8 month old baby cries when left alone

[user1471523870]

The title really says it all. My little boy is almost 8 months old and he recently started crying when left alone, and by that I don't even mean alone in the room sometimes!
He started nursery 6 weeks ago and he's been happy since. No crying, no major issues. Always happy and smiley. No changes in behaviours.
Then we went away on holiday for a week and since we are back he seems not able to be alone and tend to wants to be held all the time. He cries to the point of vomiting:(.
Night time is also changing. He still wakes up 2-3 time per night, but we used to be able to soothe him with the dummy or a cuddle. Now the very only way is to put him on the breast. As soon as he's there he's back to sleep in few minutes...
What is going on???? Is it a phase? I am so worried I am dealing with it in the wrong way and he'll NEVER go back to sleep on his own ever again (I have this picture in my head of me giving him the breast until he goes to school!). I tried everything but he screams the house down and vomits....

Separation anxiety. Just a phase but he needs your love to get through it. Look it up.

"He cries to the point of vomiting"

You leave you baby screaming until he vomits?

Er it's perfectly normal. At 8 months he is beginning to realise he is separate to you. And that he can be left. And he does not like it. The only way he can communicate this is by crying. If you leave him to cry and not go to him he will get very upset.
Cuddle him if he needs it.
No he will not be on the boob by school. He is a little baby that you can get to sleep very easily by bunging him on the boob. What a skill!

Perfectly normal (if difficult) developmental phase, OP. Hold him as much as you can without driving yourself to sleep-deprived madness. He’ll grow out of it.

My son went through the exact same thing and he is 8.5 months old, in the end I went off my mother in laws advice even tho it was was hard but on Saturday when I put him to bed and he woke an hour later I left him to cry and after 20 mins he went to sleep himself and since that day, every day this week he has slept right through the night without any crying. I didn’t think it would work but maybe give it a go and see. I’m heading back to work in 5 weeks so needed to get him into a routine and I can see him on monitor should he shout of me but I haven’t needed to as he has slept through :)

I remember this stage; everyone around me was saying “ah isn’t it sweet that she just wants her mummy”.....apart from it wasn’t great when I just needed to shower or eat (or sleep).
I had to rock DD to sleep and in the end I sleep trained at 10 months with a no cry gradual retreat method

It’s separation anxiety and totally normal. Just cuddle your baby and feed to sleep. It’s a stage and will pass. You definitely won’t be feeding them to sleep when they are 15

Please don’t leave them to cry. They are so small and they need you 24/7

Yes, he needs your love. Get a slice no so you can come dale and be functional too.
It’s tough/ exhausting but do what you can to meet her s needs.

"when I put him to bed and he woke an hour later I left him to cry and after 20 mins he went to sleep himself and since that day, every day this week he has slept right through the night without any crying."

You've taught your baby that there is no point in crying because noone gives a shit. Well done, mummy! Hope you are happy.

Thanks for your messages. It's nice to know many mums have been there before and survived it.
There are actually good things about this separation anxiety that I will cherish. Mostly the smiles on my baby's face when he sees me:). And I enjoy sleeping cuddled up or see how happy and content he his when on the breast.
My concerns were more on the line of 'am I dealing with it correctly' as I don't want to give him habits that do more damage than good.

@SmartPlay, I din't make him vomit on purpose nor I left him to scream for ages. It took me by surprise the first few times as not something he never did before. And it happened very quickly: he got upset, started crying but didn't stop even when I picked him up. He kept crying in my arms and vomited as a result. This happened a couple of times at home and same at the nursery. Then both the nursery staff and I understood we have to act super quickly to avoid it. But it's really a matter of 30 seconds....