9 month sleep regression

amd1982

anyone currently going through this/has gone through this and can offer any words of wisdom? DS doesn't seem to have been hit yet by this, but DD is a complete (and I saw this with love!) nightmare. I love her dearly but i feel like i've been knocked on my a**. it's not that she's waking several times a night (she already seemed to have passed that phase) but now we've entered into the "i'm going to cry and cry for an hour plus when i'm put down for a nap or at night" part of life.

she's kind of always been our "fusser" when going down at night. but was always pretty good about naptime. i feel bad going in the room to try and rub her back or something after 10 minutes or so because when i leave she cries way harder. it seems to just make the process go on so much longer. it's really stressful on DH and i as well. we don't feel comfortable leaving the kids with anyone to babysit (except the nanny and my parents) because we think if we can barely deal with it how will they? i guess i'm just at my wits end because i thought that by doing a little bit of CIO that the crying time would get less and less each night. but it just seems to be getting longer and longer. she's not sick. not teething. warm enough. not too warm. has white noise. i feel like we've covered all bases. i'm almost ready to buy one of those night light music things that projects images to relax her - even though the damn thing is like $50. but she sleeps on her belly so how the heck will she even see it. ha. can you tell i'm rambling. thanks for letting me vent and any info you may have. i know we just have to hang in there and suck it up, and i'm not trying to be a complainer. it's just very very very draining and i feel very bad for her as well.

TJ1979

I'm so sorry.  Sleep issues are the worst!  Have you tried a lovey?  Do you have a very good bed time routine?  You mentioned doing a little bit of CIO, but have you officially sleep trained?

ELF4321

Sounds like my DD. When we were sleep training, we realized that she got much more upset after checkins than before, so we started waiting longer before doing a checkin. We would wait 15 minutes for the first, then 20 minutes for each one after that. I think she was still averaging about 30-40 minutes to fall asleep for several months after sleep training. She just has never been a good sleeper. The biggest thing is consistency, so she knows what to expect. If you haven't actually read Ferber or Sleep Easy, it might be helpful. I especially found Sleep Easy's section on timing of naps and bed at each age to be helpful, since we realized by the time DD is acting really tired, it's too late and we missed her easy sleep window.

pb_bride

@amd1982, that sounds exhausting!  And nothing is worse than listening to your LOs cry.

I guess my first questions would be, what's her sleep & nap schedule right now?  What time does she wake up, what time are her naps, and what time is bedtime. Also how long is each nap and how many hours of night time sleep?

M didn't really have a sleep regression at 9 months, but there were a few bumps here and there - usually to do with a milestone or teething.  He had a hard time napping when he first developed separation anxiety (around 8 months), and also when he first started pulling up in the crib.  It was tough for a few days each time, and then he'd go back to his normal sleep/nap routine.

I also have been re-adjusting his nap time during the day, according to his needs.  He used to be on a 3-3-3 schedule, but now we switched to a 2-3-4 schedule.  

I'm throwing all this out there - wonder if you're trying to put your DD down too soon or too late for her naps.  Sleep & nap problems are tough; wish the LOs could just tell us what they'd like!!!