Sleeping question...

My daughter has always been a phenominal sleeper. She has been sleeping 12 hours through the night since 3 months old and takes 2-3 naps during the day. well the last 3 nights, she has changed all of a sudden. She is still doing her naps (wherever we put her), but nighttime is becoming very hard. She goes to sleep in her crib, but then wakes up faithfully by 11pm everynight. The 1st night I brought her into bed with me and she went right to sleep. The 2nd night she woke up again and I brought her in my room to go to sleep and then put her back in her crib. Last night I was dead asleep when she woke up, so I brought her in my room and put her in her bassinet (we haven't put it away yet and she goes from one end to the other)!!! Every time, going immediately back to sleep, no bottle, no nothing. So what is going on? I know she shouldn't be coming in my room. It's like she thinks her room is a nap room now and that is why she is waking up. She isn't hungry. Does anyone have any ideas? I want my good sleeper back! I am sooo tired!!!! Thanks Philippa

Hi Philippa- Remind us again how old she is now? Danny went through sleep pattern changes at 4 mos, 8 mos and 12 mos. He was an amazing sleeper until those times. Teething causes havoc on sleep cycles as well as other factors. Is she being newly transitioned to her room? Is it exceptionally cold/hot in her room? What has changed lately? I would try sticking to one place to nap her... if you ultimately want her to sleep nights in her crib, naps should be in her crib until she gets used to the fact that is where its sleepy time. Another option is to move her bassinet out of your room and into her room until she's used to the different sights/ sounds in there. Danny had a hard time being transitioned from our room to his until I realized that it was too quiet in his room. We have an air purifier and fan going 24/7 in our room and it makes some noise. I put an air purifier into danny's room for some "white noise". Last option I would add is when she wakes up and wont immediately go back to sleep, try the same exact routine you use for bed time to get her back to sleep... for Danny it's the rocking chair and some soft lullaby music. I was dead tired and had to rock him back to sleep for a week straight at 3am until he was sleeping the night again. I made the mistake of putting him in our bed and it was a nightmare to get him back into his own. This baby on the way will be sleeping in his/her own crib from day 1! LOL Good luck! -Janine

Sorry, I should have said that. Madison is 8 1/2 months old now. She has been sleeping in her own room since she was about 3 months old, if not earlier. That is why this is so strange. We have just never put the bassinet away, so on random cases, she will still sleep in our room. Our room is very very dark and we have an old, loud fan that we put on every night. Where as her room is light and very quiet. It has never bothered her before now, but maybe I need to darken it a bit and put some music or a dehumidifier on. It has been 3 solid nights now, where she has woken up. She has just been such an amazing sleeper up until now. But she definately has mommy-itis. So I have to be very careful with how I handle this. I think I will try a few different things and hopefully this will just be a temporary thing. On other growth spirts, she has switched up her sleeping a bit, but not like this. Thank you for your replies.

Ahh... makes perfect sense now. Mommy seperation anxiety. Danny had it bad too at the same age. The good news is that it eventually goes away, the bad news is that sometimes it takes time. Does anyone else put her down to sleep (aka, Dad?) When Danny woke up like that, I used to send my hubby in to comfort him back to sleep- usually a pacifier, lots of shhing and laying him back down did the trick. If I went in there he bawled until I "rescued" him. Just something else to try! -Janine

Hi Philippa, I am having the same issues with Dylan. He is 16 months and goes to bed around 8:30 and is up by 10:30 wailing! He won't go back to sleep in his own bed and I am at my wits end. We have tried a mattress in our room on the floor, laying with him until he falls asleep but as soon as we get up he is wide awake crying. It is getting very frustrating. I can't sleep with him in our bed and I don't want to. If you come up with something that works, let me know! Good luck! Heather Bb