18 mo waking 3-5 times a night. Thinking about cc - advise please?

[Besom]

DD settles herself with no problems at the beginning of the night but a couple of months ago she started waking up once in the night. I pick her up, feed her, and she goes off back to sleep. She isn't feeding to sleep, just expecting a feed (bf).

I didn't mind it only once, but the last couple of weeks it's become more and more so last night was awful and she was up every couple of hours. I have to go to work now and when I come back from work I have to look after dd by myself until she goes to bed again at 7.30. I can't sustain this.

I need to cut out the night feeds again. I've tried medecine but this isn't working. She isn't cold - has a sleeping bag and the house is reasonably warm anyway.

Can't see any way round it but controlled crying. Can anyone tell me if they've done cc at this age or if they've found any other way round it?

We did cc at 6 months which worked.

Doing a variation of it for dd2 at 14 ish months.

Have you tried cereal before bed/giving water instead of a feed?

Hi - thanks for replying. I do try to feed her up with the carbs but she's been eating less solids because feeding more at night so it's a bit of a viscious cyle. Will try giving water tonight.

Is it working for your dd2?

It has worked to get her back to self settling at bed time but when she wakes in the night she is much more difficult to get back off.

I end up giving her milk- which she doesn't need at all- as I don't want her waking dd1 up and it's just quicker to get her back off. And me back to bed!

Luckily she doesn't wake every night though.

How was last night?

Last night she woke up about one and we sent her dad in to settle her, which she did really quickly and without milk and didn't wake up until 7 this morning! So fingers crossed this wasn't a one off and we can sort it out.

I was lying there all night waiting for her to wake up though!

It must be much harder when you have another one to think about as well. Judging by your name they're both only little? But if they can self settle at the beginning of the night i think you're half way there. Good luck with it.

That sounds like a good start- know what you mean about the staying awake waiting though!

Yes my two were 1 and 2 in mid September. The little one didn't sleep much at all due to her awful excema and only reliably slept through fairly recently. The older one started sleeping through at 9wks and we did cc at 6mo when she went off the sleeping rails.

Would be hard to do cc with another child in the house though.

They both go down awake at 7pm (mostly!)

My nephew had terrible excema as a baby so I know (well I have some idea) how difficult that can make things. Is it any better?

DS has just gone through this funny patch just as he turned 18m which thankfully is settling down at 19.1m. This involved not settling well by himself although he had been going off and sleeping through the night for two months before without a hitch, waking up once or twice for cuddles and/or water (or the full workout option of go downstairs for quiet play, then nappy change, extra feed, cuddle, rock to sleep sigh with the whole process taking about 1 - 2 hours at 3am) or waking up after only 8 or 9 hours of sleep. During this, he had all his molars plus three incisors come through, became withdrawn at nursery where he was previously bubbly, was clingy and teary at home and generally didn't giggle or smile during the whole time. All of a sudden, he calmed down (and even nursery noticed that he was happier), slept better and was more sociable. We talked about CC/CIO and trying not to mollycoddle him, but I'm glad we more or less went with the flow (a fair few tears were ignored in the process, I'll admit) because he has settled down by himself, and now his teeth are out and he is happier generally, I feel better about tightening up on the comforts.

Yes her excema has improved loads- it seems to be mainly diet related so we are very careful in what we give her. Think I have pics on my profile if you want to see.

Last night she woke at 220 crying around her dummy so had to get her up and give her a bottle, tried leaving her a bit but no luck and she woke her sister up in the process.

She has cut one of her back teeth though so it's probably that waking her. Dd1 has a cough so that was keeping her up.

Anyway up again at 545. LOOONNG day. Ho hum off out tonight (rare!) and the dds are staying at my sisters/MILs so have a night off. Yippee.

How did your night go?

JoW1 - thanks. That is very reassuring to hear that your ds is settling down again. Dd has been more clingy recently as well. I'm sure it is just a phase.

girlsyearapart - your dd, what a little sweetheart! It brings back memories because my nephew who was exactly the same. His has been really well controlled by diet. He's 8 now and in the last couple of years he's been able to have stuff that was off limits before.

Hope you enjoy your night out, sounds like you deserve it!

Last night she woke twice but was again easily settled by dh just laying her back down in cot and rubbing her tummy for a few seconds. She's still asleep now, which is unheard of.