Separation Anxiety

Had a rough time with her last night. It was bedtime and was already asleep. Few minutes later after I left her in our bedroom alone, she woke up and cried. She settled after she saw me, closed her eyes, and fell back to sleep. However, the same scenario happened like almost ten times. I decided to move her to her room and have her sleep in the crib. The bassinet is no longer a safe place for her while awake. She's getting bigger for the bassinet and I have this scary feeling that she might flip and fall on the floor from moving too much. She used to push herself up using her arms and moves a lot inside the basket.

She was fine while I was with her in her bedroom. I didn't even have to hold her. As long as she saw me, she settled down. But once I left the room, she cried. I had to go back. Right after she saw me, she smiled and stopped crying. I finally decided to pick her up and hold her while I was checking things online. She was so quiet and just watched what I was doing. Later, she fell asleep in my arms. I put her back in her crib but she woke up again. I thought her sleepy mood would make her close her eyes, but I was wrong. I didn't know what's going on with my daughter. I didn't understand why she can't sleep without me.

My patience was tested. I left her in the crib and closed the door. I heard her cries from the monitor. She was so upset. She cried longer. Her long stretch of cries made her feel tired. I can sensed by the sound of it. There was silence. I bet she was already asleep. I carefully opened the door and sneaked in. I was dismayed with what I saw. She was asleep, yes. However, both of her legs were stuck on the crib's corner posts. My poor girl. That was heartbreaking. Even if she was asleep, I decided to pick her up and held her in my arms. Totally a rough night for her and me, physically and emotionally.

I told my husband what happened when he got home from work. He thought that she may be experiencing a "separation anxiety" specially at this stage that she can already recognized the two persons she is most close with. He also added that there were times the girl was in the living room and him in the kitchen, she would cry because she didn't see her Dada. And when he called her attention and got a glimpse of him, she stopped crying.

On her first nap today, her Dada just put her in the crib. The bouts of crying spells were expected. She fell asleep after some crying moments. On her second nap of the day, her Dada decided to stay beside her on bed. She looked so comfortable, peaceful, and secure in her Dada's arms. It's an evidence how much she loves us holding her as she falls off to sleep.