So my 17 month old has this thing with sleeping. Some nights she is great and sleeps straight through the night. Other nights she wakes up, usually around 1:30am, and will do this cry for 10 minutes, quite for 5 minutes (usually just long enough for us to get back to sleep) and then wake back up and cry again.
When I went out of town (by myself) a couple weeks ago, she slept just fine all three nights in a row so my husband is convinced it is me. Of course, the second night I was back home it was the same thing all over again.
We have tried letting her cry and that just leads to hours of the same pattern (even over multiple days). I have tried going in there and rubbing her back (she will lay right back down again when I tell her to and tries to go back to sleep) and she still wakes up 10 minutes later. Unfortunately my husband and I both work and we both need sleep so after an hour or two of letting her cry, we will end up on the couch.
This has been going on for months, so I don't think it is an ear infection or a cold. I suppose it could be teeth, but I hate drugging her just to get her to sleep. She has sound in her room, blankets in her bed, and even tried giving her her baby doll. We have also tried switching PJs...
Can you tell... we have tried a lot of things :) Thanks mamas!!
Are you the one that always goes in and checks on her or does daddy go in too? I'd see what happens if daddy goes in and rubs her back , rocks her , etc.
If she's in pain from teething then give her something for it, you don't walk around with a headache do you?
Since it's not happening every night, any chance it might be gas/reflux? Maybe something she had something at dinner/late snack causes some uncomfortableness? Rubbing the back/being upright would help relieve some of it, but since it's not completely resolved, it would be uncomfortable for her when you lay her back down
Pick her up, walk around long enough to get her back to sleep, and lay her back down. Keep doing this until she stays asleep. She'll get used to it. I do this almost every night with my 11 month old. She wakes up at least once a night. But she goes back to sleep as soon as I pick her up.
Most often the only way to interrupt a bad sleep habit my kids had developed was a drastic change. We had a late night due to a party or visitors or something and they got off that tract. I have strong sleep rhythms, too. Waking up the same times at night. You can change that by keeping her up late so that she misses that time because she needs to sleep through it. That doesnt mean she won't start another but at this point it's worth a try! Try it Friday and sat night.
I have a 2 year old that has a similar pattern. I notice that he usually first awakes when he pees in his sleep. I would change her diaper. Also, when he naps well, he sleeps well. When he is on a consistent nap schedule, he tends to sleep better, though not always. Try moving her bedtime up half an hour, make sure her naps are consistent and restful, and when she does wake up, change her diaper & console her just as you've been doing. I know this leads to awful, sleep-deprived mommy and daddy, but sometimes "patterns" are just that... teething, growth spurt, light sleeping, etc. My first born (now 10 yrs old) never slept well either. Around the age of 6, he finally settled into a wonderful sleep pattern. He has apnea, also, which could've been part of the problems he had as a baby, so you may want to do a sleep study if you feel it's really becoming a serious issue. Otherwise, just try your best and know that she won't always be waking like this. (I don't know if that advice is helpful or not...) :)
You say it could be teeth, but "I hate drugging her just to get her to sleep". If it is teeth, you aren't drugging her to get her to sleep. You are giving her pain medication to alleviate the pain which is keeping her from getting sleep. So try to communicate with her during the day to see if her mouth hurts, or see if she will let you get a look and see if her gums are swollen. Teething is such a pain because it just goes on, and on, and on (it seems like forever!).
The other thing that has worked for me (even from this age) is to talk to her. Tell her how much we all need to sleep all night long, but that if she really needs something she can call out and you will answer. (I personally am not fond of cry it out). I used to point out to my kids how tired I was in the morning when they woke me up multiple times for non-necessities. And I would point out how tired they were too. We have discussions about why sleep is good for us and why our bodies need it. And by about 2 they really got it and let me sleep through the night most nights. Now I only get woken up for pain, sickness, or nightmares. :D
