Awake and downstairs EVERY evening, is she teething or having us on?

[oliveoil]

Grrrrrrr. Dd2 is usually a good sleeper but for the past couple of months is awake at about 7.30pm for a couple of hours. Screams if I try and put her in the cot but eventually will settle. It is really getting on my nerves as we do not have any time to ourselves.

However she has had a bad cold, croup and 4 teeth in the past few months so:

1. Has she got used to being picked up and brought downstairs?

2. Could she be teething and need comforting? She is fine in the day and throughout the night however.

I am a bit of a softie and think it is mean to leave her to cry (she is 10 months) so won't do control crying.

jess is 11 months and for the past month refuses to go to bed before 8.30pm!

Personally, I wouldn't bring her down anymore. We instigated a house rul that once upstairs in bed, they didn't get to come down again. We'd still go up and comfort them but strictly no coming downstairs. Did this having got into a similar situation with DS2 (then about 1).

I am sure that we had the same thing with dd1 but can't remember . Think it coincides with the clingy phase so I think it is a need that she has. But it coincides with my need to have some peace.

I just think that if she is teething, it's mean to leave her.

Soup - did you stay in her room and cuddle or hovver in the doorway?

It's unlikely to be teething pain if she is fine the rest of the time. When ds is teething he cries even when we pick him up and wakes every couple of hours or so. Could it be the heat? We had real problems with getting ds to sleep last week when it was very hot. He's OK now it's cooled down.

it could be colic?

it was always colic with my two

From what I remember (and it was over 3 years ago now ) we went up, sorted the problem, comforted, settled back down and then left. And probably told him we were leaving or said "time for sleep!" or something (whether he understood or not!)

We were always OK with letting DS cry for a short while if we could tell he wasn't really distressed.

Isn't it weird how you forget things .

Could be heat, she has a fan on in her room and we leave her in a vest and thin sleeping bag though.

Colic - isn't that a newborn thing?

sorry i thought she was newborn think they can have it up til 5 months or something, might be wrong, i forget things too!

what times/lengths are her naps and when does she wake in the morning?

I am finding during the summer months our dd (21 mths) is more active in the evening... the heat seems to make it harder for her to settle. Sometimes she gets back up and has another 15mins 30 mins then is quite happy to go to bed. We make it boring time I hope! Seems to work so far! Perhaps some more time quiet in her darkened room before putting her down.. cuddles and soft singing might help her go down. Then she has had close time and comfort. I used the ´Go to sleep´speak and stayed close by at that age.

I think I remember reading once that it is hard to keep routine when babies teeth rapidly at a young age, not to mention all the other maladies. So you might need to bear with it abit and stay close.

Fio2 - no not newborn thank god the horrors of that have passed me by thankfully. She is 10 months, today actually awww bless.

Naps - has a mini kip in the morning of about 30 mins, lunchtime can have anything from 1 hour to 2 hours, usually 12.30pm onwards. Gets up in the morning around 7ish.

OO - the naps sound fine - its not as if she is getting too much too late in the day.
Is her room really dark? how long does she have her bath for - maybe start it earlier - is she over tired? what time does she give her sleepy signals at night? My ds is 15mo and is knackered by 7.30 and he still has a nap 1-3, though he does run round like a maddie.
I'd sit up with her to comfort her in her room, but just not let hre come downstairs - I don't believe in CCing specially not so young.

Olive that sounds the same nap times as my Dd at that age, who is now 2. Maybe just a little phase she is going through with wanting to be with you in the evening and if you put her in the cot she knows she has to scream for you to come and get her to go downstairs with mummy and daddy and as she has a bad cold recently she has been used to you comforting her to make her better! Maybe try settling her an hour later than her usual bedtime say 8.30 and only go to her cot to comfort her when she crys without taking her out the cot and keep going back to reassure her its sleepy time only when she crys.

Well last night she went down at 6.45pm and not a peep allllll evening. Squawked a bit at 1am ish but I left her and then I woke her up at 6.30am this morning!

She must have known she was being discussed and decided to behave.

They keep you on your toes don't they? Grrrrrr.

xx

long may it last Oliveoil!

Oh well done maybe her wee phase is over!

She is still at it . Last night I tried to be strict - ha ha ha - and kept her upstairs and lay on the bed with her until she calmed and then put her in her cot, awake but drowsy. Took about 2 hours for her to settle, then had to wake her at 6.30am this morning.

Just a thought. This all started when I went back to work after mat leave in May, she can't still be unsettled can she at me leaving her? .

I only do 3 days, so it's not as if she doesn't see me.

Bumpety bump bump, bump, bump.

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Well, I will muddle through tonight then shall I?

Hi Olive how are you today?

I'm fine, thanks for asking?

How did it go last night?

Well, she whinged once, did the lying on the bed thing and she went off after 5 mins, then out till 5am this morning. Bit early though .

Ah well, at least she seems to be settling.

Yes

Message withdrawn

Only just seen this OO - if you don't want to do controlled crying, then would recommend the gradual withdrawal approach i.e. start by sitting by her cot for a few nights, then sit in the room but not right by the cot, then in the doorway, then tidying etc out of the bedroom but so she can still hear you. It's a bad habit but it's much easier to get them back into a good pattern if they had one originally IYSWIM. Could she be ready to drop one of her sleeps (I can't remember what age they do this!)?

Good luck.

Also, agree with others - time to be firm re bringing downstairs/taking her out of her cot, I think.