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Separation Anxiety after Hospitalization?

elli2010elli2010
in Special Needs

Hi everyone,

 DS2 was hospitalized this last week from Tuesday until yesterday for FTT. He is 10 months old and we found out during his hospitalization that all seems to be well physically (aside from seizures etc) and he has outgrown his milk, corn and soy allergies. He is still not eating enough and the GI is going to have us do feeding therapy because he believes the minimal eating is behavioral because he can tolerate 8oz+ of formula he just feels satiated at 5oz and is done. He also will move to a high cal formula/drink in about 2 weeks once he is 11 months of age.

I stayed with him overnight and throughout the day while in the hospital. He would scream whenever I left the room to go to the bathroom or if I were out of sight at all while he was awake. This all seems to be a completely normal reaction to me. I thought he'd be so excited to be home in  his own bed again.

 He went to be last night at 8pm and slept soundly until midnight. At midnight he woke up screaming  and would only settle while being held. Anytime we would put him back down in his crib (nothing in his room changed while he was away) he would freak out. At around 1am I put him in his old bouncy chair and slept on the couch while he slept on the floor.

 I'm betting this reaction is normal to a hospitalization but how do I work him out of this? We've never had a problem with separation anxiety with DS1 and this is the first for DS2, any suggestions would be appreciated!!!! I need sleep lol!

TIA

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Re: Separation Anxiety after Hospitalization?

  • PDXPDX

    I think it sounds pretty understandable and normal. The last extended hospital stay for DS was when he was 6 months old so I think he was still too young to really feel anxious once he was back home, but we did have a rough few days following a one night hospital stay about a year ago.

    I'm kind of a softy after procedures so maybe let him fall asleep in your arms for a night or two whenever he wakes up, then lay him down in his crib after he's asleep. maybe even make a temporary bed for yourself in there while he's adjusting, so you can get some sleep and he can see that you're nearby if he wakes up. I'm guessing after a few more days he'll feel more secure and will be able to start self-soothing again if he wakes up. but you might need to let him cry it out a little bit too. I'm not a huge CIO fan, but if things don't improve you could try the whole routine where when he wakes up and cries you go in and give him a quick hug/lie him back down and then leave for a few minutes, increasing the time you're out of the room each time so he knows you're still there but also has to sooth himself a bit too.

    good luck! 

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