Hello! Just looking for some support/advice. My 23 month old daughter abruptly stopped sleeping/going to bed a few days before Christmas (screaming, standing in crib all night, etc). The day after Christmas, we discovered she had an ear infection, so I chalked it up to that. Once that was cleared, the sleep problems remained. We moved her mattress to the floor since she was falling asleep standing in her crib and banging her head (we need her crib for baby # 2 in a few months anyway, and in a couple of weeks she will be moving into a bed in a new room, off the floor).
When school (daycare) started back up, I thought things might improve, but they didn't. In fact, she has started crying and being really sad every morning I've dropped her off since she went back 2 weeks ago. At night she is taking about an hour to fall asleep (and we have to stay in the room with her), and wakes up every 30 minutes to an hour or two all night, crying for mommy and daddy until we go in and get her back to sleep.
We've tried just about everything - CIO (she will literally stand at her door all night - 9-12 hrs - and not sleep), night light, pitch dark, later bed time, earlier bed time, tylenol/ibuprofen for possible teething, etc. We've had the same bedtime routine in place since she was 6 weeks old. She used to be the perfect sleeper (into bed awake, and not a peep for 12 hrs), and would happily run off to play when I dropped her off at school. When I try asking her what's wrong, with her limited vocabulary she has told me she'd sad, and misses mommy and daddy.
I'm heartbroken, exhausted (6 months pregnant, and haven't slept in a month), and worried about her. Usually phases like this have passed in a few days. I'm thinking the change in her routine, the ear infection, the pregnancy/new baby coming, and our current kitchen remodeling-project (and perhaps some 2 year molars brewing) are all contributing factors. None of which I can really do anything about.
Anyone else experience something similar? Should I just hang in there? Any advice to help her get through this hard time?