Screaming and crying before every sleep

same here :)

And here, for ages. The thing that seems to be helping the most is having a really solid routine (it's not long, but it lets her know clearly what she's expected to do). It hasn't fixed it all though. It's horrible isn't it? I've cried sometimes too.

HippyMama, of course I have ruled out everything, I wouldn't let him cry if he needed something! He is not sick (got him checked out by the Dr), he is dry, fed, and tired. I have no idea why he is doing it, but I can only think he doesn't want to sleep or doesn't want me to leave him. Either way, I hate it.

It is really hard isn't it? We also have had a similar problem and still do on occasion. For us, he is particularly bad if he is overtired. Having said that he has never been a baby that will just fall asleep anywhere. For instance, he will never fall asleep in his bouncy chair or on his mat. I think to an extent your baby's personality will have something to do with how he sleeps.

I will second the routine part. I try to do the same thing each time so that he knows bedtime is coming and isn't surprised when I put him to bed. In fact, he settles the best at night because the routine is exactly the same every night and starts about an hour before he goes to bed. Both boys know that when Daddy gets home from work we start thinking about bath and bed. I then sit with J until he falls asleep so he can see me.

I will also let him cry for a couple of minutes if I am certain that everything is OK and that he is just overtired. 99% of the time he will be alseep in less than a minute. If he is really going for it then I pick him up, cuddle and reassure and then start the process again.

Also not sure how old your baby is but do you swaddle him? J is 6 1/2 months and I still swaddle him. Not all the time but if he is very tired, teething etc it really helps him to relax and he falls asleep much quicker.

Hopefully some of that might be useful, and if not rest assured you are not alone and this will pass!

I didn't mean to cause any offence with my earlier question, but sometimes in our anxiety and rush to soothe an upset baby things can get left of the 'list' (of what might be upsetting them).

I too don't know your babe's age offhand but would second the suggestion of separation anxiety, or teething? There are a lot of good homeopathic remedies out there for both things (as I am more prone to reach for the natural remedies myself than the pharmaceuticals).

I had this with my youngest and it turned out he was just getting overtired. I was truely amazed when one day I watched the clock closely and didn't let him stay up longer that the recommended time at his age. I put him into bed and he just lay there and went to sleep. I couldn't beleive it.

How old is he?

If it is separation aniexty - I found it eaiser to do if I tried to remain calm (yep - rescue remedy is good for this). I'm prone to anxiety myself so I just had to breathe thru and seem happy. My bub senses when I'm uptight and it makes her nervous too.

I can only think separation anxiety as we had this recently and it was exactly the same and I was at the same point as you - starting to cry and wondering why! Honestly for us playing peek and boo and where's mummy really helped. Especially covering my head with the blanket in front of her and calling 'where's mummy?' and she's get so excited when she found me!
Of course every now and then she does have a scream/cry when I go to leave but it's not all the time anymore!

And as others have said, and easier said than done, remain calm. How does he react to singing? Lily loves this and it's a great way for us to both calm down!
Also one other idea which may or may not take your fancy - wearing baby... May hate it first few times but I have found it on the odd occasion to be great!

Do not cry, everything is fixable! Try using Shem's sleep tracker! We just started using it. We have been using it for a couple of weeks and the results are already noticeable. The baby stopped waking up at night, the sleep became more calm! But we are still working on daytime sleep) I recommend you to try the Shema tracker: there are so many beautiful calm melodies and useful articles.