Please help, desperate

[TheseAreMyGoodPants]

Any tips on how to get my 3 year old sleeping again? 😭 We are desperate.

For the past few weeks she's been waking up every two hours at night like a newborn and then up for the day at 4-5am. She used to sleep 11-12 hours straight. She will either just cry or stand at her door calling for mummy or daddy.

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant and she also started nursery in April so I'm thinking it's separation anxiety. We have a night light in case she's scared of the dark, but it's made exactly zero difference. My partner thinks we should be stricter and stop going in to her when she wakes up, but that seems cruel to me.

But we are so tired 😭 I already have prenatal depression and the lack of sleep and stress at bedtime (cuz I just know she'll be up again before long) is definitely making it worse.

She doesn't nap in the day. Hasn't for well over a year.

Thank you 😊

Does she like nursery?

@Zapx Yes, apparently she's very happy there and when I've asked her she says she likes it. Happily goes in when I drop her off in the morning.

@TheseAreMyGoodPants that’s great! I think your guess around anxiety could be right. Personally I wouldn’t stop going in to her, as especially when the baby arrives you don’t want her to feel left out. That sounds really really hard though OP, but I would personally presume that this is an adjustment phase and that she’ll get through it? You must be exhausted though

@Zapx yes I am completely and utterly exhausted mentally and physically. I'm crying most of the time. If it's a phase it's a bloody long one as it's been going on for two months now!

@TheseAreMyGoodPants is there anything that she will do to lie in bed, even if you’re there? Eg my 3yo can sometimes be persuaded to listen to Peppa pig audio books (lol) and this can at least keep her in one place… sometimes she will drift off to that. Or maybe something like a yoto but that is £££