12 week old wakes when I leave the room

[Cherry85]

No matter how deep a sleep, no matter how smooth the transfer or how long i wait in the room after transferring to cot....within 5 mins of me leaving the room he is awake. Day or night.

Any advice? Love him, but exhausted!!

....arent you meant to stay with them til 6.months anyway? 12 weeks is teeny to sleep alone

Stay in the room?

3 months is still very young. It's even too young for the baby to be doing this because of separation anxiety. They don't even have a concept of object or person permanence yet, which is what caused this sort of behaviour in older children.

Given that, I'd suggest you are maybe hitting the 4 month sleep regression a little early. It can really happen anytime between 3-5 months. It's tremendously hard but it IS a phase and will pass.

Oh just to clarify - i dont mean overnight! I mean at bedtime for me to go get a bath or a cup of tea, same for a nap during the day.

Stay in the room when they sleep, watch tv with some snacks or nap yourself
I appreciate if you have other kids that might not work, and the house work is hard to stay on top of but it does solve the issue and NHS guidelines are to stay in with them until they’re 6m anyway, so might be worth trying if you are able to

I made a cup of tea pre nap and took it with me, and bathed whilst they were awake/someone else could watch them. It’s really not ideal but it’s not forever even though it feels it right now
will they sleep if someone (dad? Your mum or friend?) swaps with you?
Have you tried white noise or music to drown out the noise of you leaving?

No unfortunately he realises if its anyone else. You're totally right, won't be forever but its just a bit tough as feel like I am neglecting the 6 year old as can't even spend nap times with him. Ah the emotional rollercoaster.

Have you tried having naptime in the living room/kitchen? So he's around the family and you can multitask.

Will he sleep in other rooms/with noise? So you could have him sleep whilst you play with 6yo?
would 6yo sometimes think it’s exciting to cuddle and eat snacks and watch movies In Mummy and daddy’s bed?
are you breastfeeding? Could you feed baby and then have dad take him to sleep upstairs so you can be with 6yo? Just break that routine and association of you needing to be there throughout the nap. Obviously only works when dad isn’t at work but might just help you find a bit of a balance with your eldest for now.
also have you tried having other people contact nap with the baby? They nay not tolerate someone sitting near them when they’re in the cot but they may be willing to accept a cozy contact nap with dad/someone else they know.