My daughter is 19 months old, and until now has always been a very good sleeper. Slept through the night very early on, and I’ve always been able to put her down awake and she’d put herself right to sleep. Her attitude about naps? “Oh, it’s sleepy-time? Yeah, that sounds good. See you in a couple of hours, Mama!” I’ve been spoiled, to say the least.
And now, literally overnight, bedtime has become a nightmare. I think it’s an separation anxiety thing…she wants me to hold her all night. She’ll fall asleep in my arms (which takes up to 30 minutes a shot), but the second I put her down she wakes up and starts crying for me to pick her up again. The old routine does.not.work. I’ve tried letting her cry it out multiple times, but she always either ends up throwing up or just crying for 30 minutes solid, which is all my heart can take. I’ve also tried just sitting in the room with her, not holding her, but that either a.) frustrates her so that she cries harder than ever (result: vomit everywhere), or b.) she thinks it’s great fun and won’t go to sleep.
She won’t nap, either. She’s gone from sleeping a reliable two hours a day to suddenly only getting about 30 minutes, in my arms, if that.
This has been going on for about a week, and so far she’s won all the battles. By two in the morning I’m so exhausted I give in and let her come to bed with me and my husband, which makes her happy, but which I really, really, don’t want to continue. I’m actually due for baby #2 in January, and it’s hard enough trying to sleep while fully pregnant, let alone with a 2-year-old sticking her toes in your ribs. And she can’t be sleeping with us when we have a newborn.
There are a couple of reasons I can think of that might have caused the sudden shift: 1.) This started about a week after we had returned from a plane trip to New York, where we were sleeping in strange places and interacting with strange people. 2.) She and I have both been sick. Again, about five days before all this started, she was diagnosed with an ear infection and I was diagnosed with the flu (swine version, if you can believe it!) (Yes, we’ve been back to the pediatrician and her ears are fine now, but she is still on the amoxicillin for a few days so maybe that contributes??) I’m fine now, too.
Anyway, we’re on another little trip out of town this weekend, and so when we get back Sunday night I’m hoping it will be like starting with a clean slate. What should I do, dopers? I’m so torn…my instincts are telling me that she’s feeling insecure for some reason, so I want to give her all the affection and reassurance she needs, and let her sleep with us. The practical side of me says that this is a very bad habit to get started, and I need to nip it in the bud.
I’m sleep-deprived, pregnant, and at my wits end. Help!