It's safe to say we have no medical issues that are underlying. We have a good routine too. DD wakes up between 6-7am, takes a nap around 8-9am for 1h, then another one from noon-1pm somewhere around an hour, and then she is tired around 630pm-7pm. But then the great awakening happens. Rarely, her eyes are even open when she wakes up crying. She does not want to nurse when she wakes up (only ever 3-4 hours, if you try in between, she gets upset). We co-sleep.
Before we go to bed, DD and DS bathe together (which they love), we get them dressed and read stories and then DD nurses and goes to bed. I just don't know how to encourage more and longer stretches of sleep. Obviously we are opposed to crying it out, but there must be something gentle we can do. I'm at wit's end for never sleeping more than 45 minutes at a time. I haven't had a deep sleep cycle in weeks. Hiring help is out of question, our families live thousands of miles away and my friends have infants themselves, so outside help is out of question. DH get sup 2-4am to go to work so he cannot help either.
