Refuses to be settled by dh at night

[klt]

Hi there

we did have a great sleeper until her 6 month growth spurt, a bad cold, grandparents visiting, teething, crawling, another cold, another tooth, and so it goes on....!  So now we have an 8.5mo old who wakes at least once a night, sometimes four times, for 10mins to 1.5 hrs.  Now we are having sep anxiety I think.  In the past week she has been getting quite anxious for a cuddle now and then in the daytime and this week when dh was on night duty she refused to be settled and then started screaming.  I tried to leave him to it but it seemed to go on for an hour and in the end I HAD to go in.  She stopped and went to sleep as soon as I touched her.  This happened last night and the night before.  Is this part of separation anxiety? 
Should I have left them to it?  Or did she really need to know I was there during this period?  Poor dh felt quite unloved - does this mean no more night duty for him until this phase passes? 
thanks for any help!

[Katet]

as it seems this is seperation anxiety (right age) & you are I assume the primary carer, she has bonded to you far more than your dh.
I think it really has to be your call... if you need your dh to take on night settling, then you need to let him/her work out the way that works for them, which I think would involve him taking lots of time with her when he can during day hours to build her trust in him.
BUT if you can't stand the hour or more it takes him you might need to take on the night duty until she learns that her needs are met & passes through this phase. The more time you & dh spend with her in the day time (put the rest of your life on hold for a week if need be) could help you through this stage faster

[klt]

Kate, just wanted to update you: dh hardly sees her in the week so I took on all the night duties for the last 10 days or so and spent lots of time with her in the day just sitting and playing together and being generally around and available.  She seems completely over it now and I am able to leave the room again!  Her night sleep has settled down again now that she can pull up properly too - I think ever since she started crawling, we have been leading up to standing and sep anxiety and that is why she was so restless at night these past few weeks.  Hope this helps someone else going through the same... and thanks for your advice!     (Just have to watch out for the imminent growth spurt next I guess...)