CC and Hysterical crying/sobbing

[geegeesmum]

Hi,

My dd is 18 months & has been a good sleeper since 6 months when i did 3 nights of cc. Now sudently 2 weeks before baby 2 is due she is waking at night (between 2 and 3) - have tried to reintroduce cc - but am hating it - as she cries hysterically and stands up saying " mummy/daddy up up ....!!!!". I go in every 5 mins and pick her up to calm her down then put her back down again and she starts up again and we leave for 5 mins(i know picking up is prob agst the rules but I feel she is so hysterical that i need to calm her down and patting her in her cot just doesnt work as she tries to climb up and hange off my neck . Eventually she settles after 1-2 hrs - we did this on Sat night, Sun night, Mon night she slept thru and then tonight we had to do it again ! Also she usually settles fine at 7/7.30 pm but last night we had to do CC to get her to sleep - the first time in ages that she hasnt settled at 7. My question to others who have done cc is - how hysterical do your babies get/what is the norm - just a bit of moaning or full blow hysteria. Also could I be missing something that is bothering her - nightmares ? I feel SO bad - she is such a good girl otherwise and all she wants is some cuddling at night - but I am afraid to start a habit esp with baby 2 on the way and sleepless night ahead anyway. Now DH is starting to say that maybe CC isnt the solution -but we dont have an alternative other than cuddling her too sleep ... we are confused !

The worst thing about this all is that MIL and FIL are staying with us - and BOY do we get dissaproving looks - like I am torturing their grandchild - my mil actually told some friends of MINE that SHE was in tears on Sun night !!!!!!! as it sounded like my DD1 was being abused !! AAAARGH ! Maybe i am being too sensitive in my pregnant state.

Advice please ! thanks

Get MIL and FIL to deal with it. It's a phase and it will pass but you need your rest for the new baby. Everyone's a winner and if the problem continues after they leave you can deal with it your way without the looks.

A couple of questions:

• is it always the same time? Is something waking her? (full bladder? heating system?) What changed when she started waking? More talk about baby 2?

• is she fully awake when she wakes? Or could she be having night terrors?

• what happens if you don't go to her?

I do suspect picking her up is a mistake, although perfectly understandable. The fact she's saying "up up" indicates she's become fixated on it, and probably every time you pick her up, she thinks she's getting out of bed? (Bending down to snuggle her a bit is ok, I think.)

Adopting a very very calm tone, and not being very interesting when you go in might help. No lights on, and talking in a very flat calm way about it being time to sleep can help.

Oh, as someone who had baby 2 10 weeks ago, I remember not getting on very well with baby 1 in the weeks up to it, which had bad effects on his daytime behaviour. If you can try to make extra time for cuddles during the day, that might help. Worth a try, anyway.

I don't know what to say about MIL and FIL, that isn't, um, a bit rude to them. I have an interfering MIL, too.

Oh, if it is nightmares or night terrors, a quiet chat and hug should settle her, I would think. My Ferber's out on loan, so it's hard to check his view on these ...

And hysteria isn't unusual with CC, if I remember this age ... hysterical crying can turn into sleep surprisingly quickly.