Separation anxiety at night? Really???

[Paddingtonblue]

Help, DS2 has been a great sleeper for the last few months but now he is awake and miserable unless I am holding him for hours at a time at night. He is 15 months and it is as if he has gotten up in the night and read a text book on separation anxiety to follow during the day, is it also what could be causing all this mayhem at nght? He goes to sleep still well for his nap, and pretty well at night, we might just have to go in and give him back his teddy or blanket but he settles okay. DS1 was always a rubbish sleeper so I can't remember if he got worse at this age. I can't see anything else that would explain DS2's night time misery, no new teeth bulging or anything. If someone can put my mind at rest that this will pass when the SA does, then I will just accept that I am going to spend the next wee while cuddled up with him at night. Not such a bad thing, but I so thought that I was finally getting some decent sleep.

[Paddingtonblue]

Anyone? Please.....

[Igglybuff]

Sorry I have no answers but didn't want your post to go unanswered. Could it be the molars coming through? I hear teething with those is pretty miserable as it takes ages.

[winnybella]

Could be molars, could be just developmental stage. Good news is that whatever horrid period they go it always seems to last not too long at that age.

[mrsflux]

Ds is 11mo and doing similar thing. Last night hd screamed for 2h off and on then stopped the instant we put him in our bed. (we thought he was ill) I then moved him back to his room and settled him bout 20mins after that.
It is very hard!

[roslily]

My ds is 6 months and we co-slept until he was about 3 and half months. Me and him still co-sleep for at least one nap a day, and he comes into our bed at 4am every morning. I love having him in with me, but he will only sleep propped on my arm, right up against me, which gives me backache.

[roslily]

Oops, wrong thread!

[sleepinghunter]

My DD4 is nineteen months and is just coming out the other side of three months of just this. For her it is definitely separation anxiety (which she doesn't really have in the day at all - just night to punish us!). If your little one has sixteen teeth, they shouldn't be getting any more until about 2 1/2, so shouldn't be teeth.
I tried taking a hard line with DD4 but she is so stubborn that she could scream for three hours (and often "help mummy" just to manipulate me further). She was also taking over an hour to settle to sleep each evening.
Tried taking a gentler approach whereby I sat in her room at bed-time until she was just about asleep, then gradually moved so I wsat outside the room rather than inside it and just shushed her when she called out. It iis not a fast process, but in the last week wwe have finally got a few unbroken nights from her. So, head down and wait it out.