Difficult Days and Nights

Ava has been going through some difficult stages over the past few weeks and we're not entirely sure why.

It all started around the time she had her 12 & 13 month injections. For the following 10 days she was miserable all day, every day. She became very clingy with me and would throw tantrums if I tried to leave her with anyone else. She would settle down if she couldn't see or hear me, but as soon as I was nearby she would freak out unless I picked her up.

It was very hard to manage because for 4 days we were staying at other peoples houses. Normally I would just leave her to get over her tantrum without giving in to her, but because we were at someone else's house, I couldn't just leave her to scream until she settled down.

Even though she was bad during the day, she was at least still sleeping properly at night. Since we got back from Canada she was sleeping from 7pm to nearly 8am every night.

Finally she stopped being miserable during the day and seemed to be back to her normal self again. She still would have temper tantrums but not as often as before.

A week after she calmed down, she suddenly began waking up during the night screaming her head off. She would go on and on for hours every single night and it would take ages to settle her down.

Eventually we'd get her to sleep but as soon as we left the room she'd wake up screaming again. It was horrible, and after 8 nights of it I lost my patience and shouted at her. I felt bad but when you're sleep deprived and you have a baby shrieking in your ears all night long, it can be very hard to stay calm. Her screams have developed a very shrill sound to them as she's grown and they're particularly hard on the ears.

It was made more stressful by the fact that Jenni has been living with us for a few weeks while she looks for a permanent place. She began a new job last week nearby and has been waking up at 7am every morning. Every time Ava would cry I was aware that Jenni was trying to sleep so I would try to settle her down quickly.

Finally, last night Ava slept from 7pm to 7:30am without waking up once! It was great. I woke up in the exact same position I fell asleep in 7 hours before. Of course it was the one night I was home by myself. Graham was away working and Jenni stayed at a friends place in London.

Lets hope she carries on sleeping well!