16 month old suddenly stops sleeping?!

[brneyedmama]

OK, so I'm really starting to lose it with DD lately.  I know this is all developmental, or at least I figure it is, but man she's giving me a run for my money.  I posted a few days ago about her refusing to eat which isn't such a new thing, but now she's refusing to sleep too!!!  She has always been an incredible sleeper, in the sense that she goes 12-14 hrs at night and takes a solid 1.5-2 hr nap mid day.  She's never wanted to co-sleep, and has always slept her best in a quite dark room of her own.  She has slept through the night since she was 6 months old, but this was from diligent work from my husband and I to ensure that we catered to what she needed.  

Now, this week, we're on day 8 to be exact, she's suddenly decided she's not going to bed anymore!  The night routine has not changed, nor has anything else for her.  It's always tubby, quiet play for 20 minutes, bottle in the rocking chair, and sleep.  Her bedtime and nap time has not changed -nothin!  Now, when we put her down, she immediately starts crying when we leave.  She will then spend the next 3 -4 hrs (I'm not exaggerating) running around her crib, throwing out the paci's and blankies, singing, dancing, crying some more, everything BUT sleeping!

Other nights I'll rock her to sleep with little effort and she'll transfer, only to wake 1/2 an hr later and do the exact same thing!  I don't get it!?  We go back in, give her another bottle, see if she's pooped, rock her some more.  Or when it's really ridiculous, we simply go lie her back down and tell her it's bedtime.  To this she just screams harder and longer, and doesn't actually produce results either, so I'm at a loss completely.  She is SO overtired at this point, so now that's not helping anything!

Any  suggestions here?! Anyone else experience the same thing?  IS this simply a "I'm a toddler and wanting to be in control" type of thing?  Thanks for the input I'm at my whits end!

[motherhendoula]

No real advice for you OP - except of course a ((hug)) and to say that my 17 mo old just got over two months of sleeping HELL!  The factors are so many that i cant really sort out what prompted this - he was never a GREAT sleeper - but he was decent enough - i nurse him to sleep and it typically takes 10 - 20 minutes, for Dec and Jan it was taking like 50 - 60 minutes!! 

he normally would wake once or twice during the night - we co -sleep, i would nurse him again and he would be out within 5 - 10 minutes....during Dec and Jan he would be up for an hour - wanting to nurse most of the time! 

in early December, DH went into the hospital for two weeks - prompting me to use my Mom and my eldest daughter to babysit DS a LOT - he then went into a full blown case of separation anxiety - he couldnt STAND anybody!  I had to change all diapers, give all baths, etc..etc..  so i wondered if the poor sleep was related to that - he also cut all 4 of his 12 mo. molars later in December - so was he in pain?   i have no idea...all i can tell you is that he recently turned 17 months old - and the separation anxiety is better, and he is sleeping very well again too!  maybe its a magic number?  good luck!

[Super~Single~Mama]

Teething? That is always my first thought when a great sleeper stops sleeping. My ds was a horrible teether though. It really was torture.

She could also be gearing up for a major developmental milestone too, like a language explosion, or something.

Or, something could be scaring her at night. When ds and I were staying with family ds would normally go to sleep great. But then he got really frightened if the dark for some reason. It was an awful couple of weeks (he was almost 3yo and could tell me he was scared), until I realized that after I left the room the cat was scratching on the door to our bedroom. Of course he didn't know it was the cat, and he thought it was a monster. Poor kid!!

[brneyedmama]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 

Teething? That is always my first thought when a great sleeper stops sleeping. My ds was a horrible teether though. It really was torture.
She could also be gearing up for a major developmental milestone too, like a language explosion, or something.
Or, something could be scaring her at night. When ds and I were staying with family ds would normally go to sleep great. But then he got really frightened if the dark for some reason. It was an awful couple of weeks (he was almost 3yo and could tell me he was scared), until I realized that after I left the room the cat was scratching on the door to our bedroom. Of course he didn't know it was the cat, and he thought it was a monster. Poor kid!!

Yeah, I'm wondering about something scaring her too, or simply not wanting to be alone.  I figured separation anxiety would have happened by now.  And she's got all of her teeth -got them all super early so I don't think it's related to that, however that was my first thought.  It's also not like she's in pain, she's just mad that I'm not there which she never used to care about.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by motherhendoula 
 prompting me to use my Mom and my eldest daughter to babysit DS a LOT - he then went into a full blown case of separation anxiety - he couldnt STAND anybody!  I had to change all diapers, give all baths, etc..etc..  so i wondered if the poor sleep was related to that - he also cut all 4 of his 12 mo. molars later in December - so was he in pain?   i have no idea...all i can tell you is that he recently turned 17 months old - and the separation anxiety is better, and he is sleeping very well again too!  maybe its a magic number?  good luck!

She has had a bit of mommy-itis lately.  I'm 6 months preggo with number 2, but I don't think she can really cognitively understand that do you?  I had to go back in 4 times tonight over the course of 2 hrs, and each time I opened the door she had this big fat smile on her face, like she'd won a game or something.  

I just wanna be sure I'm not handling this the wrong way and perpetuation a problem.  But I don't want her to be miserable either.  perhaps sitting in a chair in her room?  Or leaving the door ajar?  She's asleep now, but wish us luck for tomorrow! :)