Separation anxiety - screaming at nap time and bedtime

[AnnaCBi]

My toddler(20 months) has been a great sleeper since she was a few months old. We rarely had to go in during the night. I haven’t been in for about 9 months.

well… until 2 weeks ago. First it was really early waking (530), then it was screaming at bed time till we went in and settled her, then waking up in the night once or twice… last night she woke up 10 times, only settling when we lay on the floor next to her cot. Nap times are also awful, she used to sleep no problem, but now she screams till we sit in the room. We try to leave when she’s asleep but I think she looks for us as soon as she wakes.

she’s also got tricky in the day. She won’t go in her pram sometimes, demands to walk, often screams when we sit on the sofa, screams and wriggles at nappy change time.

she’s a happy little soul and I love her so much. I’m scared she’s clocked in pregnant (only 16 weeks) and this is just a taste of what’s to come.

help me!

babies don't really have separation anxiety until they are mobile. Then they try and move to be with you. Have you tried co sleeping?

She is mobile, she’s 20months. We tried co sleeping very early on and I found I could not sleep. More recently we have not tried it as I wouldn’t be able to leave her in my bed unsupervised, and she’s in bed by 7. I need to do jobs/ eat/ work after shes in bed.

Hi I have just come across this and my also 21 month daughter is going through the exact same at night time. Was an amazing sleeper until about a week ago. Was just wondering did you manage to solve it and could you pass on any tips if it worked please :) thank you

Hi I’m not sure you’ll see this cos I didn’t get any notifications that the post was replied to…(bit of a MN novice).

yes we solved the problem. We had a super nanny come and help. She said if we wanted independent sleep, which we did, that we’d need to cry it out. We never did sleep training before as she was always fine. So we let her cry it out and it worked. She cried (shouted like she was angry tbh) for about 30 mins and the next night was 10. After that she slept great. We’ve not had issues with bed since! The pram, the car seat, hair washing… another matter.