Separation Anxiety and How a Day Bed & Carseat Solved the Problem

Lil man has always been pretty independent. It’s allowed me to go out with him alone – him in the backseat with the rear-facing carseat while I drive. I was able to put him into his crib for naps without needing to cuddle him to sleep since he’d fall asleep on his own.

Then a few weeks ago he completely lost it. One day he was fine. The next day he became very attached. Every time we put him into the car seat or even near the car, he flipped out… got so upset and worked up he’d throw up. When we put him into the crib, he’d cry and use his hand to gesture “come back”. We had to let him fall asleep in our arms then put him in the crib, but he’d wake up mid-way through the night because he realized he was in the crib. It was a bit traumatizing for me and hubs and we lost a lot of sleep.

The only way we could get him to fall asleep on his own, was to lay a fitted bed sheet on the floor with pillows. When he got tired he’d go to the sheet, roll around a little, fall asleep on the pillow and sleep through the night. We did this for an entire week. He and I also didn’t leave the house unless someone could sit in the backseat with him because after having throw up three days in a row and needing to bathe him, I was too exhausted to struggle with him.

At the end of the week, my brother suggested we put him into a forward-facing carseat since he met the age and weight requirement. We were just trying to keep him in the rear-facing seat as long as possible since it was recommended. Before buying a new carseat, we tried using the one my brother had. Lil man was fussy initially when we put him in, but my brother kept assuring him I was there and he’d be able to see me. After a minute, he was fine. Perfect. By Saturday, we bought him a new carseat. Here he is in the new carseat.

As for the crib, we decided it was time to try converting to a daybed. A lot of people were surprised because Lil man is only 14 months, but we went ahead with it anyway. His crib is currently in our bedroom, so we figure it’s a good time to try it out.

He rolls and moves around a lot while he sleeps, so we lowered the mattress as low as it could go. We tried installing a railing, but either they didn’t fit the crib properly or they were so long we thought lil man would think it’s still a barrier. So, we put a cushion on the floor just in case he rolled off.

He’s been in the daybed a few weeks now and he loves it. He’s gone from hating the crib to loving it. He rolls around on it, plays on it and most importantly sleeps on it. He’ll occasionally roll off onto the cushion and sleep on that. We’ve lined it with a nice cushy blanket and pillows around it since the gap is between his crib and our bed. When he has a bad dream, he’ll crawl off his bed and into ours. Once he’s asleep we move him back into the crib.

We’re extremely happy and well rested these days because he’s been sleeping through the night. Hooray! Happy sleeping!