Help - 2yo won't sleep!

[MrsK1989]

I'm pretty sure my toddler is trying to kill me. I tire her out... Big time! But it makes no difference (dance classes, soft play, hikes up steep hills in the country).
She sleeps for the first 3 hours, then at around 11ish, she wakes up, then again at 1ish, 4ish and often then doesn't settle back down. Out of 7 nights a week, 3 of them she will wake up every 20 minutes between 11 and 3am... I sleep in her room in an armchair, she demands milk.... She still has a dummy. We have a good bedtime routine and ways have - no TV time for an hour before bed, pjs on, brush teeth, story, a song with a cuddle, milk then sleep. Bed at 7-7.15, usually takes until 8jah to settle, but 9 on a bad day. She sleeps fine at other people's houses.
Please help.... And no mention of cry it out as I won't do that with her as she can suffer with panics and vomiting from over crying..

It sounds like a sleep regression. My son had one just before he turned 2 and it sounds exactly like his.
It could have been a complete coincidence but at the same time, he climbed out of his cot so it was changed to a cot bed. After the first couple of nights of him getting used to it and the novelty of getting out of bed, he stated to sleep well again.

I was thinking of trying to redecorate her room and reintroducing a big girls bed time - taking the sides off her cot etc? Do you think that might work? I had just shy of 3 hours last night and feel horrific... Again! X

What do you do when she wakes? Does she nap?

You can't stay in her room...... you have to be strong.

So what worked for me was putting them back to bed immediately and staying outside the door (leave a cushion there to sit on ). When they fall assleep you can easily go away without waking them.

Does she have light in her room? DHs idea to make the room less dark worked for one of ours. Also they loved the star projector.

Tbh sounds like now she’s in a habit- kids usually cry when you try to break a habit. A 2yr old doesn’t need milk overnight.
She must be shattered!

@MrsK1989

I was thinking of trying to redecorate her room and reintroducing a big girls bed time - taking the sides off her cot etc? Do you think that might work? I had just shy of 3 hours last night and feel horrific... Again! X

No need to sleep in a cot with sides. Tbh DD1 fell off the bed a couple of times at first, I used to leave a pillow on the floor

We've just come out the other side of this (my DD is 2). We found she was getting scared of the dark so I put some glow in the dark stars and moon on her ceiling which has helped a lot. We think she had a mixture of being ill, a regression and the sides coming off her cot so it all rolled into one big 7 week long battle with sleep.

Ooh I'll get some glow in the dark things for her ceiling, that's such a good shout. Yes my little one went through a chest infection about 4 weeks ago, and is 2 in less than a month so that would all make sense! She had about 3 months of fairly decent sleep with 1 wake up a night, and now this! On Friday she woke up 13 times - I feel a bit broken lol. Xx

Sorry no advice but wanted to let you know your not alone. My 2 year old DD has recently been screaming at bed time and then waking up in the night. Its knackering