18-month-old won't sleep for anyone except her very tired Mummy. Please help!

[ali23]

I feel rather churlish writing this, to be honest. I have posted in the past as DD was a nightmare sleeper. However, all of a sudden around the 16-month mark there were massive improvements and now she can often go a straight ten or eleven hours. My sleepless nights are not over entirely since there is always at least a few nights during the week when she wakes, but largely, I am delighted at where we are given how crappy it was at one point.
BUT! I gave up breastfeeding a few months back and since then DD won't let me out of her sight at bedtime. For the last fortnight we have had my partner bath her, get her ready for bed, read a story, etc but the minute he takes her into the room she goes ballistic and screams and screams and screams for me. She will not settle at all. When I go in I walk with her for a few minutes and as she starts to drop off I put her in the cot and rub her back and she nods off. It doesn't take longer than five or ten minutes.
To be honest I would take this but I have to work at night sometimes and it is incredibly stressful getting her to bed in time for me to run out of the door to work.
Has anyone else been in a similar position? And advice appreciated. Sorry for rambling!

[ches]

First of all, relax. I bet when you're not there she goes off like an angel, maybe not the first time, but she'll very quickly get the hang of it. She's old enough to understand that Mummy's not home.

Next order of business, does she have a lovey? Some kind of teddy or something to cuddle? She has lived her whole life with you being a very important part of her bedtime routine and while you're ready to let someone else have a turn, it's a bit of a cornerstone to her security foundation. She is also old enough to understand (but not be reasoned with), so you can explain to her that she doesn't need you to go to sleep, that you love her and that you'll be just outside, but it'll be easier if she has something else associated with those lovely mummy-cuddles to help her feel secure, and will probably help if you and DP did bedtime together for a few nights, with your role getting progressively more hands-off.

[ali23]

Thanks for the comfort!
The only thing is, the one time I went out to work and left her with her daddy she hollered and hollered and hollered!
I know, though, baby steps.