10 month old stops crying for Dad

[Lionbaby]

I have a 10 month old son. He has previously been relatively easy to soothe - he cries if he’s not happy (for example when he’s having his nappy changed), but has usually quickly stopped when he’s picked up and comforted.

But recently there have been times when I’m putting him down for his nap or settling him back to sleep in the night and he’s just inconsolable, he screams and cries and nothing I do helps, singing/patting/shushing just makes him worse.

If I pass him to my husband, however distressed his is he immediately stops crying and settles to sleep. Just wondered if anyone has any thoughts on why this might be or can help, it’s so tough when he’s just getting more and more upset.

I’m still on maternity leave and so he spends all his time with me, and he is still breastfed.

Thanks

Do you try to feed him to comfort him before parting and shushing? Mine only wanted boob for comfort, they'd be irate with any other suggestion and would have preferred dad at that point.

Thanks for your reply.

I don’t feed him but haven’t for a few months now, and it’s only been the past couple of weeks he’s been like this! He has a big milk feed before bed and then sometimes can be unhappy soon after when I’m putting him down, and sometimes when he wakes in the night. I’m hoping it’ll pass soon!

Great, your husband can do more of the settling and you can sit down.

Babies can pick up on very subtle chemical changes in our bodies, so they will know if you are feeling stressed. If a new (non-stressed) person takes them, they often calm right down.

Hey,

Just my to say my baby was the same from about nine or ten months! He’s 14 months now. He grew out of my shoulder, I think, and so would be more comfortable on my husband and fall asleep quickly for that reason. He also fell asleep more quickly for my husband in the cot though if we were patting and shushing. I wondered if he perhaps just formed a bit of a sleep association with my husband! Also frankly I have quite stressy energy and my husband is very calm, breathes more slowly, has a slower heart beat…

We got into the habit of my husband putting him down for naps and at bedtime, and if only I was around, I tried to get him to fall asleep independently but if not had to feed him to sleep or push him in the pram.

Thanks for the replies.

@mindutopia his dad is now doing nearly all of his bedtime and nighttime put downs - it makes me feel awful that I can’t settle him and I do wonder if he’s getting out of the habit of settling with me and if I should persevere.

Thanks @FloraPoste42, sounds very similar to us. He is a big baby and my husband is bigger than I am, but it’s the same when we’re holding him in his cot too. Did he eventually grow out of it, or do you still have the same issue? Thank you