Hello everyone. My daughter is about 9 1/2 months old and she has never been the greatest sleeper. For the past week, she has been waking up between 10-10:30 pm every night after she has gone to bed at 7:30 pm. She wakes up crying and sometimes screaming. I never used to pick her up once she went to bed, but lately I have had too to get her to stop crying. A few nights I have even given her some formula when she wakes cause it seems to comfort her, although she doesn't take much cause she ends up falling back to sleep. Then most times sleeps until 6:30am. She sleeps with her lovey and i usually put a few pacifiers in with her so if one falls out, she can find another one. I don't know if I should feed her more during the day? I have tried to give her a little more formula, but she pushes her bottle out of her mouth when she has had enough. Do babies get nightmares this early? If anyone has any advice that would be great!
It sounds o me like she is teething. My daughter is about a month older and that is what happens with her. Try giving her a little baby motrin or tylenol before bed... not as a constant thing, but for the next few nights while she is teething.
Best of luck,
J.
honestly, it could be anything, although i disagree that at 9 months she is "playing with you". obviuosly something is waking her up.
things to consider are teething, growth spurts, learning new activities, even an ear infection. there is also a chance she isnt full from the last feeding and needs a little "chaser" to be full. a good way to test the hunger would be to immediately get her beforeshe is fully awake and give her a bottle with water. if she drinks it and falls asleep for the rest of the night, i woild think its one of the above. if she drinks it all without falling asleep, pushes it out and keeps crying, or wakes again later in the night, she needed formula.
good luck, its probaly just a temp phase. expertsm dont think nightmares are possible at that age but they cant know for sure.
Read what sleep expert Dr. Weissbluth says:
http://
billiediscoverytoys.blogspot.com/2008/09/sleep-begets-sleep.html
S., if it's teething, give her Teething Tablets or Teething Gel which you cn get at WalMart or Hannaford and maybe at Price Chopper. They are natural and homeopathic and no need to worry about garbage you would get in Orejel or other things. Are you giving her good, heavy meal, protein meal before going to bed? My boys were good eaters as babies and my third is the biggest eater of the three. He needs to eat something like 6 chicken nuggets OR chicken alfredo (made at home) OR homemade macaroni and cheese. I don't feed him more and I don't add with them because he doesn't always know when he's full so I haveto stop him food intake for him. Anyways, they always needed cereal around 3 mos. of age before bedtime because they were hungry in the middle of the night and once I introduced that they were able to sleep through the night and now, with the older two boys, they need to get out more and get active because they aren't tired enough to sleep right away and they aren't sleeping through the night. YOu learn as you go along and if any more questions let us know and we'll answer best as possible. I pray for you and your family and I pray that you receive Wisdom from Jesus if you ask Him.
She is playing you:) I remember when I had my first children (twins)- my doctor told me co-sleeping was OK until the baby was just under 9 months because unless we wanted the baby sleeping with us until she was 5, we had better break the habit now. You said yourself, she's obviously not hungry and she still tired enough to sleep until morning. I would try going in, (Do Not pick her up)soothing her by singing or rubbing her tummy or forehead and telling her, "SHHH, it's OK, Mommy's here but it's time to go back to sleep." Do this for a bit and then leave the room, even if she cries. Let her cry for a minute or two and then go back in and do it again. Stretch the time between going in by a minute or two each time and eventually she will start going back to sleep while she's waiting for you to come back in. Worked for me, 3 times! My twins are 6 and my youngest is 15 months!
This is very common. Sometimes they go through stages where they wake up and need some nourishment or even just to be held for a few minutes. It doesnt really relate to their feeding schedule. They can only hold a certain amount in the belly so she may need to have some formula after waking. My son used to go to bed at 8 and then be up about 1130 or 12:00, I nursed him and he went back to sleep, even though by then he was eating primarily solid foods. Then he would be up at 2 again. He didnt have much at night time..
You are lucky that your daughter sleeps as much as she does at night. 2 of my 3 kids didnt sleep all night long for a long time... in fact my 6 year old still doesnt sleep thru the night.
It is ok to hold your baby when she is crying. They sometimes just need to be held. If she is screaming.. I wouldnt just leave her to cry. Sometimes they just want to be held. Sometimes when there is a change in your routine... they need some extra love. and they associate holding and your nurturing as love. Hold her, feed her.. comfort her til she goes back to sleep. This is a stage that will probably pass.
I hope that eases your mind.
W. in Watkins Glen
Mom of 3 kids
Korey age 16, Whitney age 12 and Andrea 6
S., since he is drinking only a little formula, it could be that he is thirsty. Did you just turn on your heat? Try adding a humidifier to the room and see if that helps.
First of all - I feel for you and the wake ups. Thank God that it is not in the middle of the night. To respond - is she getting enough food during the day? My daughter is the same age and eats what I think is a ton of food during the day and gets about 20 ozs. of formula. She usually sleeps through the night without a problem. The other thing is teeth. When my daughter is cutting new teeth - it is not unusual for her to wake at some point in the night or early morning. If your daughter is teething - maybe she needs some tylenol or motrin or something to help her sleep and alleviate any pain. Hope this helps.
Wow! our stories are very similar. My son, who is now 10 months, has done the same thing- I would pick him up and sing to him. He has a lovey and crib full of binkies. But this would go on for several days in a row. I would try to comfort him but not for a long stretch- sometimes when I put him back down, he'd still cry but eventually fall back to sleep. I never gave him more food because I don't think he needs it. I have often worried/wondered if these are nightmares or what but it is definitely something in his sleep cycle. Many people have told me it's teething but he only has two and they took a while to get here so I don't know. I think you should keep doing what you are doing. Not the best advice but I did want to offer my encouragement in saying it goes in cycles and that you are not alone. Good luck!
