved has gone out of window and will have to start again

Have you tried b/feeding her to sleep?

No idea when dd will stop. She's 19 months now and still does it, though usually only for a few minutes (also has bf before bed but always goes down awake).

But why not just feeding them to sleep? Or does that not work?

FWIW, I have breastfed all my three to sleep well into their second year. Dd1 was a terrible sleeper, but both dd2 and ds slept through from an early age despite not being put down awake.

She used to be BF to sleep all the time. Then stopped doing it on her own accord alot of the time so I have to put her down awake.

Lemonadegirl - how often are you BF a day/night? Just curious to know - in real life don't know anybody still BF at this stage.

I know I need to bite the bullet with the two to one nap but teething has made her nighttime sleep very disruptive so she often needs a nap in the morning.

well bf first thing in morning, once in the afternoon usually to get him to sleep and at night if he wakes. However have started taking a bottle of milk to bed at night. Want to cut the bf as feel it is contributing to the sleep issue. Ds has now taken to pushing my pj top up and helping himself BTW in real life most people do not know I still bf.

I do find that ds is much more unhappy when he is teething and that he likes to sleep on me/ with me at night,so putting him down to nap is hard.

Wish I could get down to 3 feeds a day - as much as 5/6, got her down to 4 but decided on her own accord to add a few more in. She bites me on the shoulder if she wants a feed

my heart goes out to you. my DD1 did this and I hate to say has only now (aged 5 ) started to be really able to settle herself at night (was nearly the end of my sanity, not to mention relationship with DH!)
Some kids just seem to be made this way. I always thought it was soemthing we did or didn't do but then along came DD2 who never ever ever screamed herself to sleep and settles herself like a doll pretty much every night
so what's the answer? have another?
seriously - I'd listen to emkana. If I had my way again I would just feed DD1 to sleep - I think that's what she'd have liked and maybe not doing that (trying to do things RIGHT) gave her certain security issues (or maybe she is just made that way - who will ever know)

I used to b/feed my DD til she slept and she'd sleep through. I then stopped b/feeding and it was hard to establish a routine. I now give her a bottle and read her some long stories and sit with her til she is asleep (she is now 2). If I put her down awake, she screams until she vomits

We had about four months where I pushed her to sleep in the pram (then she'd sleep through after I moved her to her bed) but obv we couldn't do that forever. For the past two weeks we've been doing story-bottle-bed thing.

Could you try b/feeding til she is asleep, keep offering it to her, see if she changes her mind?

OMG - 5 years. She is sleeping in her pram now (a very rare event) and even then she yelled for 5-10mins before nodding off. I fed her to sleep up to 6.5 months, but she was waking 3-5 times a night. Now its only once a night and she went 2 months sleeping through. Blasted teeth. I feel like screaming.

oh if she has just started because of the teeth it'll be hell for a week or two and then go back to normal and you will forget it all - that's the hope anyway

good luck, hope it calms down soon