Ok, bear with me, b/c this is going to be long.
DD1 is 3.5, a very independent child, but always nursed to sleep. I got pg with DD2 when she was 15 months old, and nursing hurt so much that I decided to nightwean her with the help of DH. It worked, and she started sleeping through the night fairly consistently around 18 months old.
DD2 is very attached...to ME. If she wakes in the night and DH goes in to soothe her, she cries hysterically until I come "rescue" her. She loves DH, don't get me wrong, but for whatever reason it has to be me at night. She doesn't nurse to sleep, never has, but always wants to nurse when she wakes. I have been nightweaning her with Dr. Gordon's technique (even though we don't cosleep, as I can't sleep with her kicking me), and I tell her "na-na" is sleeping when she asks. Most of the time she accepts this with no argument, and I tell her to lay down and I will rub her back, which I do for a few minutes. We do not pick her up anymore either, as she was beginning to rely on that to get back to sleep. Just to clarify, if she was hysterical about not getting picked up or not nursing, I would do those things, but she accepts that I won't without much fuss.
The problem is that when I try to leave the room before she's asleep, she cries. So I have to sit in the rocking chair until she's asleep. If she only woke once or twice a night, this wouldn't be a big problem. But after she goes to bed initially (I have to sit in with her then, too), she will sleep for 4.5-5 hours, waking at 12:15 or 12:30am. She then wakes every 1.5-2 hours, sometimes twice in one hour. I don't give in and nurse her, b/c I know that would just set the whole thing back to the beginning, and she seems to be fine with not nursing. But I just have to be in the room until she's asleep or she flips out.
She's doing the same thing for naptimes lately, it is taking me 30 minutes just get her down for a nap, not counting 5-10 minutes of nursing. I am thankful that she doesn't have to nurse to sleep like DD1 did, as that was a nightmare (PPO worked wonders for me). But I don't know what else to do. I have tried offering a cup of water or milk (she gets pissed). I made a weighted blanket (sometimes used for autistic children to get them to calm down) and that seems to make her cozy. She has a pillow with her, and she loves it. She has a small minky blanket with herbs in a sachet on it (lavender, chamomile) as a lovey, but doesn't seem too attached to it. She uses a pacifier (DD1 gave hers up at 6 months), but when she wakes in the night she tosses it out of her crib. If I don't go to her fast enough, she tosses everything out of her crib.
I have started her on probiotics (she is prone to yeast rashes), and I've heard that may help her sleep (she's only been on them for a week). We make sure she eats a good dinner and she is offered a snack before bed. We have a consistent bedtime routine. I feel like I've tried everything. I recently found out I am pregnant with #3, so I am extra tired and really need my sleep. DH wants to help, but she will get so mad if he goes in to her.
I don't know what else to do. I feel like she's between NCSS and NCSS for Toddlers, and neither book will work. She doesn't understand enough for the toddler book and she's too old for the original techniques. Does anyone have any suggestions I haven't tried to get her to sleep longer stretches at night? I'm at the end of my rope here.
DD1 is 3.5, a very independent child, but always nursed to sleep. I got pg with DD2 when she was 15 months old, and nursing hurt so much that I decided to nightwean her with the help of DH. It worked, and she started sleeping through the night fairly consistently around 18 months old.
DD2 is very attached...to ME. If she wakes in the night and DH goes in to soothe her, she cries hysterically until I come "rescue" her. She loves DH, don't get me wrong, but for whatever reason it has to be me at night. She doesn't nurse to sleep, never has, but always wants to nurse when she wakes. I have been nightweaning her with Dr. Gordon's technique (even though we don't cosleep, as I can't sleep with her kicking me), and I tell her "na-na" is sleeping when she asks. Most of the time she accepts this with no argument, and I tell her to lay down and I will rub her back, which I do for a few minutes. We do not pick her up anymore either, as she was beginning to rely on that to get back to sleep. Just to clarify, if she was hysterical about not getting picked up or not nursing, I would do those things, but she accepts that I won't without much fuss.
The problem is that when I try to leave the room before she's asleep, she cries. So I have to sit in the rocking chair until she's asleep. If she only woke once or twice a night, this wouldn't be a big problem. But after she goes to bed initially (I have to sit in with her then, too), she will sleep for 4.5-5 hours, waking at 12:15 or 12:30am. She then wakes every 1.5-2 hours, sometimes twice in one hour. I don't give in and nurse her, b/c I know that would just set the whole thing back to the beginning, and she seems to be fine with not nursing. But I just have to be in the room until she's asleep or she flips out.
She's doing the same thing for naptimes lately, it is taking me 30 minutes just get her down for a nap, not counting 5-10 minutes of nursing. I am thankful that she doesn't have to nurse to sleep like DD1 did, as that was a nightmare (PPO worked wonders for me). But I don't know what else to do. I have tried offering a cup of water or milk (she gets pissed). I made a weighted blanket (sometimes used for autistic children to get them to calm down) and that seems to make her cozy. She has a pillow with her, and she loves it. She has a small minky blanket with herbs in a sachet on it (lavender, chamomile) as a lovey, but doesn't seem too attached to it. She uses a pacifier (DD1 gave hers up at 6 months), but when she wakes in the night she tosses it out of her crib. If I don't go to her fast enough, she tosses everything out of her crib.
I have started her on probiotics (she is prone to yeast rashes), and I've heard that may help her sleep (she's only been on them for a week). We make sure she eats a good dinner and she is offered a snack before bed. We have a consistent bedtime routine. I feel like I've tried everything. I recently found out I am pregnant with #3, so I am extra tired and really need my sleep. DH wants to help, but she will get so mad if he goes in to her.
I don't know what else to do. I feel like she's between NCSS and NCSS for Toddlers, and neither book will work. She doesn't understand enough for the toddler book and she's too old for the original techniques. Does anyone have any suggestions I haven't tried to get her to sleep longer stretches at night? I'm at the end of my rope here.