I know that a sleep question gets put up on this list at least once a week so I am sure everyone is bored with the topic right now, but I am desperate for help!
My daughter is 8 1/2 months old and not sleeping through the night. But that is not the thing that bothers me. I don't care that she wakes up once or twice in the night...if that is what she needs, I am fine with it. I am a stay at home mom, so I can't complain about the night wakings. BUT, it's the way she wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs that kills me.
She is actually a very good sleeper. She takes a 2 hour nap usually at 10:30 and occasional a 30 minute nap in the afternoon. She goes to bed at 8:00 PM and sleeps until 12:00 midnight. I must add that we have recently taught her to fall asleep on her own. I do not nurse or rock her to sleep or use any other negative sleep associations. We read a story and I put her down totally awake. She falls asleep on her own without any tears or noise at all. When she wakes up at midnight she is crying. I have tried everything possible but she will continue to cry (for hours). I finally give in and pick her up and occasionally rock or nurser her. But that doesn't always work and she us up crying again. This goes on until somewhere between 4 and 5 until I nurse her and she is back to sleep. She then sleeps until 8:00-9:00.
Why is she crying so much in the middle of the night. She never cries at all during the day! I know she is teething, but would this really cause her to scream for 3-4 hours!? I thought maybe she had an ear infection, but she shows NO other signs that would point to it.
Like I said, I don't mind the waking up, but I can't handle the screaming...I am at a loss of what to do...help!
She might have cholic. Give her gas drops and see, if this will help her.
Good Luck. I can only imagine how frustrating this can be.
Rosie
My oldest son was the same way and I started giving him a warm bottle of water (similar to tea). I realized that he had very bad gas and was told about mylicon because I am not one that likes utilizing gripe water as it has alcohol.
It worked very well for him.
I hope that helps ;)
Try pushing back her 10:00 nap to maybe 11:00. If she is sleeping until 8-9 with a nap at 10 and then another nap in the afternoon she might not be tired. Good luck!!
Did you try gas drops or over the counter ear medicine? They make a numbing drop that you could put in her ears to soothe the pain and if that helps then you know you can take her to the doctor for antibiotics. The only clue I had with my children when they had ear infections is they woke up @ 4:00 in the morning crying that there ears hurt.
I also have a little boy (he's 8 now) who used to just wake up 'wild' at night. He would wake up just screaming and crying and i would try everything just get him to wake up enough to calm down and go back to sleep. to let him know that things were ok and we were there and go back to sleep. GOOD LUCK!
Hi M.!
Since your daughter has a great bedtime routine and goes to sleep on her own, she may be having night terrors. Which are basically really bad dreams in the middle of the night. I would still to try not to pick her up but maybe rub her head and let her know that everything is ok and you are there. If she is teething, rub some benadryl on her gums. That should help her teething. If she's been doing this for a while. It wouldn't hurt to take her to your pediatrician just to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection or anything else. I hope things get better and you're able to get some rest. Good Luck!
M.
Yea i agree pushing her nap back to maybe after lunch. Have lunch at 11:30 and then nap at 12. The only other advice i have is to buy some ear plugs and let her cry. I had this problem and then i figured out he just wanted me to come in there. So i stopped coming in and just let him cry it out. It took only a few nites and the crying stopped. Good luck!
Hi, M.... I read some of your responses, but not all.
I did see where someone mentioned that it might be gas. I agree. My 3yr old went through something similar at about that age. Walmart and Target carry some infant drops that are good for gas. They are called Mylicon... or something like that. You will find them in the baby area where the medicine droppers are. They worked wonders for us when he was little. The other thing that made him wake up like that was when he was teething. He had a mouth full of teeth (8) by the time he was 8 months. We would rub some baby orajel on his gums and that helped tremendously as well.
Good luck!
Is she only nursing? She may be starving. Try adding some infant cereal before bed. Just a thought, hope it helps.
I will speak from the spiritual side of this situation. Pray over your child and plead the blood of Jesus over her.
Read Psalm 4:8 (New International Version)over her.
8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
You may also try putting in a cd with worship songs or the bible being read. Let it play all night. You'll see a big change.
Maybe if you just comfort her quickly when she wakes up and maybe nurse or rock her or both then she will go back to sleep quickly and so can you. I see no real NEED to let her cry and she will eventually learn to put herself back to sleep on her own when she is older. If she needs her mommy at night I say give her her mommy. Babies need parenting no matter what the hour of the day! Parenting is not a 9-5 job...plus that way you get to go back to sleep too and it is a win win situation.
