Sleep struggles at 14 months

[FayBelle]

Hello all!

My DD has historically been a pretty good sleeper - sleeping 4-6 hours a night by 4 months and sleeping through at around 8-9 months. We never needed to night wean as she pretty much did it herself by sleeping through. There were the odd nights of teething or sickness that disrupted this but generally things were good, and she was pretty easy to settle back to sleep if she did wake.

I've probably been somewhat smugly anti sleep training. But I realise that was because I had a good sleeper and didn't need it.

We hit 12 months and sleep has pretty much gone to sh*t since then. Multiple wake ups, hours to settle back to sleep. Teething molars and general colds have been a factor, and sometimes it would pass and she'd go back to sleeping through for a week or so. But the last two- three weeks at least she's been waking around 10-11pm and has been impossible to settle. The only way she goes back to sleep is if one of us cosleeps with her in the spare bed. And then throughout the night she'll wake up and cry out until we reassure her/pat her/snuggle her.

We are feeling pretty shattered. She is a happy baby during the day, and has a short morning nap and longer afternoon (about 2 -3 hours of total nap time) but these nights are killing us.

We usually try re settling her first before cosleeping, that can mean one of us in there with her for up to an hour patting her etc. Only to then have her cry out again 20 minutes later (when we've just managed to fall asleep)

Anyone have any suggestions? Should we go back to offering a bottle of milk when she wakes up, or is that creating a bad habit? Is this just a phase? I'm not sure we have it in us to do cry it out, but I have been tempted to buy sleep programs online to see what people tout as solutions

[Beary]

Hello all!

My DD has historically been a pretty good sleeper - sleeping 4-6 hours a night by 4 months and sleeping through at around 8-9 months. We never needed to night wean as she pretty much did it herself by sleeping through. There were the odd nights of teething or sickness that disrupted this but generally things were good, and she was pretty easy to settle back to sleep if she did wake.

I've probably been somewhat smugly anti sleep training. But I realise that was because I had a good sleeper and didn't need it.

We hit 12 months and sleep has pretty much gone to sh*t since then. Multiple wake ups, hours to settle back to sleep. Teething molars and general colds have been a factor, and sometimes it would pass and she'd go back to sleeping through for a week or so. But the last two- three weeks at least she's been waking around 10-11pm and has been impossible to settle. The only way she goes back to sleep is if one of us cosleeps with her in the spare bed. And then throughout the night she'll wake up and cry out until we reassure her/pat her/snuggle her.

We are feeling pretty shattered. She is a happy baby during the day, and has a short morning nap and longer afternoon (about 2 -3 hours of total nap time) but these nights are killing us.

We usually try re settling her first before cosleeping, that can mean one of us in there with her for up to an hour patting her etc. Only to then have her cry out again 20 minutes later (when we've just managed to fall asleep)

Anyone have any suggestions? Should we go back to offering a bottle of milk when she wakes up, or is that creating a bad habit? Is this just a phase? I'm not sure we have it in us to do cry it out, but I have been tempted to buy sleep programs online to see what people tout as solutions

I can’t really be much help as my DD is about 7 months behind you.

But I did have a lot of trouble getting my daughter to self settle. As part of this process, i learnt that our maternal child health nurse service provides free consultations with sleep consultants (we are in Victoria). Maybe see if your community nurse service provides something similar?

These helped a LOT! I had very little tolerance for letting my baby cry, so I went slooooowly. It took about 3 months but I can now put my 9mo down awake for a nap or for sleep and walk off and she will put herself to sleep. She sleeps through the night and naps well. From where I started, it was a miracle! The sleep consultant through my MCHN really tailored her tips around the fact I’m a soft touch

Good luck! Sleep deprivation is SO HARD.

[BigRedV]

I would try and transition to one day sleep.

[FayBelle]

I can’t really be much help as my DD is about 7 months behind you.

But I did have a lot of trouble getting my daughter to self settle. As part of this process, i learnt that our maternal child health nurse service provides free consultations with sleep consultants (we are in Victoria). Maybe see if your community nurse service provides something similar?

These helped a LOT! I had very little tolerance for letting my baby cry, so I went slooooowly. It took about 3 months but I can now put my 9mo down awake for a nap or for sleep and walk off and she will put herself to sleep. She sleeps through the night and naps well. From where I started, it was a miracle! The sleep consultant through my MCHN really tailored her tips around the fact I’m a soft touch

Good luck! Sleep deprivation is SO HARD.

That sounds amazing! I've never been able to put her down awake and walk out, she's always needed some patting or face stroking after we put her down. But because she always fell asleep quickly I never really thought it was a problem.... I'll look in to what's available here, I definitely need a soft touch too!

[FayBelle]

I would try and transition to one day sleep.

Thanks, I've been wondering if that will help. She just seems so tired in the morning, I'm not sure how to get her to stay awake long enough. But I'll give it a go and see 🤞🏻

[BigRedV]

Thanks, I've been wondering if that will help. She just seems so tired in the morning, I'm not sure how to get her to stay awake long enough. But I'll give it a go and see 🤞🏻

When my 3 kids transitioned to one day sleep, they seemed to keep the morning nap and I had to stretch it out by 10 mins each day so it was more in the middle of the day. I remember putting them to bed earlier but I also remember it was a difficult transition.