Help! 8 month old suddenly can’t sleep unless he’s in my arms

[greenleaf62]

We have coslept since pretty much day 1 from the hospital. Typically I can put him down and he’ll sleep for 1-3 hours without waking up. Then I join him in bed and when he wakes, I’ll pop a boob in while I’m still laying down and he’ll eat and then go back to sleep.

Lately (past week or so), he has been crying out every 30-40 min after I put him down. Also, I can’t lay down and feed him anymore. He will cry and demand that I hold him instead. So in practice I’m now sleeping mostly sitting up and holding him. I realize this isn’t exactly safe but it’s the only thing that works right now. Before he could make it to 6am or so until he needed to be held instead of have me lying next to him, but now it’s as early as 3am or midnight, for the whole night.

Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice? How long did it last?

I’d like to avoid sleep training.

His naps are all either in my arms or in a carrier. He used to be able to fall asleep in the stroller and occasionally will if the stars align (only for his first nap now, not his second), but the last time that happened was also about a week ago.

 

[egg]

@greenleaf62 This with my 7 month old. He began rolling around and would cry, and unable to to get comfortable. What I found helps is putting him on top of me (stomach down) while im lying down to breastfeed and a pillow under my arm for comfort and keep him from sliding off. Not very safe to fall asleep in this position but we are on a floor bed if he rolls off accidentally. I also got black out curtains. Noticed he is getting a little better - i think this is related to developmental growth and hopefully will diminish with time. Adding that he stays asleep again for at least 1-3 hours before needing me, vs waking up constantly- this was short phase

 

[greenleaf62]

@egg Thank you! How long did it last? Mine doesn’t really roll around—he’s in the same position and just cries. We’ve been doing white noise and black out curtains since birth

 

[egg]

@greenleaf62 I would say it lasted like 2 weeks. He still fusses towards morning (3am onwards) but will settle back did when i put him on top, once he’s out , i slide him to the side sometimes. Prior to this trick i would use the recliner but Found this to be safer. It’s like he needs to be super close and stomach down

 

[lisboneu]

@greenleaf62 My girl is eight months as well and had become more clingy than usual, awake and for naps. But she's also making great strides in learning how to stand and pull herself up to standing. I've read that babies will regress when they are learning a new skill so maybe that's what is happening with you. This is also the time they develop separation anxiety so maybe there's a bit of that as well. Not sure how long it lasts since I'm still in the thick of it.

 

[kingdomkings]

@greenleaf62 You’ve said you want to avoid sleep training, but do keep in mind that there are lots of gentle approaches you could take to improve sleep for you and baby.

Alternatively, are you willing to ride it out for six months or so until he maybe learns to sleep independently?

 

[greenleaf62]

@kingdomkings After trying gentle sleep training with my first kid, I’m willing to put up with this for years. It’s just a bit more irritating to sleep close to sitting up so I was wondering if anyone had this experience and whether it got better.

As for sleeping independently, I think it would be a miracle if he managed it on his own in 6 months. I planned to do this until age 2 or 3. I value my sleep too much to try that again.

 

[kingdomkings]

@greenleaf62 Unfortunately I think you’ve answered your own question.

 

[mickie1]

@greenleaf62 I unfortunately don’t have any advice, but I am dealing with this EXACT situation with my six month old right now. I know it’s helps sometimes just to know you’re not alone and your kid is normal.

 

[greenleaf62]

@mickie1 Update to what happened: I realized I was going to bed very sleepy, which meant that when he woke up to eat, it took me longer to wake up. At that point, he was very nearly fully awake and when he’s like that (also toward the morning, around 6/7am), he needs me to hold him to sleep. What fixed it was basically my going to sleep earlier, which meant I was responding faster when he needed to eat and I could just pop a boob in quickly before he fully woke up.

Best of luck! No idea if that’s a fix that might work for you, but I figured I’d update you.

 

[mickie1]

@greenleaf62 Thank you!! I’m glad you found something that helps. I’ll definitely be trying this - sounds like what might be happening with us.