All of a Sudden Won't Go to Sleep

It could be seperation anxiety, teething, and upset stomache, ear infections, etc.... She could be getting too much sleep so that she is not tired, etc... My son dropped down to one nap around 9 months. If they are sleeping thorugh the night, I would count my blessings, and be flexible on how they go to sleep. If she needs you, just rock her. If she is in pain, think about what letting her cry will feel like.

E., I know you must be frustrated, but take heart in that this is likely a stage that will pass. Your daughter is showing some signs of insecurity so perhaps the "cry it out" approach will just exasperate the situation. I know that technique is most popular right now, but it never made since to me that when a child is begging for attention and reassurance that they be ignored or abandoned until they fall into an exhausted sleep. Making the child feel secure by rocking or holding is neither harmful or the culprit in creating bad habits (contrary to what some "experts" say). Children that are made to feel secure at bedtime develop healthier sleep habits as they grow. I've never known a first grader that was still being rocked to sleep or a teenager that needed Mom in the room to sleep. My advice is to comfort your daughter and do what works (especially since she sleeps through the night afterwards--what a huge blessing). If you are looking for a book to read, I can recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution and Parenting books by Dr. Sears for some helpful tips. I wish you the best! R. (RN, CNM now SAHM of 1 almost 2--My first was a poor sleeper, but now is a good sleeper-there's hope)

Hi E., I am so sure that what you are going though is frustrating, but I have some advise that many may not agree with. If your daughter needs to be rocked to sleep, go ahead and rock her. I have three little girls and my oldest, now 4 1/2, loved to be rocked as a baby and I loved to rock her. My middle girl couldn't stand it and it depends on my youngest's mood as to what she wants or needs. They are all SO different, but they are all great sleepers. My oldest was in a "big girl bed" very early and though we have had the occasional phases with her getting out of bed, she adjusted fine when she was too big to be rocked. Our babies are only our babies for so long. I don't agree that rocking your baby will make them clingy. Rocking your baby shows that you love them and that you are giving them what they need. And if my daughter, at 8 or 15 or 22, still wants me to tuck her in at night and hold her in my arms (even if its over the phone)....then I have done something right. Let your babies be babies and just be there mommy. Whatever decision you make is the best decision for you and your own children. I hope that it is just a phase for your sake, but just remember to "let them be little".
I hope that this has helped.....all the best!!
~Sarah

You might want to take her to the doctor to check for an ear infection. My little boy did that same thing when he was about that age and it turned out that he had double ear infections. The crazy thing too was that he wasn't running a fever. He had a slightly runny nose and that was it.

E.-

How precious to have twins and to be able to stay at home with them. Congratulations! Being twins, I'd have to ask if they were born prematurely? If so, she might be having reflux symptoms, which flare up at night when lying flat. Or, like others have mentioned, if could be ear infection, teething, or simply a stage such as separation anxiety.

Whatever the case may be, I'd definitely have her seen by her doctor, first, and mention concerns about reflux (this is not easily caught by most doctors-in fact, my youngest daughter had all sorts of problems that were attributed to colic, anxiety, teething, bad temper, etc. until she was 4yo and was finally diagnosed with reflux, which explained every symptom she'd had!).

You can try propping her mattress on one end and seeing if sleeping on an incline helps her to sleep better/longer, but otherwise after seeing a doctor, do what she needs to be comforted and rest. For my son, he couldn't be soothed to sleep by any of us no matter what. Once he was agitated and crying, we'd simply have to let him. Rocking him, holding him, playing music, singing, swinging, etc. wouldn't only end up making it worse until he was so exhausted he'd pass out. He was like that for months, unless he simply fell asleep in the car! We took quite a few car trips at night gefore he was 1 (BWG).

And then you need to rest. I know that's hard with any baby, especially with twins, but it'll equip you to help them both better. I know they're not newborns anymore, but mom's need to be well rested at any age of their child to help them the best. And, if she's that distressed it will wear you out without realizing it. HTH and good luck!

It could be an ear infection. My son would never let me put him to bed and then seem fine when up. Several times he did not actually have an infection but pressure behind the drum (very painful. Dr can check for that in office with a simple test. Good luck

Have the doctor check her adnoids (near the ear). My brother had ones that were swollen when he was a baby and it caused him discomfort when he laid flat to sleep. Also, it may be something with the crib-maybe a new toy or something is scaring her.

E.,

I agree with the other mom that said that your baby is probably over-tired. My son has separation anxiety when I leave a room also, but never when he goes down to sleep. I really don't think that is the problem. I read the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" and it really helped me. It says in there that some babies need less sleep than others, but anything less than a 45 minute nap is not enough. Are your babies in the same room? Maybe you need to separate them, at least for their naps, until this passes. If you let her cry for a little while, she may go back to sleep. That will be a problem if you are worried about your other daughter waking up. I hope this helps!

