DD is 2 (nearly 3) and getting her to sleep has always been difficult but it now involves a long drawn out process of both DH and I lying with her in bed separately, then one of us sitting out in the hallway until she falls asleep. This can take well over an hour. She is very particular about who she has and when, so if DH is in the hallway and she decides she wants me she’ll scream and cry hysterically until that happens.
She doesn’t need this to fall asleep. She stayed at PIL’s last night and fell asleep about 1.5 hours before we manage, with no fussing whatsoever.
Generally, I don’t particularly mind sitting with her until she falls asleep. She gets so so upset if we try to get her to sleep without it, screams for us, becomes inconsolable etc.
But my concern is I am 34 weeks pregnant with DD2. So, we’ve got a maximum of 8 weeks before I may not be able to be so available to her at bedtime. DD cluster fed for hours right around what is now her bedtime, and I really don’t want DD to see it as mummy sits with her every night, then new baby arrives, and now mummy doesn’t because she’s feeding the baby.
We’ve tried the gradual retreat thing, that’s what has got us to sitting in the hallway, but we can’t get any further. If we shut the door or move out of sight, she gets upset.
Should we just be firmer? Or should I just be prepared to be cluster feeding sitting on the hallway floor (really really not what I want to happen).