Nighgt wakings due to separation anxiety....Any thoughts???

[ShinySarah]

My 8m lo has started to wake through the night and I'm pretty much sure it's separation anxiety as has all the classic symptons...Anybody going through the same? How did you cope? how long did it last for etc? How did you handle it? Some say leave to cry?? Others say sleep in their cot???!!!!HELP!!!!

I have no answers, but am currently suffering the same and feel your pain. At the moment I am just going along with it while I give him time to get used to it (have only been back at work a few weeks) but have no idea whether this is the right strategy or not. DS (10m) has never been a good sleeper anyway so we're just back where we were a few months ago.

Not a fan of CC but have decided we will do it later in the year if he is still this bad! For now, am going in and trying to comfort and ending up BF most times anyway.

Take your pick... separation anxiety, teething, growth spurt, development... there's always a reason why they wake up. Controlled crying just makes them stop crying out for their mum when they do.

Had this with DS1 who woke through the night every 45 mins. As soon as we started co-sleeping it stopped. I'd sometimes wake up to feel a little hand reach out to make sure I was still there and then he'd go straight back to sleep. He's a brilliant sleeper now.

I know co-sleeping's not or everyone but that way everyone gets the sleep they need. I must admit I am always puzzled why mums who would never dream of ignoring their baby's cries during the day think it's OK to do this at night.

Take your baby in your bed with you until he or she is old enough to sleep securely without you.

Yep tinierclanger, I end up feeding too.

How long did you both co-sleep for??

That's very interesting houseofmirth. So when did you start, and stop co-sleeping?

Started when DS1 was 9 months old and continued until he was nearly three but only that long because it worked well for us and we all enjoyed it. It meant I never, ever had to get up in the night so always had a full night's sleep and luckily, DS was never a kicker or wriggler like some DCs can be. Also, we took the side off his cot and put it next to the bed so we had a bit more space.

See, I took DS into bed last night but he was just pulling my hair and stroking my face instead of sleeping!

Please can I join this thread my dd is 7 months and for the first 6.5 months has been an angel sleeping 12 hours from 10 weeks. Unfortunately the bubble has burst and we are all over the place. It started following an illness, combined with teething and me going back to work so for the past three weeks we are all sleep deprived.
No set pattern some nights will wake up every 40mins, some nights will sleep till 3 and then up for 2.5 hours! She hadn't been feeding in the night since 10 weeks and is not really interested in milk during the day so I know feeding is not the issue but have resorted to breast feeding her after 2 hours of being up and down! Have tried not to put her in with us as like u tinierclanger she just wants to play. She has never been great at day sleep, but I didn't mind as she slept at night but now what little day sleep we have is even less arrhh!!!

Oh did I mention I have a 2.5 years dd who also likes to have midnight parties as well!!

Blimey jchr, poor you!!! The only thing I think is that if they have been a fab sleeper before, do you thinbk it will settle of it's own accord?

I'm with you tinierclanger, because he's not use to coming into my bed he thinks it's party time and gets so excited!!!! I s your lo still waking?

Babies and toddlers like sleep as much as the next person. (Once they're asleep, anyway... she says on the couch at 11:25pm.) When whatever is upsetting them is past they go back to sleeping.

See, most of the time, I think that but everyone is ready with terror stories of children who are 5 and have never slept through the night!!

How's it going tinierclanger?