Previously sleep trained 8 months old is driving us insane after a 10 day trip
Our 8 month old was previously sleep trained and an amazing sleeper. We could put him down awake for naps and bedtime and he’d self soothe to sleep within 10 minutes. He slept 11 hours overnight, took solid naps, and was always content in his crib.
We just returned to the West Coast after a 10 day trip to Korea (16 hour time difference), and it feels like we came back with a completely different baby. At first we assumed it was jet lag, but now it feels like more than that.
He suddenly hates being put down — even for diaper changes or his sleep sack. He screams when placed in the crib, won’t sleep longer than 45 minutes, and wakes up hysterical. He’ll only calm down if we carry him around. He also refuses bottles sometimes even when clearly hungry, and will choke/spit the milk out crying.
He also seems to be dealing with intense separation anxiety all of a sudden. Even when he’s in a perfectly good mood and clearly not tired, he needs to be glued to either me or my husband constantly and gets upset the second we put him down or walk away. He seems exhausted but fights sleep until he crashes from pure exhaustion. He’s also scratching at his ears and drooling excessively like when his first teeth came in, but gets frustrated even with teething toys or pacifiers.
Anything and everything seems to irritate him. Before this trip, everyone described him as the sweetest, calmest baby. He didn't even cry ONCE during the flight there and back (11 hours/10 hours). Now I feel like I don’t recognize him anymore. I’m also pregnant with our second and completely drained trying to manage this mostly by myself during the day while my husband is at work.
I know phases pass, and I’ve been reading old threads trying to reassure myself, but honestly I feel like I’m losing my mind a little. Has anyone else gone through something similar after travel/jet lag around this age?