https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:14:41 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763616 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 15:34:42 +0000 justjules 2763616@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: I would start by challenging yourself to wait 15min to see if he settles down at all. It's hard! But often E settles after about 15min. What was the hardest for me was that if he was still super upset after those 15min and I went in, if I was just training him to cry for 15min and then mama will come. It all worked out in the end for us, though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763552 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:39:39 +0000 Goldengirl 2763552@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catlady: for sure. I am such a wuss. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763551 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:34:54 +0000 catlady 2763551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: That's tough. I'd probably give him a bit more time. My guy does this every so often and it sucks to let him cry but then he's usually back to normal the next day, so I always feel like it's worth it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763545 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:28:58 +0000 Goldengirl 2763545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@catlady: yah I do leave super quickly and then he immediately screams and cries hysterically. But the most I've left him for this time is only a few minutes (vs sleep training where it took an hour of murderous screams) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763544 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:27:40 +0000 catlady 2763544@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: Have you tried just leaving? That is a situation where I just walk away, and my guy usually settles himself within 5-10 min. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763541 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:23:29 +0000 Goldengirl 2763541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@justjules: @catlady: thanks! The main issue I'm having now is going to sleep rather than wake ups. He will instantly go into hysterics the second I leave the room. So there's not really any waiting for it to escalate, because he starts at 100 :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763539 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:20:32 +0000 catlady 2763539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kids have both gone through periods after sleep training where they would wake and cry a bit. With my oldest, we would generally give her 10-15 min and see if she'd settle before going in, unless we knew or suspected she was sick. I always tell people that she never had any regressions and we never had to sleep train again, but I suspect that we just nipped any potential bad habits in the bud by doing a mini version of CIO every so often. She was always pretty good though, and wasn't one to cry for like an hour straight. We definitely never needed to do a full-on sleep training after the first time.</p> <p>My 8 month old has been less consistent and it seems like he has a little regression every 2-4 weeks where we need to let him CIO, sometimes for a longer time than I'm really comfortable with (like 30-40 min). I hate doing it, but he seems to need it because when we go down to soothe him, he ends up wanting to sleep on us and gets angry when we put him in his crib. The good news is that because we've been consistent, his sleep has been better and better, and he slept through the night months earlier than his big sis did. He recently was sick and of course we threw everything out the window (rocked him and held him all night and let him co-sleep), and I was happily surprised when he went right back to STTN once he was better again.</p> <p>So I guess, I don't really call it re-training, but I suppose our strategy has been to allow them to cry when they need it. It worked so well for our almost 4 year old, who is a rock star sleeper, and so I'm hoping for the same with the little guy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763530 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:07:37 +0000 justjules 2763530@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: I never really followed a particular method or philosophy. As a rule of thumb, I didn't go in to calm him down unless he was really worked up or sick and needed me to give him Tylenol or something. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763518 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 12:46:38 +0000 SweetiePie 2763518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: so glad it helps! I wasn't sure if it was what you were looking for. As time goes on, if you need anything else just tag me :-) I'll do my best to help.<br /> I'm very passionate about infant/toddler sleep! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763494 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 12:11:11 +0000 Goldengirl 2763494@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: thank youuuu, this is exactly the advice I was looking for! It's so hard to know what to do after they're sleep trained! And it sounds similar, where sometimes he's fine, other days he's a mess, so I haven't been sure what to do. I'm not letting him fall asleep in my arms and not feeding him, just a quick back rub and standing there quietly, but didn't know if that's gonna mess up all the hard work we did before. I am praying he goes back to being a good sleeper on his own because I was LOVING it after so many months of hell!</p> <p>@justjules: so each time he would get off track, you'd follow your sleep training method all over again?</p> <p>@DesertDreams88: same question! In our case this would mean closing the door and letting him cry... just not sure if I want to resort to that yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763371 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 09:04:40 +0000 DesertDreams88 2763371@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like @justjules: , we had to re-sleep train multiple times, and it never lasted very long... just about a month each time. We sleep trained at 5m, 8m, and 10m. We did have some major external changes in there, too: going to childcare, moving from our room to the nursery, 10-day cross country trip, etc. </p> <p>Xmas travel ruined him and he was up multiple times a night, 11-12months. But then he just started STTN at 12mo through no effort on our part and it's been good since. