can I ask a sleep question (9 months, separation anxiety)

[magpie]

So, just when we thought things were settling down to a nice, mostly sleeping through the night schedule, it looks like we've hit another regression.  DD has started waking up at 2am every night.  I think she sits up and plays with her pacifier (I heard her running it back and forth against the slats of her crib last night) and then she eventually starts screaming.  When we've woken up to her cries, she's usually sitting up or attempting to pull up in her crib (a skill she is working furiously towards these days), facing the door as if she is waiting for us.  We put her back down and she gets right back up and starts wailing as soon as we leave the room.  My H has been going in and laying on the floor, next to her crib, and she will calm down immediately and go to sleep, but she flips out again as soon as he leaves.  So far, nursing her is the only thing that has worked to get her back to sleep.  Previously, she would sleep regularly until at least 4-5am before wanting to eat and most times, she just slept right through until 6am (wake up time), so I don't think she's actually hungry (in fact, it feels like she is mostly comfort nursing/doesn't seem to be sucking vigorously at all).  Any suggestions?  She has a pacifier and a lovey.  Should we let her CIO?  It doesn't seem like she's going to go back to sleep because she won't even lay down...  Is nursing her going to create bad habits?  We are going on vacation in a few days and the whole sleep schedule is going to be blown to hell anyway, so I guess it's a moot point.  I guess I just want to know what I should be doing to help her get over her anxiety.  She goes down drowsy, but awake at bedtime without issue most of the time, so I know that she is capable of falling asleep by herself.

[lolo]

I would nurse her. I bet it's just a developmental phase so I choose the path of last resistance to get through.

[magpie]

Jul 18, 2014 15:00:21 GMT -5 lolo said:

I would nurse her. I bet it's just a developmental phase so I choose the path of last resistance to get through.

thanks!  This helps a lot!  I am always afraid of taking steps back with sleep, but I'd soooo rather nurse her and send her down happily to slumberland.

[spanikopita]

My DD is doing this and nursing doesn't get her back down. Last night it was 2 hrs. I let her cry but I did checks every 45m. There's nothing more I can do. She wants me to stand there & pat her and I'm not going to do it.

[dcn]

Ds did this around 9 months as well. I think it is a big developmental milestone time. We went on vacation and did whatever worked and then kicked sleep training into high gear once we got back home and adjusted to the time zone.

[magpie]

Jul 18, 2014 16:52:22 GMT -5 spanikopita said:

My DD is doing this and nursing doesn't get her back down. Last night it was 2 hrs. I let her cry but I did checks every 45m. There's nothing more I can do. She wants me to stand there & pat her and I'm not going to do it.

ugh, that sounds tough, sorry to hear it.  I'm afraid if we do CIO, it's going to take that long too.  I think I'll just nurse and try to do what works until we get back from vacation. I hope this phase passes quickly for both of us!

[holly116]

Jul 18, 2014 19:21:05 GMT -5 magpie said:

Jul 18, 2014 16:52:22 GMT -5 spanikopita said:

My DD is doing this and nursing doesn't get her back down. Last night it was 2 hrs. I let her cry but I did checks every 45m. There's nothing more I can do. She wants me to stand there & pat her and I'm not going to do it.

ugh, that sounds tough, sorry to hear it.  I'm afraid if we do CIO, it's going to take that long too.  I think I'll just nurse and try to do what works until we get back from vacation. I hope this phase passes quickly for both of us!

I'm right there with you guys. 10 months old, 5 almost 6 new teeth in the last month and sitting/pulling up in the crib. And vacation next week, in Europe. So zero point in doing anything over here, I'm just going to nurse and whatever else I have to do in the middle of the night at this point.

[geek96]

I could have written this exact post. I sometimes nurse him and sometimes he sleeps with us which I know if the wrong thing to do if I want him to sleep on his own.

[amandakisser]

my DD is almost 10 months and bedtime has been TORTURE lately!! She screams when I even hover NEAR her crib. I've reverted back to nursing her to sleep because I can't handle the screaming. I do think she has two teeth coming in, so I'm going to wait until those cut through to re-Ferberize her, but...yeah...not much sleep around these parts.

So, no advice, just commiseration.

[rex]

L cries when my H puts her to bed, because she wants me. when i put her to bed it takes 2 seconds and is uneventful.

she isn't learning any new skills that i can tell so i just blame it on her being dramatic and only wanting me. which, too bad. i will never get to have any alone time if i am always the only one putting her to bed.

[magpie]

Well, I'm glad that it's normal, but sorry that we're all dealing with sleep issues (yet again!). I think I'm just going to do whatever works for now and we're re-sleep train when we return from vacation. Thanks for the commiseration and advice! She has her top two teeth coming in right now too, so maybe there's some of that going on too.