8 month old crying when put in cot.

[Dearbecks]

My 8 month old daughter has always been a great sleeper. We established a routine early & she has always been happy to go into her cot awake & self settle for naps & bedtime. For the last week she has cried every time we put her down in the cot. We have continued to follow the same routine. We are letting her cry for a few minutes & then I tend to go in to settle her to sleep. Either in the cot or by holding her. I’m worried that we are setting ourselves up for poor sleep habits in the future. Has anyone experienced something similar? Any advice is greatly received 😊

I’ve got nothing useful to add (shameless placemarking) as my baby has decided that her cot is no longer acceptable either! But I do think it’s teething for us and I’m hoping that one day soon I’ll get sleep again!

Aww. Well she's at an age of heightened separation anxiety. Is she crying when you walk out of the room she's playing in as well?

Personally I wouldn't leave her to cry, but I also wouldn't pick her up. I would lie down on the floor next to the cot and either 'Shhhhhh' or deep breathe until she falls asleep. She might freak out at first because it's new and what she really wants is to be held, but she'll get used to it and it's much nicer than being left to cry alone, in my opinion. You could stroke her hand through the bars of the cot too. When she's got used to that lie there without stroking, then without Ssshhhing, then move over to near the door and then hopefully she'll be out of the phase. It may take a week or 2 but it's kinder than leaving her to scream.

I've not experienced similar. My dc was never able to self settle. I bf her to sleep. When she turned 6m I moved her to her room.

I tried cio a couple of times but could never take more than 2-3 m of her crying. Then I tried staying in her room but she'd cry for me to lick her up. Then I did pick up put down. I just didn't have the heart for her crying.

At 9m I knew I'd have to get a backbone. I got a video monitor and let her cio. After 15m she fell asleep. Now she's better but still cries for about 2m every nap and bedtime

All this to say, let her cio. Good luck

I did wonder if it was separation anxiety. She sometimes cries when I leave the room if she’s playing. Sometimes she doesn’t seem bothered! Tonight I stood by the cot holding her hand & she took about 30 mins to go to sleep. I’m hoping it’s just a phase. Although at least she is still sleeping through the night once we get her to sleep!

My 8 month is the same. She was probably never as good as yours to start with, but was self settling well, although over the past weeks has stopped doing that and cries whenever she's put in her cot. She's more clingy and gets upset when she's left alone too so I think it's separation anxiety.

At the moment I'm just going with it and cuddling her if she wants it. I feel bad letting her cry when she just wants a cuddle and I'm hoping it'll be a relatively short lived phase - if it goes on many more weeks I might feel differently though!

8 month sleep regression. Could be related to separation anxiety but I found with my 8 month old that I needed to extend his awake time before putting him down for a nap; he was crying when put in his cot as he wasn't ready to sleep.

We have tried longer awake times but is still crying once put in cot. Is now also waking twice during the night. Not sure what to try now.

Sounds like your doing great... couldnt get mine to stay in the cot. Hes here next to me in bed now lol

This sounds beyond normal. What a wonderful mummy you are