Please dont allow your baby to suffer because of some idea that you are doing her a favor by making her independent. She is only 8 months old....there is time for independence later in life but while she is a baby she needs you to make her feel loved and secure no matter what the hour.
I'm sorry to hear you're little one is not sleeping well. I know mine had the same problem around that age, but she always experienced really bad gas in the middle of the night. Gas was the only thing that made her wake up screaming instead of the normal whining in her sleep or just a wet diaper.
Does your baby sleep in the dark or with a night light? My daughter doesn't like sleeping in the dark, so if someone else stayed with her and would forget to plug in the light, when she would wake up in the dark she would scream also.
It difficult to not know what your baby needs especially when you want to ease their pain so desparately.
I hope you're able to find out what's going on so you can both rest peacefully.
I wish you luck in finding the answere for you and your baby. This may not solve your problem but it solved mine... About 8 months my child was needing more than nursing before bed. I stopped nursing at night about 8:00p.m. at bed time then it was bottles for midnight feeding, my baby would then sleep until about 6:00am and I would nurse her and give her cereal. I started spoon feeding my daughter breakfaast at 6 months old because of her constant hunger. We did sometimes put cereal in her bottle at night for a while but it did not prevent her from waking for that midnight bottle. Also I think it gave her gas issues during the night. I know some don't think it is a good idea but we gave her the bottle and she put herself back to sleep, I never took her out of her crib and she would fall asleep with the bottle. At 8 1/2 months she was fine. Also I have read that when you "train" your child that they have to cry for your attnetion at night they will start crying and screaming for you the second they wake up, if you "train" your child there is no reason to cry and Mommy will come when she hears you wake they learn they don't need to wake up screaming. I read this in Dr. Sears book. It worked for us. My daughter did not cry when she woke up, unless we let her lay there for a while and fuss it would eventually turn into a screaming cry. And she was a collic baby, not an always content, easy one. Once we started going right in when we heard her wake and settled her down without picking her up as said by Dr. Sears it worked in about a week, she stoped crying as soon as she woke up, she would just fuss for a minute or two, then we would go in before the real crying satred.
Hope this can help you.
M. J.
I really do think it is the teething. I do the same thing with my little girl. She goes right down without rocking, and sleeps well. She wakes up happy and plays in her bed for a while before I go get her. Then, sometimes for a few weeks to a month, she will do the same thing that you described. It comes and goes. I feel like teething never ends. Our's started at 8months,and she's two now and we're still going through it. Hang in there. :)
Girl I don't know what it could be. I don't think its night terrors like the other lady said. Those usually don't start til around 2. She may just be not sleepy anymore at that time and is crying because you are trying to make her go back to sleep. She may want to play and mommy says no its time to sleep. Mabye waking her up earlier in the am, and kinda getting her schedule jump started that way, would allow her to sleep better at night time cause she would be more tired. I hope you find a solution because I agree, that screaming in the middle of the night will fray anyones nerves! :)
D.
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She's at the typical age for the initial separation anxiety, both of mine did something similar at 9 months. If you think that is it try picking her up when she wakes up screaming, soothe her until she stops, then put her back to sleep (she may reach for you and cry again when you leave but tell her it is ok and go). Then just keep going back at greater intervals 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, then 30 and DON'T pick her up, but pat her back give her hug, tell you are there, lay her back down and leave. With mine, we almost never needed to go back after the 30 minute mark. She needs assurance you are there, but not that she will "get her way." It was a phase, one that as I recall lasted almost a month then petered out and went back to normal.
Also, check that she's not teething or in pain (inflamed gums, fingers in mouth, etc..). If she is, give her something for the pain, homeopathic, tylenol, ibuprofen whatever fits your parenting. Its extra hard when they are sleepy and are in pain.
If nursing her helps her go back to sleep than she's probably waking up hungry. I would suggest increasing the amount of calories she's taking in during the day. It may also be the pain of teething waking her up. I always used Tylenol or Ibuprofen when my children were teething and that seemed to help better and last longer than any teething tablet or Oragel. I would not suggest letting her cry it out. Research has proven that this method can cause trust/mistrust issues for children. Babies cry for a reason b/c they have a need to be met whether that need is physical or emotional it does not matter. Ignoring that need can do damage. I wish moms would stop suggesting that it's okay to let babies cry it out.
