Suddenly won't go to bed at bedtime and wakes at night

My 15-month old DD has always gone to bed at 8pm without a fuss and usually sleeps through the night. This week suddenly she refuses to go to sleep at bedtime. She screams when I put her in her crib and turn off the lights. Her screaming then gets my DS upset and he joining in with the crying. One evening I was so frustrated that I let them cry it out...but DD would not stop crying, so I went in and got her so at least DS would stay asleep. I noticed white spit up like stuff on her PJs, so I'm thinking she got so upset that she threw up/spit up a bit. So that makes me hesitant to let her CIO now. She's happy as a clam once she's out of her bed and plays on her own as long as I'm right near her, and eventually goes to sleep around 10pm.

Also, she's been waking up in the middle of night. Now that we've brought her in our bed a couple of nights, she seems to expect it and throws a fit if I try to rock her in our loft instead of bringing her in our room.

Anyone have a DC that suddenly is refusing to sleep at bedtime? She did just start to finally walk this past week, could that have any effect on her sleeping? Should try CIO again? Any other suggestions?
TIA!

 

Nikola does this at times and I now take him, rock him just for a few minutes and put him back in his crib and turns on the soother. It works pretty well most nights.

 

My daughter has done this exact thing for the last month or so. She used to go to bed every night without a peep. Now she cries every night at bedtime and during the night at least 2-3 times a week. At bedtime, I let her CIO for awhile and only get her if it's been more than a half hour and she's really worked up. At that point, I rock her for a few minutes, put her back in bed awake, and usually she's fine. During the night, I usually just get up and rock her so she doesn't wake up her brother. Again, it only takes a few minutes of rocking to calm her down, and then I'm able to put her back in bed. I have no idea what's causing this behavior. People have suggested separation anxiety, but of the two, she is my more independent, less clingy one. I'd think it would be my son crying if that was the problem. Mine aren't walking yet, so I don't know if new milestones or soon to be met milestones could have something to do with it.

 

Sounds like a separation anxiety phase. We went through this with my son around 8 mos and did CIO. Now he's starting to wake up again at night, and I think it's the separation anxiety again since he's happy and wants to play as soon as he see's me. I'm working toward doing CIO again, but last night was bad because he woke up my daughter and then they were both crying so I gave in and rocked them both. Tonight I vow to not go in. It may be a couple of bad nights, but it works and I want to nip this problem before it gets out of hand again. And I'm sure the older they are, the smarter and more strong-willed they are.

 

We go thru periods of this too. Is she getting molars? Teeth were the source of a lot of our bedtime/sleep disturbances in the second year. I wish I had some answers for you, but I don't. Dh and I talked just a few minutes ago about putting a pnp back in our bedroom for nights like last night when M was up screaming and finally fell asleep in the pnp in the living room. :wacko:

 

So sorry you're going through this! Developmental milestones and teething can both really interfere with sleep. So can anxiety. It's often really hard to figure out what's going on.

I have typically taken the loving but firm approach to bedtime. In our house, when it's night time, it's time to sleep. Period. The only exception is a very high fever or profuse vomiting - something abnormal. I would go in, check on her (get her up briefly if it's easier to examine her in another room), give teething tabs or Tylenol if warranted, then tell the child "it's bedtime - time to sleep, Mommy loves you, sweet dreams!" From there, I let them work it out on their own. That might mean CIO, it might mean a moment or two of fussing, but I think it's important that there are clear boundaries when it comes to night time. Everyone is happier when they get a full night's rest - the babies, as well as me!


Good luck - hope you are all sleeping through the night soon!

 

we've been having sleeping issues for sooo long so i totally hear you! i'm sorry you're going through this.... from what i've read, the walking could TOTALLY be effecting the sleep. every book i've read said milestones can cause havoc w/sleep.... so, i'd wait it out if i were you (plus, i'd never recommend cio to anyone. but that's just me and we're all different!).

gl, jl

 

QUOTE(happychck @ Apr 23 2009, 11:04 PM) [snapback]1286415[/snapback]
we've been having sleeping issues for sooo long so i totally hear you! i'm sorry you're going through this.... from what i've read, the walking could TOTALLY be effecting the sleep. every book i've read said milestones can cause havoc w/sleep.... so, i'd wait it out if i were you (plus, i'd never recommend cio to anyone. but that's just me and we're all different!).

gl, jl



Glad i'm not the only one who doesn't use/recommend cio - just can't do the tough love. Max is waking at night after weeks of being ill and me attending to him. But now he is better and still waking at night - he wants to be in my arms - sometimes I will give him milk if it's near morning. It can take me a good hour before he will finally settle on his own. He is really inconsistent at the mo - I know it's him getting over being ill and hopefully this phase shall pass but I just can't let him cio. Milestones can definitely interfere with sleeping as can teeth.

 

QUOTE(AndiG @ Apr 23 2009, 07:37 PM) [snapback]1286460[/snapback]
Glad i'm not the only one who doesn't use/recommend cio - just can't do the tough love.


Add me to the list on non-cio. My LOs had been sleeping great. Its ironic that I see this post tonight as DS has required me at least 3x so far.
The first time I put him down, I thought well mayeb hes not quite tired he did have a late nap so I got him up for 30 more minutes.
The second time I went in I allowed him to nurse.
The third time I rocked him and sang to him for a good 15 minutes.

Now as I type this I hear some peeps here and there but no crying....Im all about patting, shooshing, singing, back rubbing, rocking, and repeatedly telling them mommy is tired too. WE are all going night night and I will see you in the morning!

We'll see how this goes wasnt advice, but Im commiserating with you

 

Thank you all for your help, and especially your sympathy