PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

my dd just turned 1 and was a FANTASTIC sleeper at least 12 hours and would maybe get up 1 time a night very randomly... took 2 naps and great naps at least an hour and a half. She used to wave "byebye" when she was ready for bed would reach for her crib and or crawl into her room and wait for one of us to put her in there. in the morning she would wake up id change her give her a bottle and back into the crib she would go for at least another hour...

well this started 2 days ago she now SCREAMS bloody murder whenver we bring her to her crib once in the crib she throws a mega fit screaming gasping for air reaching for you screaming mama or daddddy whoever is with her we usually let her scream because we know once we close the door to her room the crying stops... but it now takes her close to an hour some days we make out like bandits with 20 min for her to fall asleep it never use to take her that long. we tried holding off bedtime till later she used to be down by 730 the latest now were doing 830. she gets cranky around 730 so we try to put her in and the fits are incredible when we put her in at 830 its usually only 5 min of crying and about 15 min of quite playing.

HAs any one else experienced this with their newly 1 year olds? is it just a phase or am i doing something wrong... her routine has been exactly the same since she was 6 months old. dinner bath play time then wind down then bottle then bed. its worked great till now.

ive also notice an insane about of seperation anxiety worse then ever before... could this just all be a part of the seperation anxiety?

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

Yes, its separation anxiety. She knows you're going to be leaving. My DC are doing the same thing. I was going back in for awhile but I've stopped now and am letting them cry, because I don't want it to develop into a bad habit where they can't fall asleep without me coming back into their room.

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

i think she just knows more now and knows your leaving,,,i would stay strong and just keep doing what you are doing. do your routine, put her in, say i love you good night or whatever, then get out of there. as long as she is not sick or busting a bunch of teeth i would let her be. i know it is heartwrenching. my DD who is a champion sleeper did this around 18 months and i let it be and let her know that it was BEDTIME and that was it. i think if you indulge and go in over and over,then they own you and of course they are going to not want you to go and cry and scream. obviously i don't know your DD and that might not work etc. but it's just what i think. my DS is the same age and is a great sleeper too. i keep waiting for something to change b/c he is too good too! i plan on being tough so that as he grows he learns that i do not bend at all when it comes to sleep/bedtime. good luck!

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

DD went through a VERY similar thing a few weeks ago.. I was at a loss. I realized all she needed was a lullabye cd turned on as we put her in the crib. We had done the lullabye when she was younger, then we stopped when we went on vacation and didn't start back up when we got back. All it took was the comfort of hearing the same cd every night when we put her down and what had turned into horrible hour long screaming fits at bedtime, just instantly stopped. I get so mad at myself for not having started it again sooner.

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

DS turned 1 a week before your DD, and we are going through the EXACT same thing. I know he's getting some more teeth, but I don't think that's it. If I walk him down the hall for a nap, he starts screaming 15 feet away from his door!!!! I don't let him cry more than 5 minutes (pick him up and cuddle w/ him until he's more sleepy and goes without a fuss), but he was never like this before.

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

Yes, it is separation anxiety, probably coupled with teething. The teething is making her crankier and also makes it harder for her to fall asleep and she is trying to seek comfort from you. It will pass!

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

thanks so much ladies i really appreciate the responses... we did serious CIO with her at 6 months and had to redo it at about 10 months for 2 nights... so i figured were just at another stage where i need to stay strong and it too will pass.. it just heart braking cuz my dh never really gets to spend time with her and if he goes in to get her she screams for him and he breaks because he doesnt get much time with her... so ive been taking care of her most of the time so that we avoid the heart brake.. shes sick of me most of the time

Re: PLEASE help me understand my newly 1 year old?

Sure and you were giving me advice last night? LOL ....just kidding. You know I understand. Although I didnt see her showing seperation anxiety? But it usually heightens at 12 months-18 months....so thats more then likely your issue.

I would give it a few more days and then if it doesnt improve, do the CIO liek you did before.