Infant Waking at Night

Hi J.. I'd have to agree with almost everyone - my daughter's about the same age and she wakes up when her gums are bothering her. You might want to look into the Oragel though - my pediatrician told me that it can be dangerous to the baby because, if swallowed, it can numb the mouth and throat and they can choke on their own saliva. Sounds crazy - and maybe I'm paranoid, but just wanted to give you a "head's up." Baby Tylenol works well for us - and occasionally, she'll chew on a cool, wet washcloth. Good luck!

Teething is always a posibility in the first year. Another thing that consistently disrupted their sleep even more though was when they were working on developing a new skill - rolling, sitting, standing, walking, talking. Around the time they were close to mastering a new skill, they would wake or have difficulties falling asleep. It's tough because you are disrupted as well. Mine would return to their normal sleeping pattern as soon as they figured out the skill and didn't feel the need to spend so much time working it anymore.

My youngest son (11mon) hasn't been much of a sleeper since he was 8months b/c of ear infections. I know he has one when he starts waking up every 2hours during the night. You never know. If he has had a runny nose, low grade temp or any other signs of a cold it may have settled in his ears. Or it may just be teething. Don't you just wish they could tell you;-)

Hi J.,
My 6 month old son did the same thing. Here are some suggestions that worked for us:
1. Swaddling him with a blanket when you put him to sleep in his crib.
2. Play a white noise CD in his room when he sleeps.
3. Feed him his last meal right before he goes to bed for the night.
4. Have you started him on rice cereal yet? We started our son at 8 weeks because formula was not enough to keep him satisfied and it helped reduce his constant spit-up. He starting sleeping through the night once we started the cereal. Check with your pediatrician first.
Good luck, let me know what happens!
J. K

You can count on about a week or so every 3 months of this until they are about 2. It is a period of "growth". Not necessarily physical growth but emotional and mental cause this also. My son just turned 1 and my friends and I have all noticed this phenomena. They cry, are upset, can't get back to sleep without nursing (or bottle) or cuddling several times a night. Pay attention to what he is doing during the day, is he learning to sit up? Crawl? Pass things from one hand to another? Separation anxiety? All these things can cause it. It is well documented in the scientific literature as well. There are two things you can do, let him cry and figure it out himself, or go in and hold him and make him know you are there and make it as comfortable as possible. Someday, they will sleep through the night!!!

My daughter did that for a couple of weeks and then she stopped. Still not really sure what it was but when she would wake up I would just put her in bed with us and she would go back to sleep, that way I could still get some sleep!

Could very well be teething--he is at that age. Try some baby Tylenol and/or baby Orajel.

My daughter did the same thing at that age. It did turn out to be teething. I tried putting a teething ring in her crib with her and it actually worked. She would wake up and grab it. It is hard to deal with, but I would suggest keeping some Infants Oragel handy. Don't worry, it will pass. Good luck.

My son did it too. Still wakes through the night and he's
3 1/2!!! I would have to say it's probably the teeth. Even if you don't see anything yet, it's working it's way up and could be causing discomfort.
I would try cold teether toys, orajel and if that doesn't work Tylenol. He can't tell you what hurts so it's all a guessing game.

good luck
N.

J.,
I am new to this but my first child would do that and I would take him for car rides. trust me don't do that. I took him to the doctors and found out that he was Colic (not sure if I spelled that right). It wouldn't hurt to check into with your doctor.

K.

bad dreams maybe teething get a night light for him and something for his gums try thr night first then meds for his teeth

Hi J.!
I also have a 5 month old baby boy! (great isn't it!). Anyway...he still gets up in the night and I just put it down to him teething, growth spurt, cold, hungry, just being a baby and the list goes on!

Good luck to you and hope your son is back to sleeping thru the night soon! Mine has never slept thru the night!

Take care,
J.

could be teething, growth spurt's, new milestones. It just could be anything at that age!

Personaly, I think your son is a bit young for teething. Most babies don't cut teeth until they are closer to 8 months. If a baby has cold like symptoms, it's a cold, not teething, the "cold-like" symptoms and teething association are a myth and it's bad advise to assume otherwise. A fever of any sort should be followed up on with your doctor. Most babies around 5 months start drooling excessively due to the over production of saliva. A baby has no control over anything, EVERYTHING is unbalanced in a child this young and the body is constantly growing, hormone levels are changing, and learning is occurring. Salivary glands are a good example of this. The age your son is now is when he starts having awareness of his surroundings and memory develops. Children this age start having what is called night terrors. It's when they are in REM sleep (dreaming) and in their dream they have dropped something or they are hungry or you leave the room. Things that they normally fuss about in their wake hours.

Both of my kids have gone through this. I, like most people, took advise of others a knuckled it down to teething and of course, medicated my child when he didn't need it. (In which I absolutely despise) Finally I did my own research and all of the things occurring with both of my children (my youngest just went through it) fit the critera of night terrors.

Handeling it is one of 2 ways. Let them cry it out or soothe them through it. I soothed my kids, I don't believe in the crying it out. I hope this helps, good luck.

Hi J..
Teething could be it. Fortunately I didn't have any issues with my 3 kids and teething other than fevers. However my neice is 6 months old and about a 4 weeks ago she went thru the exact same thing. Waking up during the night and just unusually fussy during the day. My sister introduced her to a couple of teething rings and now she has 2 little teeth sticking out of her bottom gums and is back to her happy sleeping thru the night self! :)

he is most likely teething give him some tylenol and oragel to ease the pain and he should be fine and go back to sleep