HELP!!! My 17- month old won't sleep!

[femalephish]

My DD has never been a great sleeper but we've been getting into a good routine lately, maybe the past two months or so. I lay down with her, with white noise and we nurse/snuggle until she falls asleep- about 30 minutes. We would do this for her one nap and nightime sleeping, too. When my DH does the nightime routine he snuggles with her, she might try to crawl away, and if she does he gently holds her down and it takes just a few minutes (less than 10) for her to fall asleep that way.

All of a sudden, two nights ago, this stopped working. My DH tried to get her down and she didn't stop crying at 10 minutes, 15, 20- then he brought her downstairs. When I took her up (after she calmed down and had a nurse) she didn't want to nurse in bed, didn't want to snuggle, she kept pushing her binky away and saying, 'no, no'. She can climb out of bed now and just kept trying to or trying to stand up!

Bedtime/naptime has been tough each time since. She hasn't had a nap yet today and she ussually naps at 1130- and it's 2pm now! My husband goes back to work today (he works nights) and I don't know what I'm going to do all week.

What's happening? Is this just a stage? (PLEASE) Has she just changed now and we'll never go back? Our routine was getting pretty sweet for a while there and I feel like it was a cruel trick. "you're getting too comfortable, feeling good about sleeptime-GOTCHA!"

She's SO active all.day.long I NEED her to sleep.

Please help.

-Courtney

[healthy momma]

First, hugs to you. Take a deep breath and let go of everything you feel like you need to accomplish right now. If your little one still hasn't napped just determine to focus solely on her and you until she goes to bed (EARLY) tonight. Let everything else go. You will make it through and then you  can think about what changes you can make.

My sleep experience with DS 2.5 yrs has been a rollercoaster. Like your DD he has "never been a great sleeper" but over the last year we've had some pretty good routines going that last for a few weeks to a couple of months. Then comes the "GOTCHA" that you talk about. Here is what I've learned. The more you stress out the longer it will last. If an old routine is not working, try a new one (while leaving some consistency to nap and night time if possible). Look at the situation with a critical eye and ask yourself some questions. Is she sleeping in just a little bit longer? Has her eating times changed? Is she tired but just looking to assert herself (she's getting to that age) and needs some say in her sleep routine? Do I need to block light out of the room? etc. 

Specifically, here are some things that helped DS through a couple of those phases.

1. Pushing nap time back by a half hour. He just wasn't quite tired enough yet and would fight tooth and nail if I tried the old time but went right to bed at the new one.

2. I used to dance DS to sleep for months when he was an infant and really had sleep troubles. I hadn't done that in quite a while. However, I found out that if he is nursing just before sleep time and he seems a bit restless all I have to do is immediately pick him up (after nursing) and sing and dance through one song. He's totally quieted down and ready to snuggle to sleep.

3. In one particularly rough patch I decided that if he wasn't going to nap I was going to need to in order to get through. So we did our routine, I put the gate across his door and shut it, lay down on his bed, and announced, "Momma is going to sleep because she is tired. You are welcome to play quietly in your room while I sleep and if you decide you want to come cuddle with me you can." After five minutes of messing around (and I truly was dozing off) he climbed into bed with me and promptly fell asleep. This was when he was trying to assert his independence. 

I hope something here sparks an idea for you. Take care and good luck.

[maptome]

This happened to DD about a month ago at about 16 months old.  Just went insane with sleep.  Refusing to sleep, rejecting her routine, and getting maybe 9-10 hours of sleep total.  We ended up just following her lead and shifting her entire sleep schedule by 4 hours!  Now, sometimes, I still have to wear her in the Ergo for her to nap or fall asleep at night.  And she wakes up in the middle of the night, running to the door and banging on it.  And I have to wear her and walk around the house in the dark until she falls asleep from boredom.  BUT, it is not as bad as when it started.  She's getting around 12 hours of sleep now, and I've come up with a new methods to deal with it.

Just let go of your old system and do what you need to do to get in a nap even if that means letting her nap in your lap or whatever.  For me, DD just changed.  It was really really hard on me. Our entire family's routine changed.

:hugs hang in there. you can do it. things will improve.