Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Help. I'm taking any and all advice on how to get a strong-willed 19 month old back into a healthy sleep pattern. Or, at the very least, I'm placing an add for a nighttime nanny. I would just need this said nanny to get up with said 19 month old in the night, create in said child a good sleep routine and then leave in the morning once I am up and preferably dressed with a minimalist amount of makeup on, a brush run through my hair and my teeth brushed. Isn't it supposed to get easier once they get passed infanthood? Savannah slept well right a way and was sleeping through the night at two months of age, never to go back to waking again. Bethany on the other hand, can't slow down long enough to let herself think about sleep. She is a big 'creature of habit' who will sleep well only in her bed (there goes vacation, but we do try) and once her routine has been disturbed she has a hard time getting back to normal.

She is a joy and just to hear her say, "Mama" melts my heart. She is just our adventure. Savannah has been an adventure also but just in such a different way. But this sleep thing is a huge struggle. As an infant, I was up with Bethany literally every two hours. I thought I would loose my mind sometimes. My best-girlfriend stayed over one night and asked what she could do. Yep. I asked her to take the baby for one night. I would've paid good money to get a good night's sleep. There were times I found myself reasoning with her, "Please, Bethany, go to sleep, Mama will let you try that cereal stuff again. We can even let you lick a popsicle. You know, honey, in the military sleep deprivation is considered torture. You could be arrested for this."

Alas, we lived and I know we will live through this. But I'm sooo tired. My diet has suffered, my figure has suffered, my house constantly suffers. Everyone who knew me BB (before Bethany) knows I don't do well with chaos! Maybe that's why the Lord gave her to us! Be careful what you pray for!! Ha ha! Ok, that laugh sounded a little sinister, a little like the Joker, I'm going to bed.

PS, I am serious about the advice (and shh, maybe even about the nanny).