DD sleep getting MUCH worse after starting nursery...

[Marghe87]

DD has always been a fairly bad sleeper but we had seen a decent improvement in her night-time sleep when she was 10 months. This lasted a few weeks until she started nursery at almost 1 year old and then it went back to being almost as bad as when she hit the 4 months sleep regression. Things have gone even worse as she has been ill so much bless her so I think there is also an underlying discomfort she is experiencing with a runny nose etc but, in general, I feel she has become much more restless at night and harder to settled back to sleep.
She is still heavily dependent on breast at night - appreciate many of you will reckon this is the issue, however I don't think now it's the right time to night wean her as she is going through so many changes with me being back at work, nursery, illnesses etc.

I am not really looking for a solution but just wanted to check whether the same has happened to any of your LOs and how long it went on for? I don't believe in sleep training/CIO/CC type of methods so not willing to do any of that.

Thank you!

Would nursery assist you in getting her to have more daytime sleep than she's having?

She sounds exhausted and over tired. If that's not possible, going to bed earlier may help.

Yes, we went through something similar. Peak of good sleep at 10 months, then an awful 12 month sleep regression, with multiple wakes overnight where DS was very difficult to settle. He had no dependency on boob as we night weaned at about 9 months, but it was still bloody awful. Wether it was illness/starting nursery/learning to walk/teething/learning to talk I don’t know - it was probably a combination. It got better on its own accord at about 14 months.

Yep, currently going through this with mine. She's 13 months and I've been back at work for 2 weeks. Sleep has never been good but particularly bad right now. Last night she was awake for nearly 4 hours in the middle of the night, just impossible to resettle her

@FATEdestiny she sleeps normally at nursery, I don't think nap times are the problem unfortunately :(

@AliceW89 so there is hope!? any other regressions after that?

@WutheringShites86 oh gosh! I feel ya

Completely normal. It’s probably more about separation anxiety than her sleep patterns.

Yup, exactly that at just over one and starting nursery.

We didn't do CIO, but DH did a run of settling her to stop her nighttime BFing.

Have you tried the old trick of sleeping with her sheets for a couple of nights so that the cot smells of you?

Totally appreciate that you don't want to night weaning yet. When you're ready to tackle it, this is a really gentle method.

We had a period of bad separation anxiety which really impacted sleep at the same age. I just rode it out because it seemed to be what DS needed.

@mynameiscalypso how long did it last?? I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My DD did the same. She was a lousy, lousy sleeper. Never slept through, 4 month regression led to 30 min wake ups, she then went through 6 month and 12 month sleep regressions. She was bad when she started nursery and wanted to feed at night because she couldn’t feed during the day.

I wouldn’t do CIO or night weaning. We just dug in, got a massive coffee machine and weathered the storm. No advice, because nothing worked for us but time. BUT it’s not all doom and gloom. It does end, naturally, without any input from you. DD is 3 now and has been sleeping through for a year or so. She improved significantly once she was walking. There is light at the end of the tunnel I promise.

@PointeShoesandTutus THANK YOU!
So I guess the big improvement once she was walking shows it was indeed more of a sleep regression due to learning new skills rather than just pure separation anxiety!?
How better did it get after the walking? I was so getting used to longer stretches at 10 months and I cannot wait to be back there again!

Honestly I can’t remember exactly, but I know by around 16 months we went away with friends and we were putting her to bed at 7pm and getting a whole evening with friends (to at least 11ish when we’d have gone to bed) without having to run up and down to soothe her.

There is light. But as a PP said it may be that you need to dig in, live on coffee and wait for it. Some friends have found sending Dad in overnight worked for them.

@Marghe87 know this is so old but did it get better??? Currently going through this now, historically awful sleeper now waking every 30-40 mins since starting nursery and I’m so tired !!

So sorry, I feel you. I don’t remember the exact timeline as it’s been years now but we went through ups and down with her sleep a lot. Things have improved a lot for us when she was about 20 months old. It was a combination of stopping breastfeeding, having her own bed (not a cotbed which she hate, it was like a normal bed but very very low - although she’d still wake up and come to our bes during the night) and her generally being more tired and getting older. Steady improvement after she turned 2. Hang in there!!!

We had exactly this. Got better about 3 months after starting nursery (when she was 14 months old). I still BF throughout those 3 months as I wanted her to have that comfort - it’s a massive transition for them. We did a couple of things - we moved dinner and bedtime later, it seemed to help her stay fuller and be more tired. We got a floor bed rather than cot. We kept 1st nap to 10 mins; longer nap after lunch. I still cosleep with her in the early hours, to get the most sleep for all of us! Shes never slept through the night but now she sleeps from bedtime til about 3/4am, then I sleep with her till 6/7am. If she wakes before 3/4am my husband will go to her, as I want to keep BF to a minimum.