20 Months: Separation Anxiety and Sleeplessness

Hi Friends!

Yesterday was so rough. So ROUGH. It was one of those nights when you swear your kid is a newborn again and all you want to do is beat your head against the wall because you'd be getting better sleep doing that than trying to comfort the wild beast straining in your lap to be let free.

All day yesterday Isla was a clingy monster. All I heard was "up, UP, up, UP, UP" or "ma,ma,ma,MAMAMAMAMA." Even when B was home she wanted nothing to do with him. When he went into her room to check her after an hour of checks and soothing that I had done she yelled "MA-MA!" A demand questioning why I had sent in her Father. Yikes! I know she's going through a growth spurt, teething and racing through a mental leap (today she stood up and said 'all done ma' -- really?! What are you 15 now?) but she's never had a problem going down at night or sleeping through the night when she doesn't nap during the day (which hasn't happened since last Tuesday-- yes I remember the exact day). Last night she just wouldn't go to sleep. By 9pm, she had been up for 14 hours straight and I said "THIS IS CRAZY!" I did another small bottle, rocked her for a moment and put her in her crib. She screamed like she was being traumatized and then within 10 minutes went down. Unfortunately she was up from 2:10-4:00 and then again at 6am. I finally gave up and drug her into bed with me, which sounds like a lovely little co-sleeping oasis. It's not....lets be clear. Isla likes to lay on top of me-- crushing my throat and chest. It's horribly uncomfortable but I was so damned tired I took what restless zzzz's I could get.

The shirt lies. 

Today, she blew through her nap (per usual these days, ug!) and cried for 15 minutes, after one check and a total meltdown she finally went down after 20 minutes total. That is SUCH an improvement over last night! I'm interested (and TERRIFIED) to see how tonight goes but I'm really hoping the reassuring checks and back to sleep training basics are helping her get through this. It's all I've got so I'm hoping it does the trick!

Did anyone else's little one have separation anxiety really kick in around 20 months?
Did it feel like the teething, mental leap and separation anxiety all hit at the same time?

During the 2 hours I was up last night I was busy googling "what's wrong with my terrorist 20 month old who won't sleep" and other helpful questions. Fortunately I found pages upon pages of Q&A's and sleep blogs regarding the 19-24 month age range and how much goes on in their little brains during that time. Pretty interesting stuff! It actually made me feel more sane and in control. Thank you Google.

I hope everyone is sleeping soundly tonight with little sleepy babies! Here's to a RESTFUL slumber Isla--- I'll see you at a decent hour! :)

xo.
S