My little girl is 20 months old. She was doing great sleeping through the night until about 2 weeks ago. She now wakes up in the middle of the night about every other night and is up for about 1 1/2 hours! I can't get her to go back to sleep. She just wiggles and cries when I lay her down. I have tried rocking her, rubbing her back, having her sleep in my room, and I've even slept on her floor but nothing it working! I'm not sure what to do. Could there be something bothering her? Do you have any other ideas to try? She only has one nap during the day about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours so I know she isn't getting enough sleep. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Just a side note...we are living my in-laws so I can't let her cry it out. Then I hear complaints about her crying in the morning. We have given her tylenol and it doesn't seem to help.
Molars. Try motrin. Also, she might be growing. Try giving her a small sippy cup with some milk. Not pick her up and cuddle her, but give her the milk and let her drink it. I know I can't sleep if I'm thirsty or hungry either.
Good luck! Hope this passes soon!
It could be one of two things. She might be teething her molars--growth hormone kicks in at night, so this is the worst time for teething pain. It might also be growing pains. It sounds like tylenol didn't help. If it is growing pains you could try giving her a kids calcium/magnesium supplement. This helped our son. Homeopathics also work great.
J.
There's a great, great book, called "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It helped us tremendously. I think she may even have one out specifically for toddlers. At any rate, there are several solid, easy to apply ideas outlined in the chapters. Good luck - she may also be experiencing the transition to another home and just need time and comfort to adjust...
Stop rocking her, bringing her into your room, and sleeping on the floor. They all give her attention with your presence, and contribute to keeping her awake. "I can't get her to go back to sleep". No, you can't, but she can, if you let her. You're rewarding her with your attention, so stop. When she wakes up, look at the clock, and give her 5 minutes before you go in. Then don't talk, don't pick her up, and don't turn on the light. It's nighttime, so shush her til she calms, then leave. Next time she fusses, give her 10 minutes, then soothe her quietly and leave. Then 15 minutes. She will eventually fall asleep waiting for you. Try a little motrin or tylenol at bedtime for a few nights to see if teething or something else might be waking her. If she had good sleep habits, this is surely temporary, so don't turn it into "facetime with Mommy".
It could be growing pains. My daughter went through the same thing and that is what her Dr. said. She was also teething. The combination of both was the problem.
Massage her before bed. Try using lavender lotion. A rock garden with water helped sooth my daughter as well. It worked so well we put one in my son's room.
Anytime a child goes through changes whether it’s teething, growing, suddenly scared to be alone….their sleep patterns change. It will take patience on your part and just trying different things until you find what works best. It’s what being a parent is all about!
Best of luck!
It was about that time that we took our daughter to the store and let her pick out a nite-nite light. (She picked a star.) She got to plug it in ONE TIME (because you don't want kids playing at the socket of course!) and slept long and hard that night. I don't know that she was scared of the dark, but I think it helped that if she woke up, she could sort-of see where she was.
