7 Month Old Suddenly Waking at Night

You listed all possible possibilities... except: "Growth spurt." Typically, at 6 months, babies have a growth spurt.. and they get hungrier, need to feed more often... because their intake needs INCREASES and needs to keep up with their growth.

Babies/kids will wake more during growth spurts. Per our Pediatrician, for the 1st year of life, a baby needs to be fed/nursed ON demand 24/7, and it is their PRIMARY source of nutrition... NOT solids, and NOT other liquids.
I would, nurse him when he wakes... I suspect, he had a growth spurt at 6 Months... and is still trying to catch up with having more intake to meet his current needs.
Growth spurts occurs about every 3 months. So the next one will be at about 9 months.

AND, also, it can be that he is hitting milestones, and/or, normal developmental changes and cognitive changes, and separation anxiety.

Many times, sleep aberrations are due to MORE than one single thing at a time.

Chalk it up to normal developmental changes and growth spurt.

No baby sleeps the same way, nor the same pattern all their life. It changes, per their age set and developmental/biological changes.

It will return to normalcy. One of MANY phases. More will arise at different age junctures.

Also, not all teething episodes are the same... molars for example causes more pain/discomfort. So, you need to go according to that and how it affects them.

Nothing is static, with a baby. And, sometimes they wake just because, and there is no real reason, or "logical" reason for it.

A great book is "What To Expect The First Year", which you can find at any bookstore or online like at Amazon.

All the best,
Susan

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Great advice from Susan, but it also sounds like you have some really good Mommy instincts and I would say follow your gut with most everything.

With my son, he never slept through the night and was constantly going through something. Every month it was something new...teething, growing and milestones make for a busy baby. If he's nursing for feeding and then sleeping soundly I would agree with Susan on the 'growth spurt' idea. My little guy was sleeping solid chunks of sleep until the growth spurts started and then his need for feedings increased and once I followed his cues he slept for 4-5 hour chunks again.

Like with Susan's Pedi, I was advised to feed on demand until my son was at least a year old because developmentally this is what babies depend on for growth.

Find what works for you and stick with it. In my opinion whatever works and makes everyone happy and healthy is the best all around.

Sounds like you've hit the 7 month wakeful period. All those little counter arguments you made are very logical, but hun, babies just plain aren't logical. I'm going to guess milestone. They don't have to hit it to be waking from it. Since you state that he's getting interested in getting around the house, that's probably what's causing him to wake.

Just continue meeting your baby's needs by nursing on demand and remind yourself that this too shall pass.

Here are a few links with good info:

Sleeping through the night: http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleep.html

On the wakeful 4 month old:
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/4mo-sleep.html
Now, I know your son is older than 4 months, but mine didn't hit this wakeful period until close to 7 months. My guess is, your LO is going through this a bit late like mine did.

Also, I agree with others that he's probably growing, too.

Best of luck!