My DD is trying to break me!

So after so many months of our LOs STTN, DD decides for the last couple of weeks to randomly wake up in the middle of the night screaming or crying. I of course gave in and went to check on her, as this had not happened in a LONG time. I brought her to bed with us and she would fall asleep pretty quickly. I was so tired that I would fall asleep with her and would forget to taker her to her crib. This happened way too many nights and now she expects me to come get her.

She is teething, so I feel terrible letting her CIO, but now I never know if the cry is for real or just her determination to break me and bring her to bed with me. Tonight I picked her up and as soon as she felt my bed she was out like a light. I took her back to her crib and she clung to me for dear life and screamed in protest and anger. I can usually tell when her cries are fake and she's trying to get what she wants. She is the sweetest thing ever, but she sure is a diva and is extremely dramatic about everything.

Tonight she was up for about an hour crying in pure anger and stopping once in a while to see if I would come in and just finally fell asleep on her own. Am I the only one with such a strong willed child?

 

I have one.. He is 27 months old now and STRONGER than EVER before. He is a nightmare. It is all I can do to get out of bed in the morning and not just fall out of it and crumple into the fetal position.

It's horrible.

I have no idea what I would do if he wasn't 2 feet tall. I'd have to call the cops!

GL. It's REALLY hard. I feel for you.

 

Both of mine are strong willed. My one son used to be so laid back; he was "the easy one". Not any more. If he does not get what he wants, he screams and cries and it sounds like a siren.

My other son was always strong willed and can throw a good tantrum. For example: He'll be eating something and if I won't give him any more of it he will spit it our of his mouth and throw it on the floor. When he's in time out he'll scream the entire time but once those 2 minutes are up, he turns off those tears like a switch.

They've never slept with me, but there have been times when they would cry in the middle of the night and I would go in and then they would stop. As soon as I would leave, it would start again.

I would hold strong and let her cio. Within the next week she will realize that she needs to sleep in her own bed and you are not coming in to get her.

 

I have a very strong willed DD Diva who leaves me exhausted :faint: She went through a similar phase around the same age your DD is. My DH and I had to let her CIO or her sleep and our sleep would have went to pot. I know it's hard, especially when they are teething. I usually give Motrin before bed and if they happen to wake up due to teething pain (or what I think is teething pain), I will give them some teething tablets and put them back to bed.

 

My DD is very strong willed--we have tantrums over getting PJs on, getting in the booster seat, getting in the stroller, etc. I try to give her lots of choices and ways to exert some control over little choices but sometimes it's not possible. She is starting to realize that with certain things I don't give in and she gives up more quickly. We get out of good sleep habits when they're sick. I have to admit I breastfeed her when she's sick during the night b/c it's the only way to calm her down. When she's healthy, I let her cry, and if it goes on for more than 10-15 minutes, I go check on her. It takes about two days to get out of the feeding her during the night habit and it's not as bad as I think it will be. I'm sure this will be a very hard habit for her to break and a tough change for her to accept, but I would suggest doing it sooner than later. I think the older they get the harder it is for them to adjust because they start to talk, reason, and try to negotiate I would say do it when you have a couple days on which you can afford to be tired, and you can bear listening to the crying. It really probably won't go on that long. Time it because it usually feels like 3 times as long as it actually is!! Good luck Hang in there...