Help! 15 month old WILL NOT SLEEP (warning: long!)

[Hallie_D]

We are cosleepers and DD has never been a great, or consistent sleeper--she'll go for a couple of weeks sleeping 5-7 hours at a stretch, then revert back to waking every 2-3 hours, usually when she is teething or has achieved a new milestone. We've tried to roll with the punches. At about 13 months we successfully night weaned her, which is how we got to the 7-hour stretches of sleep. A few weeks ago, she started waking up wanting to nurse more frequently, so I assumed she was teething. However, in the past week she has started screaming when we even say the word sleep--and not just crying, we are talking full-on tantrum, screaming at the highest possible volume like she is being stabbed while flailing around whacking us and kicking us. This is when we say, "Time to go to sleep" or when we take her into the bedroom, and persists while DH or I lie next to her rubbing her back, saying soothing words or singing lullabyes. If we let her get up to walk around, she is happy as a clam, sweet and loving.

Although she had been going to sleep awake until a few weeks ago, now the ONLY way she will go to sleep is if I nurse her. However, even if she falls asleep nursing, she will be up again within an hour and goes from asleep to full-on screaming fit instantaneously if she finds herself in bed, and won't settle down unless I nurse her again. Repeat hourly, all night long. I'm either chained to the bed nursing her, or she is screaming, or we just let her get up and play so we can get things done around the house and give our eardrums a rest.

I just can't nurse her all night long anymore. I'm exhausted and sore. I thought she might be teething but if she is these teeth are taking a mighty long time to come through. Night terrors? But she is experiencing what seems to be terror of going to sleep. Hunger? But she eats a big dinner, gets a 4 oz bottle and then nurses until bedtime.

Obviously we can't even try CIO if we wanted to...because this girl has stamina! She screamed nonstop from 8:30 to 10:30 last night, when I tried in vain to get her to fall asleep without nursing AGAIN (she had nursed from 7:15-7:30, fallen asleep, and woken up when we tried to transfer her into bed, and then again from 8:00-8:15, fallen asleep, and woken up the second I tried to get up).

Any advice welcome!!! Thank you!

[bunnyslippers]

I feel a little of your pain. We cosleep by default because I was sick of getting out of bed 2-3 times a night. DS was sleeping fine until he got sick at 11 months, and now I think we need to Ferberize. I keep putting it off because I fear it won't work for him.

Anyways, back to you. Is DD still taking two naps a day? DS was able to put himself down for naps and bedtime (we bring him into our bed when he wakes up every night around 11 and cosleep from then on), and then suddenly he would scream bloody freaking murder if I even lifted him to put him into his crib. I am currently in the process of dropping his morning nap, and he's back to putting himself down no problem. I ask him if he wants to go night-night and he runs to the stairs. We still have the waking 2-3 times a night problem to deal with, but at least he goes down by himself again.

I wasn't really any help, but try dropping a nap if you haven't already.