Did you deal with nighttime separation anxiety? Please come in!

eminbmore

I posted this on 6-12, but I'm hoping you all might have more experience with this.  Please please help, I'm losing my mind.

DS used to be a great sleeper, and STTN regularly.  Starting about two weeks ago, he suddenly started either being very very difficult to put down, or waking up in the middle of the night screaming his head off.  Not a normal cry - screaming like someone was hurting him.  We've tried everything - Tylenol, rocking, bottles, bf'ing, coming in to our bed, waking up to play for a little while, leaving a small light on, playing music - nothing calms him down long enough to sleep in his crib.  

I can always rock him back to sleep, but when I put him back in his crib he wakes up screaming again.  

I'd be fine co-sleeping - but when he comes into our bed he thinks it's play time, and refuses to settle down.  We've tried this multiple times. 

What usually ends up happening is we try everything we can think of to help for 2-3 hours, and then are at our wits end and put him back in his crib to CIO for a little bit.  By that point, he's usually so tired that he seems to pass out from exhaustion.  This does not seem like a great solution. 

I talked to the pedi about this at his 9 mo appointment on Monday, and he said it sounds like separation anxiety, and that it will pass.  But I need help - this needs to pass faster.  I've gotten like 4 hours of sleep a night for two weeks and I'm exhausted :-/ Help!

ammc

could be due to teething or a growth spurt too.  have you tried Motrin over Tylenol?  also, could LO be cold in crib?  We put LO down with her sleep pajamas on a quilt blanket vs. cold sheet and then a heavy warm blanket on top of her and found that this seems to make a huge difference in her waking schedule.  We also found that LO was thirsty so we keep a bottle of water in her room and offer that to her and also run a humidifier every night.  During a growth spurt, she wont take the water and will drink 4-5 oz milk easily.  I'm not one that believes in not giving your LO a bottle during the night.  If my baby is hungry, I am going to feed her.  GL