Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

How do you deal with this?? Sasha has a case of this BAD (I am pretty sure)-- and in addition to her teething, her sleep is getting real messed up.

The issue for me is-- I am not sure if she is in pain, or in need of me-- so I have to attend to her. Plus, I mean-- I would attend to her no matter what if it wasn't going to set us back with the night sleeping, etc. But that's another concern-- am I doing damage to her independence at night?

She goes to sleep fine at night, then wakes up after several hours and will not go back to sleep unless she is in my arms.

Naps have been horrendous for almost a week now and she is SO tired since she isn't sleeping enough. This has been the major change recently. As soon as I am in here room-- she gets happy, but she is still so tired.

I don't know what to do!!!

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

I would def try to let her cry a bit..She seems to be "playing" you for lack of a better word...she knows exactly what she's doing esp if she stops crying when you go in to soothe her...Chels goes through bouts of bad separation anxiety, and yes when it's teething it's not great, but honestly...I never did full out CIO, I couldn't, bc I knew it wouldn't work for Chels, but I def would set yourself a time limit to see how long you'll let her cry...it took us three nights of her crying for a few minutes and she figured out she needed to soothe herself....it sounds harsh but it worked..the first night she cried for 15 mins (my time limit before going in) the next night around 10 and the night after 5...I def think she totally knows what she's doing, she's used to you going in to soothe...

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

Do you do CIO?

Honestly, IMO, going in makes it worse. Does she have a lovey or anything that will help her self soothe?

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

ok-- I go in after 30 MINS!!

Maybe 20 to 25 if it's really bad.

She would cry for hours if I let her. DH says I go in too soon, but honestly-- I cannot take the sound and I need to get back to sleep. I, unlike him, cannot sleep through it.

I feel like I am in between a rock and a hard place.

She has a lovey which she sleeps with-- but nothing helps her once she gets up like this. I try EVERYTHING I can think of... Last night for example (I have taken to just sleeping on the floor in there instead of bringing her into our bed), I tried to put her back in the crib after I had been sleeping with her for hours (I make a bed on the floor)-- and she started whining right away. She was fast asleep, or so I thought before attempting to move her.

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

We have gone through this a few times through the past 13 months. It usually lasts for a week or so and then all of a sudden the phase is over. I always try to figure out what it is (teething, cold, etc) but it never makes sense. Hopefully it will pass soon so that you can get your sleep. During one of these phases DH and I always go back and forth. I'll suggest letting her cry and then I cave, then he suggests CIO and caves, we never have a plan and luckily it has always passed just when we are absolutely sleep deprived.

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

We have the same story here....

Lexi is just shy of 14 months and has YET to sleep through the night

I let her cry sometimes for quite a while , and like you said- she'd go on and on for hours and eventually it wakes up my DS , then it's lots of fun !!

If you figure out a trick, let me know...I feel your pain

Re: Can we talk about Separation Anxiety?

it's a tough one....but i think that at a year she could sleep through the night without looking for you on a regular basis, so i do think a lot of it is habit and "playing" you a bit. i know CIO is terribly difficult but i do think going in could make it 100x worse. the only way i could do CIO successfully was to drown out the crying with some sort of noise machine/fan. otherwise it is really hard to listen to. however, at this age, you might have to let her cry. good luck!