Needing Mummy at bedtime

[Dimi]

My DD who will be 3 in September has started becoming hysterical at bedtime unless I lie with her when she goes to bed...I would normally put my foot down and explain that I am just down the passage but that she needs to go to bed, but I am starting to worry about her insecurities as I am 6 months pregnant with number 2.
Any advice? I feel like perhaps I should sit with her to reassure her but then worried that it will become a habit and I can't allow that to happen when the next baby arrives as I just won't have the time or energy.
Help?

Try gradual withdrawal, with some bonuses to her? Explain what you're going to do, say that you'll sit on her bed the first night, next to her bed the second, etc, and then by the end of the week you'll be outside the door. If she makes it to the end of the week, maybe get her a new book, or a trip somewhere nice?

We were a bit more lax with dd towards the end of my pregnancy with ds - she was 3 just after he was born, and I'm glad of it. She's brilliant with him now, 8 months on. Her thing was suddenly starting to wake and shout out for us at night, and so we instigated aa new plan of telling her we'd read her 2 stories in the morning if she slept through, plus after a week she got a new book. We only needed to buy one book - we still tell her she'll get 2 stories, but often she forgets to ask!

Thanks, will give it a go but knowing her character, she will just insist that I sit with her every night and perform until I do.
You are also very lucky that you could bribe with 2 stories in the morning where as my DD would not have any of that. It is very frustrating, thanks for your input. I just hope it doesn't get worse once the baby arrives.hmm

Hi Dimi
Your DD sounds a bit like mine. She started gradually but before i knew it she wouldnt go to sleep unless I sat with her and held her hand. No amount of bribery, rewards etc worked she would just kick off if I said I wasnt going to do it. In the end we decided that enough was enough and we stopped, she had a tantrum but was taken back to her bed every time she came out. I am ashamed to say I even held the door shut so that she couldnt get out. She surprised us all though and gave in relatively quickly. Within a week she was going to bed without a problem every night. It was horrible and I hated hearing her cry but worth it now and she goes happily in. Its hard when you are expecting a new baby though as she is bound to be a bit disrupted. My DD was fine until the new baby arrived and then started getting up, not wanting to go to bed etc. Its not something you really want to deal with when you have a newborn to look after. Good luck, I kept putting it off but am so glad now that we bit the bullet and did it.

Oh God this is echoing so true for me! I am 6 months pregnant and my DS2 started a few weeks ago needing me to lie with him and rub his back to sleep. Last week I had 4 nights where I only had 3-4 hours sleep. The thing is he is incorrigible. He is upstairs over and hour now. I have been up 6 times and he is still bawling!! Bribery is not working. And even if I get cross he just cries and says 'rub me' Im broken hearted. Apart from the fact that I am demented with lack of sleep and no time to myself (by the time he sleeps Im off to bed) Im also afraid that by getting cross I could be making him more insecure but if I keep giving in its just getting ridiculous! He is so terribly stubborn I just dont know what to do!