Hi there,
The last week or so, my 12 month old has been doing my head in. He's had the same bedtime routine since he was 3 months old, but he's going through a phase (I hope) of banshee crying every single night.
Either this happens as we lay him down and leave, OR anywhere between 11-12pm at night with no noticeable reason.
Now the first time it happened in the middle of the night, I went in there and gave him a reassuring cuddle and he went back to bed easily.
Now that's impossible. If I go in and try to comfort him WITHOUT picking him up, he screams until I have no choice but to hold him. Even after comforted he won't go back down. But I refuse to let him sleep on me.
It's EVERY SINGLE NIGHT now. Is it normal to have regression? How did you guys deal with it without making bad habits? I've had to turn to Cry It Out method which I HATE because it upsets me too, but only then will he go back to sleep.
I don't like the idea of him crying himself to sleep...but is it okay to do this?
Further info:-
Bedtime Routine: 6pm chill out time. a bath, cuddles and stories. 7pm is bedtime with warm milk and laid down.
Naps: he typically wakes up around 8-8:30. He's been reduced to 1 large nap now because he struggles to sleep if he has 2 naps. Nap typically 11-2. Rarely hits that, no matter how much I try to get him to have a solid 3 hour nap.
Things I've tried:-
- spoken to HV (she blamed isolation)
- Cry It Out
- gone in and soothed without touching (made things worse)
- checked for teeth (I can't see any, but he dribbles and chews his fingers, so I give him some teething gel before bed)
- changed naptime (see above)
- sat in the room with him, no looking or talking (didn't work)