1-Year Old Having Trouble at Bedtime

[saramichael]

Hello! 

This is our first post! Now, to the problem at hand...

Our daughter Amelia will turn 1 tomorrow!  She is and always has been a textbook baby, and learned to suck her thumb to self-sooth at about 4 weeks old.  She has also never given us any problem putting her to bed at night.  However, lately that has changed.  Naps are still pretty easy, but bedtime has become a fight.  The minute we put her down in her crib she goes balistic, and the only thing that will calm her is if we pick her up, at which time she immediately sticks her thumb in her mouth and is perfectly still and quiet.  When I put her down a few minutes ago, what ultimately worked was to leave her in her crib and shush really loudly and rub her back.  She fell asleep within a couple of minutes. Are we on the right track here with the shushing?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Sara

[evanskimberley]

We ahd a few problems around this time cos DD was getting too old for 2 naps in the day and then going to bed at the normal time, she was n't tired.

When/how long does she nap?

[Jaime]

also wanted to mention that you want to avoid shh-ing her until she falls totally asleep, to avoid becoming a prop.  doing it to calm her down is great.

could be a touch of separation anxiety, and she just needs a little reassurance from you.