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Attachment Parenting
At my wit's end...
DD is about to be 2. She has never been a great sleeper and we have bed shared since she was born. I love sleeping with her. DH didnt like it so much so 6mo ago we bought a bed for her bedroom and now I sleep in there with her. She was more or less fine at first. Still would wake up once when I got up for work...Id get her a bottle, brush real quick then put her to bed with DH and she would sleep until about 830/9.
Well on 4/2 she got sick for the first time ever. She got a fever out of nowhere and had a seizure. She was sleepy and tired for a full week after that even though the fever was gone in 3 days. It was strange because she is normally very hyper/independent and just runs all day. But now after the seizure she is suddenly very clingy. She cries and whines all day and just wants to be held. When we go anywhere she doesnt want to walk she just says "hugs" over and over again and wants to be carried. IF I can get her in the stroller she wants me to hold her hand and walk beside her. All of that isnt even that bad though. The worst part is she is now waking up at 2am ready to go for the day. I get up for work at 4am but she will be up and talking and just moving all around the bed for hours. She sometimes gets off the bed and plays then gets back up. But she stays up for at least 3hrs then falls back asleep until about 9. By 1030/11 DH says that she is crying for her bottle. He tries to wait until at least noon because that is her normal naptime. Somedays she sleeps 2hrs but others she sleeps 3.
I know shes tired. She is cranky the rest of the day. She starts asking for a bottle and bed within 2hrs of waking from her nap. I guess my question is is this normal sleep regression stuff or should I mention it to her pedi? Im kinda desperate but unfortunately Im stuck at the moment. Ive resolved to just stop bedsharing with her even though I dont really want to. No ones getting any sleep at this point. The only thing thats stopping me from doing that immediately is that we have family coming in less than 2wks and she will be back in bed with us because they will be using her room.
Im sorry this is so long and I hope it wasnt confusing.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: At my wit's end...
I don't think they would even suggest behavioral meds for a 2 yr old. The sleep lady shuffle worked well for us to get DS1 sleeping more independently and longer. Also, even though it's not my business, (you did mention it though) I'd talk to your pedi today about weaning from a bottle. I know when we started really playing up the "big boy now" thing at about 14 months old, a lot of things improved. We had a sticker "chart" too for staying in bed - just a piece of paper to put stickers on if he stayed. My kid has always loved stickers though, so they are motivating for him. At 14 mo the stickers were the reward too.
2 is definitely too young to suggest behavior meds for a child. Usually a (good) pedi will suggest other things and make medication the last resort. I'd say the seizure and the long sickness was scary for her and it is going to take some adjustment.
DD did go through some sleep issues after she had tubes placed in her ears, and then right after that we had to travel for a wedding. When we came back it was a nightmare. We'd been doing No Cry Sleep Solution, and that worked for us. After we came back from our trip I decided to start NCSS all over again, and it was just what we needed. We did cosleeping for a while too but DD got to a place where she didn't want to be anywhere near us at bedtime and wanted a big girl bed. Now she only wants to sleep with us when she is sick or after she has bad dreams.
I would advise not getting rid of the bottle or changing who she sleeps with until she is sleeping better and her anxiety lessens. Taking the bottle away and changing her sleep routine might scare her even more. The bottle is probably a comfort thing and taking her comfort away might make her anxiety worse. Or at least that's what our pedi told us when we were considering getting DD off the bottle.