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Older sibling sleep regression

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LynseyLou1982 · 28/12/2020 10:16

Hi, my DS is almost 3 and has been a good sleeper. Goes to sleep himself and is out for the night. However, at the end of October his baby sister arrived. She's now 8 weeks old and since last Sunday DS is crying out for daddy as soon as we leave the room at bedtime. We've tried reassuring him through the door and leaving him to it and going back to check at intervals but he just works himself up into a frenzy. The only thing that works is to go into him and cuddle him till he sleeps. He's also waking up in the night and doing the same thing. He says his sister wakes him up but we try and get to her before she makes too much noise but I think he hears us get up to make her bottles. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? If so how long did it go on for and what did you do to fix it? Im not sure gong into him is the best thing as he'll expect it everytime but on the other hand we all need sleep and I hate to let him scream as he can keep it up for hours. I'm assuming it's all to do with his sister's arrival.

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FATEdestiny · 28/12/2020 13:40

While all the upset of a new sibling is bound to affect him, it's worth bearing in mind that at this age certain things start to affect sleep in those without changes to deal with. So could be unfortunate timing.

At around 3 self-awareness develops and this is the age children start to become afraid of things. It might be afraid of the dark, afraid of monsters, afraid of household noises at night, or whatever. But the result is needing extra reassurance to feel safe when alone at night.

Some suggestions:

leave a lamp on in the bedroom
white noise on all night to drawn out other noise
bedroom door open when going to sleep and a promise you will stay upstairs (by the doorway) until asleep.

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LynseyLou1982 · 28/12/2020 15:45

@FATEdestiny thanks He has a night light and we leave his door slightly ajar as well. I've not tried white noise yet, we use it for the baby and he hates it and turns it off if he comes in our room in the morning. I have sat outside his door and he just begs me to come in.