19 month old DD turned from angel to demon in one week. HELP!!!

[kay26]

My DD is usually a perfect sleeper. She normally has a good morning sleep from 10 - 12ish then goes the rest of the day until bed time at 7 and then sleeps through until the next morning where she wakes up and lies contentedly until I go an get her.

The last week has gone from bad to worse. It started where she woke up crying after only half an hour of her morning nap. I picked her up and cuddled her for a bit as wasn't sure what was wrong. The next morning she awoke really early (5.15) and wouldn't stop crying. I knew she wasn't unwell and that she just wanted to get up but in my opinion, 5.15 is way to early and I wanted to encourage her to lie quietly again even if she wasn't tired so I did controlled crying (which has always worked in the past). By 6.30 she was still going strong so I got her up. When putting her down for her morning sleep thinking she would be knackered, she screamed for 40 minutes (with me going in there, giving her a kiss and lying her down every 10 mins) and then slept for 30 mins before waking up screaming again. I got her up at that point and continued with the rest of the day. She slept well that night but woke early again the next morning crying. She has since cried every time I put her in her cot for her morning sleep and then only falls asleep when she is exhausted. Last night she cried when we put her to bed and woke up several times in the night. The first couple of times she settled quickly but woke at around 4.40 only to cry on an off for 50 mins before sleeping for 30 mins and then waking again at 6.10. Controlled crying has always worked for us in the past but its not working now. I don't want to get in to the habit of picking her up every time she cries (as this shuts her up immediately) as I am not prepared to create that rod for my own back but this is escallating, the old tricks and working and I'm out of ideas.

I'm going to try to shift her morning sleep to a lunch time sleep and take her out in the buggy rather than put her in her cot during the day. Don't know how to handle the night time situation though.

Sorry about the length of this post but I'm worried this is escallating in to something horrible and wondered whether anyone else has experienced anything similar with their toddler?

Thanks!!!!!

My DD is 22 months at about 18/19 months she started what sounds like the same thing as your DD. We used to give in though and bring her to our bed. This stopped us from sleeping so I had to do something. The HV suggested that she may be scared of being trapped in her cot so we took her cot sides off. (cotbed) and put a bed guard on. I have cut out her daytime sleep. :-( it is hard work by 4pm. At 7.15pm we go up to bed, she climbs in herself and then I read her a story until she falls asleep. For the first few nights she woke anywhere from 2am to 5am. I told her to get back in and read her story till she fell asleep again. Apparently they learn that you are always there if they are scared. Touch wood for the last two weeks she has slept from 7pm-7am. We also bought a nightlight which stays on all night as from birth we always put her to sleep in complete darkness. Not sure if this makes any sense at all!
Hope it helps.

Thanks! Maybe is it a cot thing although it's wierd that it has happened so suddenly. Did your DD get more clingy during the day as well? Was she also absolutely fine as soon as you picked her up? It's so horrible to hear your little one standing up in bed shouting "Mummy, Mummy, cuddles, cuddles". I'm a total wuss as it's only been a week but I can't face the thought of this continuing for much longer.

See your GP and check its not an ear infection (friends DS had same thing and basically the pain only comes on when they're lying on their back). It may be teething - DS's sleep patterns are all over the shop during particularly bad bouts of teething.

I'd try and let her have just a short nap in the morning (half hour or so) and then see if she'll take a nap later on (around 1/1.30ish) to keep her rested enough so she's not overtired when she goes to bed (DS is an early riser- always has been - but find the 5am wake up calls always occur when his daytime naps have been thrown out of sync).

Good luck - and remember, its a phase, it will pass.....

Yes, DS went mad at about 18 months. It gets better, so hang in there . Could you be teethign as well - I think DS's last molars are taking ages to come through