Help needed with my toddlers sleep pattern.?

You have done quite well to get to 16 months before a pattern change. The waking in the night is perfectly normal - the night you let her cry to sleep you did the right thing, although I know if feels awful to do controlled crying, rewarding her by going in and giving her a cuddle is encouraging her to wake you up. If waking up and crying has no reward then she can roll over and go back to sleep knowing she is not missing out on anything.

Babies patterns change all the time, stick with the controlled crying and don't force the nap time - have a look and see when she is tired for a week or so then adjust to suit. You will prboably find she only needs one nap a day now so it could do with being after 12pm so that she isn't a rat bag by evening. You may find the same thing happens again in another 3 months, my son does this after a bad cough or cold when we would go into his room to give him medicine. Once he was better he would expect us to keep going in and even do fake coughs to encourge us! 1 or 2 nights of controlled crying soon puts a stop to it. They are clever wonderful little things but remember you are the one in control not her. Good luck and have a lovely wedding. Don't worry about her not being in the sleeping bag, mine sometimes isnt even in the bed - if they are asleep then thats what matters, if she where cold she would not have gone to sleep.

If you continue to put her in your bed she WILL continue to wake.

I know the controlled crying is hard but only usually lasts a few days.

You said that you are getting married at the end of the month. Are you subconsciously anxious over it, or is her daytime routine slightly out. Like you going for fittings, getting things sorted etc. Could that be making her a little unsure.

Her crying out is probably just her way of checking you are still about. When she cries, go in her room, quietly put her back in her sleepbag and then leave the room. Make no fuss of her, don't talk and don't turn the light on.

If she wakes again or continues crying, leave it a bit longer each time before going back and doing the same. But never pick her up or start chatting to her.

Can you perhaps give her a teddy or something to cuddle at this point? One that maybe she doesn't normally have at bedtime but she is fond of. What about wrapping it in a garment of yours so it has your smell.

All worth a try.

I would start her going to bed at 7:30pm. She is prob very over-tired by 10pm and sleeps less because of this. I know that sounds strange, but over tiredness can cause disrupted sleep. Give her a bath after dinner, then some milk and a story. Keep it quiet and peaceful during this. Pop her to bed at 7:30pm then tell her you'll come back to check in a minute. Lights off, then leave. Go back after 5 mins and reassure her if she is upset, but try not to pick her up. Continue to do this until she falls asleep gradually increasing the time before you go back to check. You must stick to this every day for it to work well. As for naps if she's up at 7:30am then 1pm is a good time for her to have 1-2hrs of sleep. Again in the cot is best and tell her what is happening when you take her for her nap. Make sure she's had lunch and a change of nappy first and maybe read a story first. Try telling her that you are off for a nap too. Hope this helps.

Although it may seem cruel you have to be firm. DO NOT let her come into your bed, you will never get her out.

Her sleep patterns will change as she gets older and you will have spells like this where you are knackered for a few days (just been through it with my youngest).

Keep the routine the same every night. Make sure that she has no sugar or stimulants well before bedtime and that she does a tiring activity before bedtime. When she cries out in the night, gently but firmly put her back to bed. The next time wwait a little longer then gently but firmly put her back to bed. Increase the time you leave to go and see her by a little each time.

She will soon get back into a sleep pattern.

When she wakes in the night you must make sure that there isnt too much attention being given to her as she will see this as playtime and keep getting up.

Good luck (stick with it)

When my 23 moth old does this to us, it is a sure sign that she is going through a growth spurt. Like you, we do not co sleep (one full size bed 2 adults no Kids is the rule) and I will not let her sit there and let her cry, so I make sure all the gates are up in the places I know she cannot go, and then she and I move to the living room. I pull out the sleeper and get in bed. My daughter will lie by me and then get up, but with no toys or TV, or mommy talking she gets in bed again with me. After 20 or 30 mins of this going on I ask her if she is ready for bed, it is usually yes and then we are off to our room and down she goes. I will say that this does not always work, however one time I brought a pillow into her room and laid on the bed in her room she went to sleep shortly after and when I woke from my 15 min cat nap, I moved into my bedroom with my husband. Do not give up, as this Will pass. Good luck

Hello, My toddler strated getting up at silly times during the night and wailing like a banshee. We tried the controlled crying but she was just too loud and would have cried for ages. It was really distressing and caused my husband and I to disagree quite often as I felt she shouldn't be getting a bottle in the middle of the night and as it was the only thing that would settle her we'd quite often give in.

Just lately she has been sleeping through again as I have been giving her weetabix before going to bed. She now sleeps from 7.30pm to 6.30 am so now we know it was just hunger and she wasn't 'at it' like I thought! It is much better for us all especially as baby no2 arrives in sept & I'd visions of us all being up then.

Bath, Milk, Bed with a nursey rhyme C.D playing softly in the background and a nightlight. That done the trick for me.

Try and cut the morning nap to a bare minimum of 15-30mins or not at all! It help's me alot! x

she maybe over tired?

try a latter nap in the afternoon instead of morning (12-2 p.m.)

try a music c.d. in her room or a white noise machine. it worked for my daughter. she would go to bed then wake up in the wee hours of the morning to sleep with us until I left the t.v. in the living room on low volume at night. she stopped coming into our room and sleep in er own bed at night then I slowly turned the t.v. off (turning the volume down more and more each night til there was no sound then turning it off over the course of 6 weeks)and now she stays in her own bed all night and the t.v. is off.

Make her "cot" smell like you and your soon-to-be hubby. Put in a blanket that has your smell, this may help her feel more comfortable and have less of the seperation anxiety.

Good luck!

wow that's some serious situ u got!

I had a similar prob, maybe u can try this....

feed her when u want her to sleep the longest.....