18 month sleep help - kinda long

DD has never been a great sleeper, but since she turned 1 she's gotten significantly better. Usually, i'm able to put her in her crib at night and she rolls over and just goes to sleep without a peep. and 9 out of 10 times she'll sleep through the night.

well, two weeks ago this all changed. I put her in the crib like normal and she screamed bloody murder!! she did this on and off for about 2 hours, eventually i had to rock her to sleep. I didnt just let her scream for 2 hours, i would go in and try to sooth her, then my husband would try, etc. I even tried starting the bedtime routine over again. nothing seemed to work until i picked her up and held her until she was good and passed out. even then, every time i went to put her down, she would wake up.

So since then, she hasnt gone to sleep without crying. it varies from 10 minutes to over an hour. I eventually have to go in and rub. her back to sleep. Now, if that were just the issue, i would be OK...but she's not sleeping through the night either. She wakes up anywhere from 1am - 4am..and screams her head off until somebody comes and gets her. Sometimes i can get her back to sleep in her own crib, other times i bring her in to mine (yes, i nkow it's a bad idea, but i get at 4:45am to go to work, so i need to get a few hours in!). And i cant even get her back to bed right away either - sometimes its quick, other times (like last night) its 3 hours of falling asleep, then waking up screaming.

During these last two weeks, she got all 4 molars in, so i attributed all this to teething, but they have all broken through, could this still be teething? I have given her advil or tylenol, but it doesnt seem to help. She has no other "symptoms" of anything else either...

any ideas???

we are all exhausted.

edited to add: if i keep her crying in the crib long enough...she'll literally bang her head against the crib rail...she's gotten bruised from this.

Message edited 12/8/2015 9:51:11 AM.

Re: 18 month sleep help - kinda long

My one piece of advice is decide whether or not you want her in your bed, and then stick to it no matter what. Don't make the decision in the middle of the night.

Re: 18 month sleep help - kinda long

Sounds like she knows if she screams you'll eventually come in. Molars are tough, but the pain typically shouldn't last for weeks. This could just be a phase, or it could be a new habit you're helping her to form. Either way, I'd probably just let her CIO without any checks. Yes, it will be tough on you, but you need to get her back to sttn again.

Re: 18 month sleep help - kinda long

18 month sleep help - kinda long

My usually great sleeper went through something similar. Its the 18 month sleep regression (look it up) it was honestly the worst 1 in my opinion. My dd went to bed ok but would wake up screaming for me anytime between 1-3 am and them stay up for 3 hours... if i left the room she freaked. If i stayed in the room she was happy as can be
It lasted a month :/ i would take my pillow and blanket and sleep on the floor in her room... i would wake up look up to check to see she was ok she was totally happy in her crib... she had a few stuffed animals... just as it suddenly started it suddenly stopped

Re: 18 month sleep help - kinda long