Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

12 month sleep regression / separation anxiety

4 replies

CosieRotton · 09/02/2023 23:52

Reassurance/ advice needed!

My son has always slept fairly well, getting to the point where we generally only had one wake up and often had him sleep until 5:30am. However he never really learned to self settle and always needed cuddling to sleep so sometimes re settling after waking could take a couple of goes.

In the last month he has started teething 3 molars all at once, started at nursery a few weeks ago, has suddenly developed separation anxiety and unsurprisingly his sleep is now really affected. He’s waking multiple times a night crying and, although he goes down in his cot at bedtime, once he’s woken he won’t go back in again and so my partner or I end up having to co sleep with him in the pull out bed in his room. It’s not sustainable long term but right now we’re taking the approach that he temporarily needs additional reassurance and comfort - and we all need to do what’s going to get us all more sleep rather than stay up half the night battling to get him in the cot!

We’re hoping that as he starts to settle at nursery he will wake less frequently and then when his wakings are reduced and he’s feeling more secure (and his molars are through!) then we can look at some form of sleep training to get him back in his cot. Hopefully in about a month 🤞🏻

Are we doing the right thing or are we creating a rod for own backs by sleeping with him? It just doesn’t feel right to enforce sleeping in the cot when he’s going through a lot of change and is feeling so unsettled.

OP posts:
CosieRotton · 09/02/2023 23:56

We’re soooo tired and I’m starting back at work next week so I’m totally open to helpful tips, but I’m at the point where I’m thinking the only thing is to ride it out for a while 😖😴 Please do say if there’s another option 😆

OP posts:
SJT89 · 10/02/2023 00:19

No advice what so ever but I started back at work this week, baby is 9 months next week. He’s been teething and unwell the last three weeks with a virus so sleep has been horrendous. Our other son 11yo came down with chicken pox Monday so that’s going to happen making sleep even worse with baby. He used to sleep well, go down at 6-7.30ish then sleep either until 5.30-6 or wake once for food. Because he hasn’t been eating as much in the day he’s waking regularly for milk in the night. The last two nights he’s woken at 10ish and absolutely refuses to go back to sleep for hours (still awake on me now). I just actually cried in front of him, I don’t physically know how I can keep on doing this or for how long.

CosieRotton · 10/02/2023 09:41

@SJT89 oh god it’s just so tough isn’t it.

I’m dreading starting work again (and it’s a new job not my old one)

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

EJRB · 10/02/2023 12:45

There’s no such thing as making a rod for your own back. It’s something that a few older generations were taught and so they try to pass the same thing down to us

you are comforting your baby and that is never a bad thing

my LO pretty much went through the same thing. You do whatever you have to do to get some sleep and it’s wonderful that your helping him get through this tough time

if it helps, my little boy contact napped and still needed cuddling to sleep until around 13 months old. He now goes down awake (through choice!)

New posts on this thread. Refresh page