6-Mo-old Waking up Crying

Hi Shara,
My son did this for a while. We figured out that he was having night terrors. He did the same thing-ear piercing scream like someone was hurting him and it was non stop. He would go for a few weeks and be fine, and then it could be like 3 nights in a row that he would wake up. We did the same thing that you are doing, we gave him something to eat, and we tried to hold him. We figured out that he would come out of them with us holding him and talking to him. There was only one time when we really had to wake him up, but other than that we just had to wait it out. If your son is anything like mine he will grow out of them. The only thing that I can say is hang in there and good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi Shara,
my little one started doing this off and on around 4-5 months and again at 6 months... from what you described, it sounds like it might really be teething! have you tried baby orajel or some other gum numbing ointment? this always seems to work like a charm if my baby girl wakes up crying in hte middle of the night, i put it on her gums, give her the passy and she's out within minutes...
hope this helps...bless you!

My guess would be teeth too, but it can never hurt to take him to the doctor and rule out something like an ear infection. My little guy had teething pain for a few weeks before anything came in and we just did Motrin. I hope that's what it is!

I have had this problem every now and then also. Sometimes I think maybe it's just a bad dream, or they wake up a little and notice they are all alone in the dark. I go in quickly, but I can't pick him up because it's too stimulating, pat his back and speak quietly to him until he falls back to sleep. I am relatively sure he's not in any pain, but the way he screams when he does it is frightening!

Shara -

It could be teething, even without swollen gums. My daughter, who is now 7 months, did the same thing last month w/o any signs of teeth; and then, all of a sudden, there was a little tooth poking through! We did give her Tylenol or Motrin almost every night for about five days and then she was okay... but beware! Her second tooth came within another 10 days and it started all over! But, have hope, she did go back to normal after her little mouth stopped hurting!!

Good Luck! I hope it is only teething!

L.

It could be an ear infection. My little one started getting those around the same age. It hurts more at night when they are laying down than during the day. To be safe I would just call the doctors and speak with their nurse to see what she thinks.

Poor baby and mom! Look slike you have a lot of suggestions to look at and read through. The other thing would be if you have changed his formula, or if breast feeding, what dairy products you have eaten. My daughter did teh same thing when she was being transferred from beast milk to formula. We found out that she was lactose intolerant. She didn't curl-up, but would scream in agony, and arch her back when initially being picked up. Good luck in decifering his needs. It isn't easy when tehy are so young!

I don't have a huge amount of advice for you. Your sons sleeping habits sound just like my oldest daughters did at that age. For her, whenever she went from sleeping great to doing what your son is, she had an ear infection. THat was her only symptom (waking up at night), there was no fever, no ear pulling, no daytime fussiness, but every single time she stopped sleeping well, she had an ear infection. Might want to look into it.

It's possible that he's going through a growth spurt. My daughter was a great sleeper unless she had a growth spurt then she was waking up randomly. For us, we just held her and gave her her paci and put her back to bed. Good luck!

My daughter was an excellent sleeper from the beginning and started waking at night. We eventually discovered that it was acid reflux. Check out the symptoms for that to see if it sounds like your son. "The Baby Book" by Dr. William Sears was an EXCELLENT resource for me-- gave me symptoms, as well as some non-medication ways to ease her pain. She had quite a few, though not all, of the symptoms, and some of the solutions the book recommended DID seem to help. Because of this, we were fairly certain that it WAS acid reflux so the doc put her on baby prilosec and within a week she was sleeping through the night again. I highly recommend The Baby Book, but you may also be able to find some info on this on AskDrSears.com. Good luck!!

Is his tummy hard? If so gas can be very painful. With my kids we did the running (one knee two the tummy area and back down then the other knee) Touch your nose with your toes (both feet to the nose) Back rubs are nice too... If all else fails... And the tummy is still hard as a rock. Take his tempature- this causes muscles to contract and the child passes gas. But, watch out for flying poop. Make sure that you put a little vaseline on the thermometer and just like taking a tempeture but, with a little presure down (not in/ down) This may even cause him to go to the bathroom maybe with a stool harder than normal. Be prepared with a spare diaper and wet wipes. At six mo. foods are changeing and well, muscles are developing not as fast. Which causes the digestive system to run slow and produce gas. If it continues.. Is he on juices yet? if yes or when he does gerber should have prune juice. But, the thermometer save me from alot of sleepless nights. You just never know what is going to up-set tummies.

About me- Kids are 17 and 13 both are normal teens. No bathroom problems other than now they smell and think it really fun to make noises. I really don't think their is any connection. Most boys think it's a game.

Good luck... if you have any question write me. Also, I know that Rhonda H is a nurse you can ask her also.