For almost a year, I have been able to lay my 2 year old down in her crib and have her fall asleep on her own with no problems.
But, for the past few weeks she won’t fall asleep unless I’m in her room with her. And when I let her cry it out, she gets so worked up she vomits. That will happen within 5 minutes of me leaving the room.
She has also been waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake for 3 hours. I have to be in her room with her then too.
I have to sit/lay on the floor in the room with her in her crib and wait for her to fall asleep and then quietly leave the room.
I have music quietly playing and I have a night light and the hallway light on so it’s not too dark or too light in there. She has everything she needs – baby, blanket and bottle. And we've kept the same nighttime routine.
And she doesn’t do this for her nap - just bed time.
I am so tired! Plus I’m 6 weeks pregnant and extra tired from that.
Any advice would be wonderful.
Sounds like she's having a bit of seperation anxiety. Completely developmentally normal. The best and fastest way to work through this is to MEET HER NEEDS. Give her lots of extra cuddles, stay with her until she falls asleep (or bring her into your bed so you can snuggle until she's asleep, that always helped my kids!) She will work through this I promise.
Congrats on the new bebe to come.
I hate to say this, but does your child sleep a lot during the day? Could it be she is getting too much sleep? Or how about a lot of physical activity during the day? I know my 2 year old was having problems sleeping at night, so I started taking her for a bike ride (she would ride her bike) right before bed. this seems to wear her out a little. Also, I let her go to bed with a couple of books. We will hear her "reading" sometimes two hours after we put her down, but she is content just laying in bed. Good luck and congrats on #2
This may sound dumb but what is she watching on TV?
My son had trouble sleeping and it took awhile but I realized he watched scooby doo near to bedtime and not the whole thing so he started thinking about monsters and it kept him up and scared... it was about that age
Try putting something in her bed that smells like you, or a stuffed animal or doll of yours if you have one. (My hubby bought me 3 stuffed bunnies one year for christmas and they usually sit on our bed - so when the kids have trouble sleeping, I give them one of my bunnies. In fact now they'll just wake me up and ask if they can have one and then go right back to sleep)
Also, I'd try making more and more trips out of the room to "get" or "do something". Fake a potty trip for a few minutes, tell her you need to go refill your glass if you're going to sit with her, tell her you need a pillow, or a blanket to sit on, or a hoodie because you're cold, etc...
Most kids will be ok with a quick trip (especially after they've seen you come back promptly once or twice). Gradually extend the number and frequency of your trips so she's used to you being out of the room more and more. Eventually she will remember that she doesn't need you anyway.
Excercise and fresh air are good ideas as well, although I read something that it shouldn't be TOO close to bed because it can actually keep you awake due to the active chemicals in your body..
Good luck!
