am at my wit's end - please help if you can!

[olivo]

2.9 dd hasnt slept through for about 6 weeks. problem is marginally better than before when she was a nightmare to put to bed as well as during the night; she is now mostly going down after ensuring we have covered everything - drink, loo, dolly, etc before we put her into bed. we were alsoi having problems of waking at a specific time but seem to have overcome that for now. she is now up about 8 times a night over several hours- often not really wanting anything other than to be put back down, sometimes scared of the dark (we leave the downstairs light on to give her some comfort and she has a nightlight), occasionally needing the loo. she has a stairgate but just stands at it calling for me. if i dont go, she then gets upset and it escalates.
then she is shattered in the day and sleeping for over an hour at nursery

I have tried the back to bed technique but she doesnt seem to be bothered by the monotony of it. I have tried stickers, being nice, shouting ........

I am surviving on only about 4 hours of sleep a night - i am 26 wks pg, working more or less full time and suffering spd and this is just about finishing me off!

any advice at all would be most welcome!!

Have you tried something more than stickers? I know it's bribary but initially stickers didn't work with our DS either.

It had to be chocolate money! (sweets really are a very special treat in our house so it works very well) He got one in the morning every time he slept through. It took a few weeks but it really did work. And as soon as they've done it once and got a chocolate money you can bet they'll want to do it again!

I know it's a cliche but it's a phase and DS has had three 'phases' like this between the ages of one and three each lasting around six weeks. It's exhausting but it does pass.

i am all in favour of bribery - chocolate money is definitely worth a try. somethimes, though, she'll come in in the morning and say ' i stayed in my bed last night'
i will try and get some at the supermarket today, thanks countrylover.

Bribery worked with my little girl when she was like that - its all about simple psychology with them at that age i have found. Chocolate money is good idea as its not only a chocolate treat but also shiny and has a sense of value and if you find the right motivation you can change their behavior for the better. Hope the chocolate money works!

thanks jenny. I am hoping it will work. I agree with the sense of value too.
also, nursery have finally started supporting us and will work on reducing/scrapping her daytime nap which we think will help too.