You're doing a great job putting her to bed positively. Keep up the good work and good luck!
J. (wife of one wonderful husband and four sweet children)
Maybe a little music will help, this is what I use for my little girl since she was born, check it out it might help you!
http://firstwhispers.com/
This other one promotes deep sleep so she might not wake up in the little of the night, I bought it for me but my 3 year old likes it too.
http://www.brookstone.com/store/product.asp?product_code=...
I agree with Karen in that she may not be getting enough sleep. I know when my kids don't get their normal amt of sleep they are very restless during the night. I recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. I was so glad when I found this book after having my first baby. Hope this helps!
When my little guy is teething (we have 5 now). He wakes up more at night, every 3 hours, and the only thing that seems to help is a small bottle (it use to be the breast). I might also give some baby Tylenol if it gets bad. This will go on for about 2 nights to a week and then when the tooth is in we go back to our 2:00 am feeding.
My son is about your daughter's age and doesn't sleep through the night.
I, myself had a small child who woke up once or twice a night screaming. My daughter did this from the day she was born. In my daughter's case it was Night Terrors. IT is a very nerv wracking thing for the parents to go throough. When the child wakes up, she is not fully awake and it takes some time to get her fully cognizant that mommy (pr daddy) is there and she is okay.
When my daughter had it, there wasn't anything I could do but cope with it each time it happened. I will say she has grown out of it.
I did take some precautions that caused others to think I was being overprotective, but allowed me some peace of mind as my daughters Night Terrors slowly got less and less. What I did is became very picky about what TV shows and movies she was exposed to. Nothing with any violence and absolutely no watching horror movies or "shoot 'em ups" while she was awake, even if she didn't seem liek she was paying attention.
I would google "night terrors" on the internet and see if you child's symptoms fit and if there have been any advances for helping a child through them if your daughter appears to be having them...
Good Luck... ;-)
Teething can absolutely cause screaming for hours on end. One of my sons was inconsolable during the worst of his teething. For some reason, it's worse at night. Even giving him a dose of Tylenol and little teethers gel didn't always do the trick. Also, just because a child doesn't show signs of an ear infection (tugging on ear) doesn't mean he/she doesn't have one. Call your pediatrician and have her checked out just to be on the safe side. It may seem silly, but that's what the doctor is there for, especially while she's pre-verbal.
If these tips don't work, I highly recommend Nighttime Parenting by Dr. Sears.
E.
Teething? Possibly. However I recommend researching hand, foot and mouth disease. It is a highly contagious virus with strange, mostly unnoticable symtoms except the extreme late night irritability. Look it up, it may be what your baby is experiencing. Best wishes...
Hi M.,
I have read all the advice from the other mom's, I don't know your child's feeding schedule, teething etc., but my 6 month old wakes up sometimes screaming with what they call "night terrors" basically bad dreams, I usually comfort him and rock him and he goes back to sleep, she also maybe going through a growth spurt of some kind too, although since you said she continues to scream for hours on end it may not be a growth spurt or bad dreams.
I know this wasn't too helpful, but I hope it goes better for you!
Sorry if I repeat myself from similar posts... My motto is: Hungry children will not sleep. If she is hungry then she will cry, cry, cry to no avail. Give her a 4 oz bottle. She have hit a new stage, may be using more calories, being more mobile, etc. She's asking for more food in order to get through the night. Yes you don't want her to develop a nighttime feeding habit. But she will not sleep if she is hungry. You have to evaluate her needs every time she cries; don't just stick a bottle in her mouth. My rule of thumb was, if my daughter continued to wake up after 2 times of checking on her, then I fed her... and then we all got back to sleep.
At 8-9 months, she should be getting more sleep than it appears she is... Here is a website that mentions her age should get 14 hours a day: http://www.civitas.org/sleep.html
You mention her being consistently asleep for 10-11 hours a day:
2 hours in the morning
4 hours between 8pm-12pm (she's awake for over 8 hrs from when she woke up last)
4-5 hours between 4am-8am or there about...
One of the aspects about sleep deprived children is that, actually the more tired and sleep deprived the child is, the less they can fall asleep and stay asleep. So she may need some help in developing an afternoon nap: consider going for a drive in the car to see if that will help her nod off.
