23 month old not sleeping at night

[Loobylou2929]

Hello,
I’ve posted about my DD’s sleep before but this is the toughest it’s been! She’s 23 months old.

first off here’s our routine:-
awake 6am
breakfast 7:30am
lunch 11am nap 12-2 (sometimes 1:20 hours or 45 mins)
dinner 5:30pm
bath milk book song and bed by 7-7:30 asleep by 7:30-8pm.

She has a snuggle and dummy to help her sleep. I put her bed and she goes off happily herself, but she wakes between 1am-2am then wakes on and off continuously out the night every hour. She never cries out just seems to struggle to stay asleep?!

Ive tried Calpol/ibuprofen for teeth, milk in bed, warmer/ cooler heating. Different sleeping bags/duvet….she prefers sleeping bags. Teddies in cot plus out, I say cot but it’s more like a bed with a gate on it which she loves.

she wakes super early between 5:30-6am every day and she’s sooooo tired grumpy in the morning I don’t know how to fix it for her? The early wakes would be fine if she had slept properly but they’re no good as she’s been awake alot in the night iyswim?

She has a black out blind which really does black out the room and I’ve tried a night light too to no avail.

Her naps really vary in length so I know short naps don’t help her sleep better at night, neither do long ones! It really is so confusing atm.

Any advice would be soooo gratefully received. Please remind me if I’ve missed out any extra information aswell.

I just want my happy little girly back and sleeping better at night.

What time does she have her lunch?

What does she do when she wakes?

MunchMonster:- She has lunch about 11-11:30am then naps about 12-12:30. She’s always happy after she wakes from her nap unless it’s really short then she’s grumpy. She is always really grumpy in the mornings when she’s up and usually screams at me when i get her up, I’ve tried giving her milk and leaving her in the am but she just screams even more as she’s so tired from crap night! I’m trying to keep her routine the same everyday in hope that it will click back into place again??!! She napped for 2.40 hours today. I thought she was so overtired I just left her to it.

Ah sorry you did say about her lunch.

What does she do when she wakes in the night? Since she's not crying out..I'm just wondering if she's just stirring rather than actually waking up. Do you go to her? Are you a light sleeper? Do you think you could just leave her to it?

Ok so I think she’s having very active dreams, she’s talking in her sleep alot and sitting bolt upright and moving all over the place. It’s really restless sleep and it’s exhausting her. As when she’s sitting up it’s waking her up. Sometimes taking awhile to drift off again. I’m asleep but i have a camera which detects sounds and movements. Also it happens a few times before i go to sleep so I can see what’s happening in the night before hand. She never calls out to me else I would hear her and go to comfort her. I’m a light sleeper too so I always hear if she crys. I have been leaving her to it as I’m not sure me going in etc would make things worse? But I just wish I knew how to help her have restful sleep. Thanks for replying btw 🙂

I’ve tried co-sleeping too but we both just end up even more knackered.

Have you tried another snack before bed - porridge or banana?

Yes, it doesn’t make any difference unfortunately. I think it makes her worse if anything. Good suggestion though.

My youngest is the same age, and has more or less the same sleep pattern, except that I’m still bf-ing, and we co-sleep. I think they’re still very young and just aren’t meant to sleep for such long stretches; both my older two (now 12 and 10) didn’t really “sleep through” properly until they were at least 3 or 4… It’s really hard I know! There’s a very helpful FB group called The Beyond Sleep Training Project where you may find more helpful advice from others in the same boat, good luck!

SenoritaFajita:- Thanks for the reply. I would love to co sleep if it worked but she will only sleep properly with me when she’s ill. I agree with you about the fact they’re so young and don’t sleep long stretches yet, I think it’s developmental aswell as she’s coming out with sentences now and singing whole songs! I think because she’s my first everything is always new iyswim. So I’m getting used to all the stages as is she. It’s nice to know it’s normal though and not just me. I will check out that Facebook page thanks for that suggestion, and thanks for replying 😃

I know it's been a month but have you tried magnesium spray for children? Might help with restlessness.
I'm in a similar position OP my 21 month old DD can't seem to sleep through she cries out but when I go in she immediately lies back down and is asleep it's weird. My DS slept through from 10 months but my DD rarely does she has black out blinds noise machine etc atleast yours is OK with sorting herself out I guess. I really hope it's a phase for us both.

BeautyWithin6:- Thanks for messaging. I haven’t tried Magnesium spray, have you? Does it help? My DD will have the rare odd night of full sleep, but most nights she’ll wake briefly or for longer periods still. She’s recently refused to nap in the day a couple of times so I’m wondering if that’s part of it all too? She’s trying to work out what she needs. I still put her down to nap as even if she doesn’t, she lies there happily playing with teddy’s. So I guess it’s still resting. It’s all a mine field! I’m just going with the flow every day doing my best to stop her being too overtired 🤨 I feel like I’ve tried everything now so it must be developmental. I still struggle to know when to nap in the day because if it’s before 12 (when she’s had a rough night and can’t go on any later) she will only have 45 mins and still be shattered. If I nap her later we get 1:30-2 hour nap but she sleeps worse at night. If I wake her earlier she’s too grumpy. How long does your DD nap for and when?

Yep I use the spray but currently am more so using 123 nourish me sleepyhead magnesium balm, you buy it online definitely give it a go.
My DD has a nap by 11.30 /12 even if she wakes early or later I just stick to it plus she goes to daycare 4 days a week so that's when they do nap time. At home she naps a couple of hours usually and still goes down fine by 7pm. At daycare it varies sometimes only an hour which isn't enough for her so I do then try get her to bed by 6.30 pm if it's been a bad nap day.
She has sometimes woken from a nap under an hour and she's crying I know she's definitely not had enough sleep and chances are was overtired so I actually go in and pat her and she will go back to sleep then for another hour or more. Daycare do the same if they can tell it's not enough and perhaps another baby woke her.
Would she go back to sleep if you tried to resettle her at nap time?

I did always do 11:30-12 nap aswell. I’m going to try sticking to it also as she’s used to that time more. I usually redo whitenoise and just ly her down if she wakes early and it’s hit and miss if it will work. She just always seems so tired in the am if she wakes before 7am which is often! Which tells me she hasn’t had a solid nights sleep. I will try the balm thanks for replying.