Helllllppp
My 2y7m old DD keeps waking up for hours in the night, the sleep deprivation is really getting to me and DH. E.g. 2-6am, 1-5am etc. Not sure how long it's been going on for but it's about 1-2 months now. She'll do this most nights of the week, we've checked for any patterns but there's nothing. She won't allow anyone to make her nap but if she happens to fall asleep in the day then we let her sleep maximum 30 mins as any longer it'll affect her night sleep.
We live in a one-bed flat so we're cosleeping. We welcomed a new baby 4 months ago so he's in his cot next to the bed. I spent the first 6 weeks on the sofa with him next to me there but I never felt rested so we moved into the bed. He's an excellent sleeper so she isn't waking up due to his wake-ups, although I understand older siblings can feel stress when a new sibling arrives.
She'll do things like just roll around for hours on end, or she'll randomly babble, but leave frequent intervals where she'll lay still as if she's about to go to sleep... then moves or speaks again. It's as if she's trying to keep herself awake on purpose. There's sleep torture and then there's this 🤷🏼♀️
Just to note:
She went through a similar phase of this a year ago when she would wake at 4am and not go back to sleep. This lasted about 6 months and happened 1-2 times a week. Nothing really helped, just time.
This current sleep problem seems to have started when she began showing signs of readiness for toilet training - taking off her nappy etc. Sometimes she'll wake up and need a wee but won't want to go in her nappy, so she'll hold it and keep herself awake. Twice we've managed to get her to wee in the toilet at night, but we've been advised not to do that as that might have been too exciting to do at night. Nowadays she seems to just wake out of habit, it's not always clear what the reason is.
We're going to be moving into a house next month (close by to where we live now) and DD will have her own room. I've heard that moving house is another stress for a toddler and that might worsen her sleep but it's already terrible so not sure how that will go either.
Please help with any suggestions you may have. Many thanks.