Hello, my daughter turned 2 on Monday and things have really taken a turn for the worse.
she was an ivf baby full term, good weight, healthy. I used a donor so I am a single mum but have a lot of support with my mum.
the last 2 years her sleep has been atrocious but it’s getting worse and worse as time is progressing. She fights sleep at every opportunity. It’s at least 2 hours to get her to nap and she fails to sleep before 12am near every night. This is followed by constant wakings either hourly or 2 hourly.
I have followed all the advice possible. She sleeps in a dark room, she has a routine, a night bath, calming magnesium soak, magnesium and lavender cream following her bath, I use lemon balm drops in her night milk and also magnesium as a supplement that I give at 4 pm. And lavender calm patches. White noise never helped but she has calming Melodie’s on before bed. I am finding it impossible to eradicate the screen time as she screams on an abnormally loud level that it’s the only thing to calm her… I had a sleep consultant and also took her to a pead dr to rule out medical causation. They prescribed me 2mg melatonin for her but still to no avail! The issue is she is so so distressed and will scream non stop, I can’t just walk away as she throws herself out of the cot or stops breathing and makes herself sick. It’s affecting my own mental health now immensely.
she is showing signs of autism and is on the pathway for diagnosis. And I know sleep is an issue with SEN but I’m reaching out if anyone has any idea what I can do or try? Health visitors are useless, the GP referred me to the peads but that apt didn’t come through for 6 months, by which time I saw a pead through a friend having a contact. There is an issue with her eating and she’s still quite reliant on milk but I try to give her oats, toast, cheese and melatonin releasing carbs before bed-even if she eats well there is still the proof getting her to sleep then keeping her asleep.
she doesn’t like coming into bed with me either so that’s not helped.
she is a very angry and distressed little girl and the potential autism aside I feek
if her sleep was sorted that she’d have more breakthroughs… is there anyone in a position to advise me please