Call for Assistance

No. This is not snake related. Luckily.

I'm reaching out to all my mother (of father) readers since most of you have children older than mine. Leila will be 2 in September and goes through spurts of sleeping well through the night, then waking up and crying for a sippy. She also goes through spurts where it's okay for me to leave her room while she is awake, and then through spurts where I have to lay next to her until she is asleep, then sneak out. The good behaviors coincide with each other and the bad with each other.

I've had a few thoughts about what might be causing the roller coaster of emotion...

*Teething - she might be pushing a few of her bigger teeth through the back and the pain wakes her up, then wants a sippy because the cold helps it? She had been doing well for several weeks up until this week. Last night she was up 3 times for a total of probably close to 2 hours. NOT OKAY....for her or me.

*Feeling insecure - with daddy's work schedule and having him home for 2-3 days, then gone for 4-5 days, I think she might wake up to make sure someone is still with her. Again, the sippy is just a comfort thing for her? Coincidentally, she sleeps better when he is home (most of the time.)

*Pure exhaustion - you know that feeling when you are so tired you can barely function and you are so excited to go to sleep, but then you get in bed and your mind is still racing because you have had such a busy day? Maybe Leila is such a busy body she does the same thing?

*Being too hot or cold - that was the problem several weeks ago, but I think that has been resolved for now.

I don't know, but something has got to give. Why can't I have one of those kids who sleeps through the night at 4 months old. Leila did at 2 months, but then up again at 4 months, then sleeps good around 8 months and so on. She is almost 2 people! I'm open for any advice.

Her bed time is quite late (on average around 10pm), but when I try to get her to bed earlier (especially on days she shows she is tired) she ends up going to sleep later because she plays games and gets herself all hyper again. She is a party animal and would stay awake until 11 -12 if I would let her. Easy. I wake her up to take her to the sitters around 7:30. On weekends, she will wake up anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00. So she gets about 9+ hours of sleep a night...then usually gets a decent nap in the afternoon. Anywhere between 1.5 - 3 hours...usually about 2 - 2.5. (She takes her nap around 2 on average.) But even on the days she gets a shorter nap, or an earlier nap, she still won't go to sleep earlier. I know they say kids need more sleep than 9 hours, but Leila stays pretty happy for the most part. She is not miserable by the end of the night (there are exceptions to this.)

I enjoy her later bed time (mostly) because I am a full time working mother and so I only get to see her a few hours a day, but I also know she needs her sleep. I would also like a little time to myself to clean up or watch a show I want to watch without interruption.

Please...open for any suggestions to get her to bed a few minutes earlier and keep her there. If she continues with her waking up this week, tonight I'll try giving her Tylenol to see if it really is a pain thing.