For the past few weeks Brooke has been having some issues sleeping. She has always been a great sleeper, and has gone down easily for naps and at bedtime without much of an issue. But a few weeks ago she began having (what seem like) panic attacks when I start to walk out of the room at naptime & bedtime. At first it was a bit of shrieking and whining ... but now its progressed to horrible screaming, crying, kicking, yelling ... you name it. Just the worst type of fit I can imagine.
I have surfed around and I am not alone. Its a pretty common thing that babies (even excellent sleepers) start to do this. Looks like there isnt a real answer, but its a combination of all of the factors going on in her life. She is teething, learning to crawl, experiencing some separation anxiety, etc. Essentially, she is going through a lot of change and development right now and its making her a little uncomfortable with the idea of Mommy leaving her alone to sleep.
For the past week I have been going in to tend to her. I have not picked her back up from her crib, but I have talked to her, rubbed her back and made "shhhhh" sounds. Often I have had to stand next to her while she fell alseep. This hasnt been too big of a deal, but last night was just too much. She wouldnt calm down and I eventually pulled her from her crib and sat in the rocking chair with her. She still fought and screamed (while I held and rocked her) for about 20 minutes until she passed out. Tonight when she started the fit I just let her carry on. And it went on forever.
A lot of people do not agree with letting a baby "cry it out", but I felt like I had to give it a try. Its obviously becoming a pattern and she is having fits just to get me back into the room, and thats not going to be healthy down the road. So for tonight we sat and watched her pitch a fit on the monitor. What I am going to do tomorrow night I still dont know :( At least for now, I have a sleeping baby.
