17 month old won’t sleep without me

[Mumtobe888]

Hello, please can someone offer some advice?
My little boy is coming up to 17 months and will not sleep without me next to him. I know he hates his cot so I took it down this week and put a double mattress on the floor in his room. He seems to settle slightly better in there now but he will wake up after an hour absolutely hysterical and stands at the door screaming. As soon as he sees me he starts to suck his thumb and will go back to sleep if I lay down with him and I sneak out but he’s awake again after 20 mins screaming again. Can anyone offer any advice? Everyone says just let him scream but it goes on for ages…..

Im so sorry it sounds really stressful for you. But I'm also shocked that people are telling you to let him scream. He obviously needs comfort and reassurance. Imagine being that little and waking up and not knowing where mummy is. He must be terrified poor darling. Can you continue to cosleep in his room? Maybe someone else will come along with better advice, but I would not be leaving him to scream.

@marchair I don’t ever leave him to cry, it’s just that sometimes he wakes up not long after I’ve put him down and I’m trying to tidy up downstairs, feed the dog etc so I can’t go up straight away. But it’s never longer than five minutes. It’s just the advice I have been given is I shouldn’t keep showing him that I’ll go to him every time he cry’s. The past two nights he has slept until 12ish and then I’ve got in bed with him until the morning so I’d say that’s progress!