Help! 2 year old Separation anxiety at night

[24601mary]

Help!! My wonderful little sleeper has turned into a dreadful sleeper!

My 2 year old little girl who used to be able to settle herself to sleep at night , and then sleep all the way through , has suddenly started to become very scared of being left alone in her room at bed time snd will wail and scream and cry until I come back. I have resorted to sleeping on the floor for a few nights and then evacuating when she is asleep. But she wakes in the night and will only go back to sleep if she can see me.

Help!!! I am so tired and don't know what to do for the best. Do I let her cry it out / do I just suck it up and continue sitting with her each time she wakes ?
Our bedtime routine is so solid and has has worked so well up until now!!

I would suggest gradual withdrawal

• a few days of lying on floor next to her as she goes to sleep.

• a few days lying facing a way from her on floor as she goes to sleep

• a few days lying facing away s bit further away from cot until asleep

• a few days leaning up on your elbows (While lying down) until asleep

• a few days sitting on reclined while going to sleep

• a few days sitting up facing cot

• a few days sitting facing away from cot

• a few days sitting by door

• a few days standing by door

• standing just outside of door

• handing around upstairs popping in and out of doorway.

@FATEdestiny thank you so much for your reply . This is really helpful and is the sort of approach we definitely want to adopt.
We are really struggling at the moment as this has now been going on for a month. Perhaps I could tell you our rough way of dealing with it and you could tell me your thoughts ?

• put daughter into bed and then sit by the cot (we have managed to sit further from her and close to the door now following your hints above )
• when she is asleep we leave.
• she typically will go into a sound enough sleep between 7-midnight not to wake .
• between midnight and 7am she is in such a light sleep that when we return to her when she is crying , she will take foreverrrr to go back to sleep and even when she does seem to be sleeping she will wake to check we are still there.

We have resorted to taking in a camp bed after midnight every night just so we can get some sleep . But even when we do that, we will fall asleep and all of a sudden she will cry randomly because she can't see our head on the bed and once we've said not to worry we are there still, she will be okay .

I say "we" just because daughter is now happy for me and my husband to take it in shifts to do this whole show throughout the night , whereas before she only wanted me and I was walking like a zombie !!