Sleeping pattern and a bad habit!

[Mum2SweetCs]

Hi All,

Previously my DD was a great sleeper. She would be half awake and then let her sleep in her cot and she will fall asleep herself. This happened until she was 8mths ish.

Then it all started to change. She didnt want to sleep in her cot and didnt want to sleep at all. A few nights, we had to keep her company until 3AM.

We then let her watch In the Night Garden and now she has to watch tv to fall asleep =(

How do I break this habit? I did try putting her in the cot when she was slightly sleepy again but now she just cries heaps until we pick her up again. She is 11mths now.

HELP!

THanks all in advance!

[SammyRo]

We've been having major sleeping issues, and it took a bit of work but we are back on track. They key for us was to do a consistent bedtime routine - so bath, story, bottle, then in the cot by 7pm awake. We then pat the mattress and have some music playing, also she has a gloworm toy that plays a lullaby when you press it, so we use that if she is getting upset. The first time we did it, it took 40 minutes for her to go to sleep and she cried for most of that - it was hard not to pick her up, but I knew that it was something we had to do. THat was for a morning nap (we obviously don't do the same bedtime routine) but by bedtime that night, it took 10 mins and she was even giggling with DH one minute and then asleep the next. And since then, its going well. BUt you have to make that conscious effort to change things in order to break the habits (our habit was feeding and rocking to sleep).

hth

[sirenz]

we have also had the same problems with ds.

I agree with the whole bedtime routine, ds knows he has dinner, bath, massage, a little bit of playtime, bottle and cuddles then bed by 8pm (but usually he goes at 7:30pm when he shows signs he is ready to sleep).

does she have a special toy or blankie she can take to bed with her? or can she sleep with you in your bed, maybe she just wants to be close to you.

If ds has a bad night with the sleeping, he sleeps with us in our bed and for him this usually only goes on for 2 nights and then he is back to normal and sleeping in his own bed, so i think its just a little phase they go through and ds seems to do it once or twice per month.

Definately give the bedtime routine a go, it does work, but it takes time, so be prepared for a few sleepless nights while your dd adjusts to the new routine.