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763354 Mon, 31 Jul 2017 08:39:48 +0000 justjules 2763354@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sleep trained around 6months for the putting down to sleep (still did one quick MOTN nursing session. He dropped that on his own at 10months) he still had wake ups every once in a while- teething, sickness, just random times when he didn't want to sleep etc.</p> <p> sleep training was not a magic bullet for us. There were some weeks when every night he would cry when he was put down (anywhere from 10min to an hour) It felt like we had to "sleep train" every few months. Now at 21months he usually sleeps great (630-630) but sill has random wake ups where he still cry for about 15min in the middle of the night. We never go in unless it lasts more than an hour (only has happened twice). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763294 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 22:03:31 +0000 SweetiePie 2763294@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Goldengirl: we didn't have an 8 month regression (at least nothing discernible) but of course after we sleep trained at 4/5 months we still had occasional wake ups. Let's say once a month. And then around 18 months we had a legit regression.<br /> I went in and soothed him at every random wake up and every regression wake up (18 month regression lasted almost 2 months!) and I never had to retrain. He always went back to sleeping through the night without crutches, no re-training needed.<br /> I would give something a good 3-4 weeks before I'd determine that it's a new habit that needs retraining vs a regression. I knew my sons 18 month regression was only a regression the whole 2 months because it wasn't every night (maybe 3-4 nights a week) and with a quick 5 min or so rocking he went back in the crib drowsy but awake and didn't wake up again. Slowly it became less and less, which also clued me in that it was a regression and not some bad habits from me soothing him. </p> <p>Long way of saying - I think that once they are trained, as long as the soothing is within a reasonable realm (some rocking and shushing till drowsy but awake vs rocking or feeding back to sleep) they will go back to their normal "trained" sleep habits once the regression passes.<br /> And I think you'll know once it gets to the point of "ok we need to retrain" vs "this is still the regression".<br /> Am I making sense? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763262 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 19:46:11 +0000 Goldengirl 2763262@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mfa_lady: thanks for the solidarity!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763261 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 19:45:45 +0000 Goldengirl 2763261@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Waterbaby: it's been 2 weeks now and I don't think it's teething because of how he's acting. He's totally calm when I come in the room. Pretty sure it's separation anxiety kicking in I just don't know how to tell if it's a phase or if I should sleep train all over again </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763190 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 13:00:58 +0000 mfa_lady 2763190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are in the midst of this right now with my nine month old. It's been happening for about two weeks (after we sleep trained at almost 8 months and got three weeks of decent sleep 🤦🏼‍♀️). I try to gauge the cries, honestly, which means I don't have an exact plan. Some nights she's more fussy/whiny, and those nights I don't go in. If she starts out immediately freaking out, then I'll go in to soothe (probably horrible but I'll usually nurse. It's the fastest way to get her back down.) So, solidarity? Her teeth and her belly are also bothering her sometimes, but I can usually tell from the cries. This probably isn't super helpful, but you're not alone. I'm in survival mode because I have 2.5yo who's also waking up with bad dreams. None of it will last forever! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763141 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 09:03:37 +0000 Waterbaby 2763141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sleep is the hardest thing about parenting for me and I'm definitely not in a position to be giving advice! 😉 We sleep trained around 7/8 months and I was so worried about what we would do if he woke up- which obviously he did! We did comfort/soothe which sometimes meant holding him in a chair while he slept. And he did go back to STTN. How often is he waking? How many days has it lasted? A few times it was for teeth and we would give him Motrin which seemed to help. But sometimes he just needed some extra love. My son is 21 months and we haven't "retrained" him. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763132 Sun, 30 Jul 2017 08:27:28 +0000 catomd00 2763132@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sleep training isn't a magic bullet. Sleep is developmental and ebbs and flows even through toddlerhood. Your baby clearly needs you to feel safe and secure. Be there for him and he will eventually go back to sleeping well again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2763053 Sat, 29 Jul 2017 18:27:02 +0000 Goldengirl 2763053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Bump!! Tell me there's someone out there whose baby didn't sleep perfectly after sleep training forever..?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/8-month-sleep-regression-and-separation-anxiety#post-2762974 Sat, 29 Jul 2017 11:15:52 +0000 Goldengirl 2762974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO is 8.5 months and the past couple weeks has been waking up at night crying and needing soothing to go back to sleep and also having troubles going down for naps. He is sleep trained and was doing great previous to this and just started sleeping through the night. I believe separation anxiety has kicked in because he'll be fine when I'm there but when I leave the room he'll freak out and then be calm when I come back in. He sometimes needs me just to stand next to him for awhile and then he'll keep peeking to see if I'm still there and eventually give in and go to sleep.</p> <p>My question is, for those who went through this, or any regression really after sleep training... do you just kind of ride it out and calm them when they need, or do I re-train him, I.e. leave him to cry for awhile. If he's going through something temporary and needs me I want to be there for him. But I also don't want him to get used to this and need me to help him fall asleep all over again. Help! </p>