My toddler recovered from an illness but still behaves like an infant. What shall I do?

Question

My 1.5-year-old daughter had good constant sleep and eating patterns, until she became ill. During the illness, her sleep and eating patterns changed a lot (and this is normal).

But after recovering, she is still in the same sleep and eating patterns as during the illness. She wakes many times at night, refuses to eat, wants to be held all the time, etc. Just like she turned into 3-month-old infant.

Should I go through the whole cycle again (train her as if she is younger), or there is some 'magic' switch to return to her normal state?

Answer 1

If there is a magic switch, I never found it! I observed the same pattern in both my children (in my son in particular, who was not an easy sleeper). A change of behaviour also happened whenever there was a change of routine (for example, when we came back from vacation).

I would use the sleep training techniques again, but I have found that it got easier and easier with time. So while it wasn't a magic solution, it was not as difficult as when they were infants.

Good luck! It's always a difficult period.