14 Month Old Not Sleeping Well/heart Rate

I agree with the nurse on the heart rate bit. Babies do seem to have very fast heart beats, and I didn't expect that. I'd take it for a full minute and see how fast it really is. And in my experience, you have to "teach" your kids to fall asleep. By 12/13 months, if I went in to try and put her back to sleep, she'd never go completely back to sleep because she'd be anticipating me leaving her. But if I left her to go to sleep on her own, she'd cry herself to sleep. It took a while at the beginning (I started letting her fall asleep on her own during nap time when it was light outside) to fall asleep on her own, but as she's gotten a little older and done it more, she does it just fine really quickly. If she wakes in the night, it usually only takes her about 5 minutes to get back to sleep. If not, I know it's something more.

If she's waking up and it's a relatively new thing she's doing, she could be teething or maybe she's experiencing bad dreams. My kids sometimes seem to wake up for that reason. If the bottle helps sometimes, it could be because she's relieving the pain in her gums that way (if she's teething). I mention teething because usually if my daughter (or son, when he was that age) wakes up regularly it's usually because of that. ANd if it doesn't seem to be that, it never hurts to call the pedi - that's what they are there for.

Hi There Liv,
I am a nursery nurse, RN. You need to actually count your baby's heart rate for one full minute while she is asleep. If it is beating twice per second, that would make her heart rate 120 beats per minute, which is in the normal range for her age. Babies her age should have a heart rate in the range of 100-130 beats per minute.

When you say she doesn't sleep well at night, are you saying because she is active in her sleep? Some babies are just more active at night than others. As long she settles into a deep quiet sleep at some point in the night she is probably doing fine. Most likely you do not get to observe her quiet sleep simply because if she is being quiet you are probably not checking on her.

Of course if you feel uncomfortable about your baby you can give your pedi a call! Maybe he can calm your concerns even over the phone.

You should go see her pediatrician.

Follow your instincts.. If you feel like its beating to fast call the dr.
Thats what they are there for!
Good luck and just breath.

I would see her pediatrician or a pediatric cardiologist. Follow your instinct...God gave you that to keep you and your loved ones safe.

J.

I am a nurse also and agree with the Pedi RN. All babies heart rates are high. But I am not a Pedi RN. But I remember that part of school. I wouldn't necessarily make a seperate appointment, but would bring it up at the next visit and ask the doctor to evaluate it. Usually with pediatric heart problems you would see her turn blue or have breathing difficulties of some sort. If everything seems fine, than it usually is.
I seriously doubt that her wakefulness is attributed to her heartbeat. I think you are just focused on it and want a reason for her being up. I think that she needs some better routines for bedtime and some help in getting herself to sleep. Maybe she is picking up on your anxiety also.
At 14 months I would think she should be off the bottle at night also. IF you are using it as comfort than you need to begin transitioning her to something other than a bottle for comfort. I would also let her cry it out a little more. She has to eventually learn to comfort herself. So help her ease into it. You can also give her some benadryl for her age to help her stay asleep. Buy her a special blankey or baby and give it to her when she feels the need. She may carry it around for a while but at least she may begin to comfort herself some and get through the night.
If none of these things seem right than by all means make an appointment with the pedi, to be able to put your fears aside. So at least you can start getting her to comfort herself and can knowing her heart is ok. I would imagne that you aren't letting her do that out of fear that something is wrong with her and you want to protect her from any upset. So get a clearance from the doctor, he can listen for valve problems or murmurs etc. right in the office. I suspect he already has at a previous appt. He just didn't tell you what he was doing. I would think that if she goes to her well-baby visits etc. on schedule you would already know by now if there was something amiss or wrong. So based on that assumption, I would bet the doctor found nothing wrong with her heart or you would already know about it and what to do for it. I would suspect she is a normal toddler.
So let loose and let her cry it out and start sleeping better with a less anxious momma.
Good luck,
L.

Have you discussed the heart rate with your Dr? There have been children that have a heart rate that is to fast that end up with very serious medical problems. I would contact your Dr.