Here we go again

[speechie]

Is stubborness and persistence one of the personality traits of a spirited child?

Yes.

Hugs honey- sounds like you DID make progress and I'm glad she went back to sleep with no fuss. I hope it gets better pronto!

[* Paula *]

Stacy you are right, she definitley is playing both of us and to be honest I think she may be playing us off eachother.

Because I have been harder on her at bedtime with taking her back to bed etc, when she gets out of bed she cries for DH saying Daddy, daddy, she has never done this. 

I know I am doing this for her own good, but I feel awful that she is kinda ignoring me because I am being so hard on her 

Last night she went to bed like a dream, but was up at around 3:00am.  It took about 20 minutes to get her to settle back down, but then she was up an hour later.  Not sure if she went back to sleep in between that time or not, but when I got up this morning I battled to wake her up and she kept on turning over and going back to sleep, so I am guessing she was awake for quite a while

[louis-mummy]

I can't tell you how alike things are for us here!

Ds is also spirited /textbook, has sa tendancies and regular nw's. We make some progress then have setbacks too. 
One thing I have recently discovered with Louis is to have himsay goodnight mama, when he goes to bed, don't know why but its like he accepts it because he has the final word ! Takes a while to persuade him to say it though!  Also I tell him a 'once upon a time ' story about a boy called Louis who has a good sleep and wakes happy and refreshed and has a lovely day playing.   He seems to like that.
Did I get that idea from bw or make it up?!

Just a few ideas.

Louis' sleep has gone pants again these past few nights, I'm thinking maybe low level teething is disrupting his sleep as nothing else seems to explain it.

Hugs and (deep) sleepy vibes x

[* Paula *]

Thanks for the hugs Laura they are appreciated 

DD does say night to me, and she tells me to sleep tight too  .  The past few nights putting her to bed have been ok, she has gone to bed no problem.

Last night she went to bed at about 6:10pm and I had to wake her up this morning at 7:40am She stirred at around 6:30am, but just needed her cover putting back on and she went straight back to sleep.  Now these are the nights that I am used to.  Fingers crossed we have another good night.

[louis-mummy]

Glad things have been better : -)

Did you manage to figure out what was wrong before?

Louis ' sleep is really awful at the moment :-(
he will probably Be a teenager before I figure out his sleep!

[* Paula *]

Hi Laura,

Sorry for the delay in replying to you - DD's sleep has been a nightmare at the moment.

Some days she goes to bed like a dream but is then up for hours in the night, other days she freaks before bed, only falls asleep at around 9/10 pm is still up in the night or then sleeps through.  When she does wake in the night, she is a nightmare to get up in the mornings I have to drag her out of bed.

I have tried staying in her room, giving her pain meds for teeth, just returning her to her room everytime she gets up, and Nothing is working.  I feel like a failure as a mum.

[mini me]

Hugs Paula {{{}}} You are NOT a failure ... you are looking for answers and not just giving up ... that makes you a super loving mummy!!
We are having NWs at around 3,4,5am which last a few hours. but luckily Artemis is content playing and laughing in the pitch dark - but I can't sleep if I can hear her, so I lay awake and I'm knackered now! She does still have a nap - we are doing it later than before, shorter amount and an earlier bedtime to allow her time to play up or if she sleeps right away it gives her catch up sleep to try and stop the OT cycle.
We are dosing her up with paracetamol as she is dribbling a bit and gringing her teeth, so 2nd yr molars are definately moving - but no visible sign yet. Teething has a LOT to answer for!! Grrr!!!
I find that if I explain what we are going to do the next day AFTER SHE HAS SLEPT ALL NIGHT LONG, this sometimes helps reduce the NWs (but not always). So no real help there I'm afraid.
I can't remember the details for her move to the BGB while she was young, but have you tried telling her that if she doesn't stay in her bed and behave like a big girl, then you and daddy (keeping it together as a team here) will have no choice but to put her in her cot again. I don't like these ultimations much, but if she can understand that there will be a consequence it may stop her Just a thought?
Artemis is also an extremely light sleeper (gets it from me unfortunately)
I (personally) would be wary about putting her in with her brother for all your reasons before mentioned, but also if she is being stubborn, manipulative and testing her limitations, then you will be kind of letting her call the shots for no reason other than for her to win iyswim.
Anyway, not much use here I'm afraid, but I can send you heaps of sleep vibes (you and DD) and lots of Mummy hugs

[anna*]

Paula, just read your post on the mods forum and was wondering if Abi is old enough to 'get' the concept of a reward chart? It would take a lot of talking about it during the day time, but Stan has just got one (five stickers in a row and he gets a smartie) and he is SO INTO sticking his stickers on the chart.

Just an idea, and maybe could help with both of them using their nice voices etc in the evening?

[louis-mummy]

Huge hugs.

Please don't feel disheartened, you want to help your lo to be happy and confident - which makes you a great mummy.

Things are tough here too. I try to remind myself how good it feels when we get through one of these spells. but in middle of the night things always feel worse don't they?

X

[sherry lynn]

*huge hugs*

[speechie]

Thinking of you, you are a great mama, you are just tired. I hope she's doing a little better tonight. I do wonder if molars are lurking to cause that kind of NWs.

I have used Melatonin about once a month on Nick to help him get back into a more normal sleeping pattern and to get rid of accumulated OT. It does work well for us, and is natural. There are some weeks I dose Nick with Motrin every night because he's clearly uncomfortable. ugh.

Huge hugs, you are not alone.

[EloysH]

** hugs Paula**  your are a supermum in my book. You can't be a failure over something out of your control,  she's just not wanting to sleep well at the moment and you are doing everything in your power to help her.  That is a super mum to me.

[* Paula *]

Thanks so much for your replies and kind words ladies, they are really appreciated 

Andi, yes she did transition into a BGB when she was young - she was 14 months old.  We did this due to sleep issues then too I am not sure she even remembers the cot to be honest.

Anna, I like the idea of a reward chart - Will definitely consider implementing it for both of them.  DS has been a bit unruly lately, so might do the trick, thanks for that.

Hugs Laura, sorry you are having a rough time too.  Hope things improve for you 

Cathie, I do think that teething have something to do with it.  She has two corners pocking out of her two year molars.  I gave her a dream med last night as she was fussy before bed and is really snotty and full of a cough and cold.  It seemed to do the trick and she did have a full nights sleep.

LOL Eloise - I don't feel like a supermum.