Has there ever been a more determined child?

Okay, my DD is driving me insane! She went through a spell of standing in her crib for hours completely silent upon being put to bed and various times through the night. My DH travels, but was home for a week straight and was able to break this for a couple of days of having him go in and tell her to lay down instead of me. Well, his first day traveling again, she started testing me and it has progressively gotten worse. She refuses to go to sleep at night and if she does fall asleep it is very shortlived and repeated. Tonight for example, she has been standing and crying for over 4 hours now. I thought if I would just ignore her, she would get the picture and eventually go to sleep. Well, 4 hours later, she is still going strong. I'm at a loss. I've tried going to comfort her, but that just makes it worse because she knows if she waits long enough I will come in. It breaks my heart to ignore her when she cries mommy continuously though. She hasn't cried for 4 hours straight, she stops a few minutes here and there, but it's consistent. 4 hours!! She shows no signs of breaking. Any suggestions? Do I just hold firm and leave her alone? You'd think she'd tire out eventually - I know I have! :headbang: There is nothing wrong or that she needs. She stops crying immediately at the sight of her door cracking. DH will be home tomorrow again and I know he will have more luck, but I can't continue only sleeping when he is home. Sorry for making this so long, I'm just so tired and frustrated.

 

I know this sounds difficult (and I would be totally stressed out in your shoes as well) but if you know she is okay and doesn't need anything...I would let her go, even when your DH is home. No one goes into her room...once she realizes that, perhaps the crying will decrease. I am sorry that you are going through this with her now :hug: and I hope she will start to go to sleep easier for you.

 

We had to do the supernanny technique with DS. It is a controlled-crying technique. It worked well for us. It might be worth a try!

I hope you guys get it figured out soon. Sleep issues are rough on the whole family! :hug:

 

We had to do that with our daughter around 17 months before the new baby came... First night it was something like 3 hours, I REFUSED to go in there and wouldn't let DH either..

The second night it went down to like an hour and some change, then 45 minutes, then 15, etc. By the end of the week she wasn't crying anymore and figured out we weren't coming in...

 

oh ugh!!! we haven't had times where they stay awake forever, so I'm just suggesting a few things that might help otherwise make her tired. Ours have been giving me a hard time with going to be close to 7pm... and it seems its always after 8pm... actually this is an improvement over before the time change when it was close to 9pm. anyway even the last few days they've been really fussy trying to go to bed, but tonight they went down so easy.

things I think helped today. #1 we went to a park this morning and played for almost 2 hrs. Then #2 this afternoon they played again outside for an hour. #3 I actually didn't start their bathtime until late - close to 7:15p, and miraculously they were in bed and almost sleeping at 8:30p.

anyway, not sure if you are trying to get her to go to sleep before she "really wants to"... and have you tried earlier and/or later bedtime?

I do agree w/the others about the CIO... I would think that with what you've tried that you should try to make sure that neither you nor your dh go in for at least 1 night to see if that will help break her habit. or look into that other supernanny method.

I hope you can get it worked out, it sounds unbearable!! big hugs to you! I know the constant whining and crying can be very wearing (especially when mommy is PMSing - not sure if you are, but I have noticed its worse for me then!!!)

 

What is the supernanny technique? I have left her the past two nights and last night was better than the night before. The first night I put her to bed at 7:15 and she finally gave in sometime after 1. Last night she went to sleep after about 30 minutes. She woke up once around 2 and cried for about 30 minutes again before falling back asleep. She actually fell asleep with food hanging from her mouth at lunch yesterday from being so tired! :laughing: Thanks for all of the input. She has always been such a great sleeper, never waking up at night at all. Hopefully I can stick it out and she'll get there again soon.

 

hope tonight is better still! seems like you've seen improvement... poor little thing (and poor mommy)!