apparently "18 month old sleep regression" is a thing. zu is only 16 months old, but she's always been a step ahead.
here's what is going on....
so zu has always slept like a champ. from 6 weeks, we have had hardly any trouble getting her to sleep and keeping her sleeping through the night. she self-soothes, cuddles her stuffed animals, and konks right out.
then we went out of town for a couple of weeks in december. over our travels, we stopped in this kid-focused restaurant with animatronics and such ( rainforest cafe) which we thought she would love but freaked her out instead. ever since then, animatronics and movements scare her--from the curtains moving in a breeze to the pedals on her tricycle rotating when she pushes it. it hasn't been a major issue--usually she'll just shake her head No and look at me concerned until I stop the offending motion.
the problem is at night.
she goes to bed at her usual time, no struggles (typically), but around 2 or 3 AM, she wakes up and will NOT go back to sleep in her crib. it does not matter how long i rock her, if i give her a teething ring (molars are coming in), read to her, sing to her, give her teething medicine, let her get up and play (desperate!), nothing nothing nothing helps Unless she gets in bed with mommy or daddy.
of course then she goes right to sleep.
so i don't really know what to do about this. its not every single night, but it is most nights, and it is wearing us out! bryan has been great--he gets up with her a lot of nights since he works til 11 and i work early in the morning, then i take night "shifts" on days that i don't have to teach in the morning. i think if it were just a matter of her wanting to sleep with us everynight, then she wouldn't be so easy to get to sleep in her own crib initially (and she sleeps there perfectly during naps). something is going on--nightmares, teething, sleep regression. i don't know. hopefully this phase will pass soon....advice in the meantime...?
So last night, I mentioned this to my mom, and she said, "How old is Zuzu again--a year and a half?" So I guess it really is a thing :-) And both my parents said they dealt with stuff like this with us. I know that isn't helpful advice, but I thought maybe some reassurance that it's somewhat normal for some kids might help.
ReplyDeletethat is actually very reassuring--my mom said none of us went through that--so at least now i know it isn't something seriously wrong!!!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, that is awful! I wish I had some advice, but I really don't know what to tell you. Charlotte hasn't had night wakings in a while. She was going through a phase where she cried when we put her to bed, but that stopped after a few weeks, so hopefully Zu's phase will end soon, too. I am sure you and Bryan are exhausted!
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry about the trip to the restaurant. I really thought she would like it. :(
ReplyDeleteHoping this stage passes quickly. Rest assured I do think it is completely normal. Elijah has went through spurts like this as well. Have you tried giving her water when she wakes up? Most of the time when Elijah wakes up or has in the past he is thirsty. Friends of ours let their toddler sleep with a sippy cup of water. Hope it ends soon!