7 Month Old Waking up Crying

Updated on November 02, 2008
L.H. asks from Roselle, IL
7 answers

My daughter is 7 months old. She began sleeping through the night at 12 weeks - I thought I was lucky. Right after she turned 6 months, she began waking at odd hours of the night, crying. I've tried letting her "cry herself to sleep" but that never works. Crying turns into screaming, screaming turns into gagging. When I try rocking her back to sleep, she falls asleep immediately. As soon as I lay her back down in her crib, she starts screaming again. No sign of a tooth breaking through yet. She's got a night light and gets plenty to eat. Anyone know what the heck is wrong? Any suggestions? I work 6 days a week and am totally exhausted!!!

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L.A.

answers from Chicago on

If it's teething you may want to consider Baby Oragel combined with a dose of tylenol. The Oragel will help with decreasing the immediate pain and the tylenol will keep it away. Good luck!

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C.K.

answers from Chicago on

seperation anxiety starts at this age, at least thats what my ped says. Try going in and just putting your hand on her back for comfort rather than picking her up. If this doesn't work, Im fresh out of ideas. My daughter slept through the night at 6wks, and now at 7 month has been up randomly throughout the night, and we can't let her cry cause she wakes up her brother, who has a hard time falling back to sleep. Oh, and is it possible your baby is sprouting a tooth, Look at the gums for swelling spots, looking like sores. My daughter just popped out her first, and is currently working on her second.
(by the way, it's now 4am and My dd is on my lap, just fell asleep.)
Good Luck! ;)

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E.F.

answers from Chicago on

I would say it's a tooth even though you aren't seeing anything yet. Sometimes it seems to bother them from a early stage of growth. Try some tylenol when she wakes up and see if that works if it does then that is the case. Be careful not to make the waking up and rocking a bad habit for her, because that will be hard to break. Whether it is a tooth or just a phase I would give her the meds if that what you choose to do and then just keep her in her crib while you rub her back. Let her get almost asleep, but you don't want her to get used to you there when she completely falls asleep. It is exhausting, but that is the job of a mom.

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R.B.

answers from Chicago on

L.,
If it's a constant night waking and screaming that only occurs when she's laying flat on her back, have the Dr. check her ears. When my son 2 was 4 months old (after being an awesome sleeper) he'd waking up randomly in the middle of the night crying and screaming and he ended up gaving chronic ear infections, which hurt more so when a child sleeps and lays on their back. He got tubes at 9 months old (after suffering that for 5 months!) and has been perfect since!

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R.K.

answers from Chicago on

My son did EXACTLY the same thing. He started and stopped sleeping at exactly the same age as your daughter, and he stopped at the same age as well. I did a lot of reading and tried every method I could find (I did a bit of modified cry it out, but never fully let him cry). Nothing worked for him. He just would not sleep. And every once in a while, he'd sleep through the night again, so I knew it wasn't the routine or anything else that was making a difference. Something was causing him to wake that I had no control over.
I finally decided it was a combination of teething, separation anxiety, and approaching milestones and trying to "practice" crawling and walking at night. (he slept better for a week or two when he mastered crawling and then as soon as he started working on standing, the sleeping stopped again). It seems to just be a phase that many kids go through.
One thing that did help some was moving his bedtime earlier. Around 8 or 9 months he slept better for a few weeks after I did that. Then he stopped again and has just recently started sleeping better (he's one now). And every once in a while we still have a bad night.
Sorry that's not the most encouraging advice, but from a lot of what I read, it may just be the reality.

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C.S.

answers from Chicago on

baby is going through all sorts of changes. She may be hungry. Plenty to eat would be her judgement more than yours.

Letting baby's "cry it out" is not good for them. Raises cortisol levels.

Your baby's wants are your baby's needs and it seems that she needs you! She may sleep better with contact. Are you open to try co-sleeping?

I work too and found that the best way for us all to get a good night's sleep was to share that sleep. My kids sleep better when there was a body nearby and wake often if they are alone.

Remember, parenting doesn't end at night. Do what you need to do to keep you both happy, healthy and sleeping

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T.C.

answers from Chicago on

Hi L.!

This may sound kindda goofy but I would take away the night light or set it on a timer. My daughter sleeps soooooooo much better with absolute darkness. When she wakes up in the middle of the night since doing this, she does not see her mobile above her bed, the teddy bears on the dresser or any other fun things and get frustrated because she wants to play with them and is tired. We took the night light away around 6 months because of her waking up and she has slept peacefully since!

I also swaddle her, even still at 2 years. I do leave her arms out though. She has been sleeping through the night since about 4-6 months. If they are wrapped secure in a blanket or sleep sack it helps to comfort them, just like being snuggled with Mama! THe only bad thing is right now I am waiting on an order from Ebay because she blew out of her blankie! lol

One last possibility is that your daughter is going through changes. Is she just learning to turn over, crawl, scoot, anything like that? My daughter around a year (She was a late one) began to learn to sit up and scoot. She wanted to do this constantly. I thought she was going through the Terrible 2s early because she was overly cranky and not sleeping as well as normal. The Dr said it was possible that she is just trying to master her new skills and it is on her mind constantly. Made sense and it only lasted a few weeks.... miserable weeks though! Atleast it went away finally and we are back to sleeping 12-14 hours a night!

Remember, you do not need to clean house or make gourmet meals or be Super Mom! If your daughter is sleeping take that opportunity to catch some much needed and deserved Zzzzzs yourself! Also, if you are married, ask your hubby for help. It is hard working full time outside of the house and then coming home and working overtime as Mom! I give you credit!

Good luck and many blessings to you and yours!

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