Sleep Setback

Maura has stopped sleeping through the night. I think that many factors are playing into this, and it needs to stop. I need sleep. We need sleep. She is obviously overtired much of the day.

She was awake much of the night after her six month vaccinations last week. I slept in the guestroom with her after several wakings. I gave her Tylenol. She just didn't seem comfortable. She wasn't herself.

I assumed that things would go back to normal after she felt better. She slept bet the following two nights, not great, but better.

This weekend we have friends visiting with their 14 month old toddler. So there is a lot of activity in the house that she's not used to. She has stopped sleeping through the night altogether now. Friday night, she was up every couple of hours, screaming, with big tears in her eyes. Last night, we brought her into bed with us (read: mistake). She slept restlessly, waking often, especially when she lost her pacifier.

We're exhausted.

Normally, she goes to bed at 7 pm, falls asleep, and we hear little to nothing from her until she wakes at 6:30 the next morning.

So is it all the commotion in the house that's keeping her awake? Maybe she's overstimulated during the day? Is she teething? Or did we just get into a bad habit by sleeping together the night after she had her shots?

I think that it's probably a combination of all of these things. But whatever it is, it needs to change.

So tonight, I'm going to take her upstairs to the quiet of her room for her bottle before bedtime, and once she's lain in her crib (is it lain or laid??), she's going to have to fall asleep on her own, even if it means crying it out. And if she wakes during the night, she's going to have to soothe herself back to sleep. She needs to be able to soothe herself. She needs to be able to fall back asleep on her own.

One of our challenges is that we still have houseguests. We don't want to wake their toddler, nor bother them with lengthy crying jags (from Maura or me!). Our other challenge is that we leave Tuesday for a trip to Nonno and Nonna's house. We certainly cannot try crying it out there. My ILs can't tolerate her crying at all.

But I'm determined to try it tonight. Maybe I'm crazy. But I'm hoping that it will remind her that she can sleep on her own and that nighttime is for sleeping. Am I crazy to try it before we go out of town? I can't handle having her sleep with us or her crying all night long for the next week and a half. We need to be able to get some sleep soon.

Please, any advice or encouragement that you all have, I need your help!!