Do you think teething, especially molars is going on? Lying down makes it worse, and since they are so busy during the day, they don't notice it much - plus it can make those ears hurt, which lying down also can aggravate. Feel the gums to see if they are swollen, or look to see if they are red. If baby wakes with pain, they can associate being laid down with pain, too. If this is an issue, try ibuprofen before bedtime and see if it helps.

The other thing is they are coming up on the age of separation anxiety, and don't want mommy gone. One thing that helped w/dd is if I put her down, I rubbed her back as she drifted off. At least she's already down.

The only think that worked best was letting her sleep w/me, but that would be a challenge for you w/twins. You don't think there's an ear infection, do you?

I would check for an ear infection...my kids only had problems with ear infections when I laid them down. It could also be teething. Have you tried giving her motrin?

Hi E.,

Cheers to you for having twins! :) You might try cutting her down to one nap around 1pm or so. I cut out my 11 month old daughters 1st nap at around 7 months. She will sleep for 3 hours now in the afternoon which is nice. It takes some transitioning for everyone but if she was up for longer maybe she would be extra tired at night time. My daughter hasbeen doing the same thing and she is teething. About 4 are coming in at once. :( I don't want her to get use to being rocked to sleep so I make sure she hasa dose of tylenol befor bed and then I rock her and sing one song then its into bed. I go into another part of the house where I cannot here her crying until she goes to sleep. The crying it out works for me but with two that makes it kind of hard. If she is crying for 30 min without waking the other one up though I'll bet she won't wake up. Hang in there and try a few different things and it will get better. :)

K.

I have teens now but when my kids where little I read about and implemented a method that helped. I put a twin bed in there and layed down beside them and listened and looked. There may be shadows noises. Much to my surprise, My kid would freek everytime the air turned on. I stayed in there a couple of times and explained every noise and light till they were comforted. I also did not let my kids watch dinosaurs or anything else they did not understand at that age (scary things.) Hope this helps--God Bless

E., my daughter is a couple of weeks younger than yours and I'm wondering if your one daughter is going through more separation anxiety than the other. I know that Katelynn screams and cries hysterically the second I'm out of sight even thought she's a very happy and easy going child. She simply just wants mom (or as I call it she has a bad case of the M-O-M's). I think that it's probably just a phase and will pass. You may try simply patting/rubbing her back in the crib rather than picking her up. Sometimes I find that if I pick Katelynn up it makes things worse. Sometimes I have no choice because she won't lay down. It's kind of a hit and miss thing depending on her mood. The other thing that you might try is something visual to distract her. For Katelynn we have a Little Mermaid pho-candle that the Easter Bunny brought her from Walgreens. It's battery operating and changes colors. She loves it and often lays and watches it until she falls asleep. I then sneak in later and turn it off. They happen to be on sale this week: http://walgreens.shoplocal.com/walgreens/Default.aspx?act...#

All in all I've found that sleeping patterns in kids are so different and the only constant thing is that they change. Katelynn went from really short naps when she was younger (30 min-60 min) to longer ones now up to 3 hours. She's only recently started sleeping through the night. So don't get too discouraged and hang in there!

My daughter went through the same thing at that age and boy was it tough. I finally realized that she was over-tired. You see, I had been putting her down for only one nap (for my convenience more than anything else) and she just wasn't ready for that yet. These poor kids. They get so tired that they literally CAN'T sleep.

I let her cry it out as well (to a certain extent) and after a week or so, she gave up the crying jags. However, she was always tired looking the next day. Finally, I put her back on two naps a day and she did much better.

I know your daughter has two naps a day, but less than one hour combined is just not enough for a baby her age. You need to find out what the problem is and why she can't nap longer. Is her room too bright? Try hanging a heavy blanket over the window. Is the house or neighborhood too noisy? Get a white noise machine or run a box fan now that it's warming up.

Is she too hot? Too cold?

Just go over the basics and try to figure out the nap issue. I have a feeling that will solve the night-time battle as well.

HOWEVER, looking back at my situation, I do regret not taking Evie into the pediatrician when she was going through this. She could have had a painful ear infection (they're not always accompanied by a fever) and I would never have known.

Also, this is the age when babies start getting those first molars in. Again, very painful. You might try and dose her with Tylenol an hour before she goes down to see if that helps any.

Good luck and hang in there. This kind of stuff always works itself out eventually...I promise!

Possibly could be teething. Even if you don't see teeth coming in, they are still moving around under the gums. Try a small dose of motrin 30min. before bedtime. I have 4 children 10, 9, 6, & 3. It's so hard trying to figure out what they need! :) Good luck with things.