8 Month Old Suddenly Waking up in Middle of the Night

My baby is 15 months old and still goes through phases where she wakes up it usually happens around teething time. If laying him back down and rubbing his head or back works, then stick with that and know that it probably won't be lasting long.

It could be that he's hungry or can't soothe himself back to sleep. At that age with my tough to go to sleep child I gave him a safe toy to play with while he went back to sleep. Alex has never been a good sleeper so I wouldn't know what else to do. Good luck!!!

I would be willing to bet it is teething waking him, giving him motrin or tylenol before bed may help this waking cycle.
Also, do not rock him as this will be a habit that is hard to break. Rubbing his head is relaxing him and when they teethe especially the bigger teeth they hurt at night especially.
Growth spurts, teething, tummy upsets and even at his age nightmares can wake up your baby. However, not picking him up but soothing him with soft words, a rub on the back and even try teething tablets may be your life saver.
Both of my kids were middle of the night wakers with teething. For my daughter motrin was the only fix, with my son teething tablets settled him back in two minutes and he was back to sleep.

He will change his sleep patterns a lot, yes you are truly blessed but don't count on it staying this way. Most toddlers start rising early dawn and ready for the day! :)
His new found activity can be what helps him sleep better actually not cause more disruption, wearing him out before bedtime can help too. Make sure his tummy is full, diapers are clean, teeth aren't hurting and lay him down awake.
It will be a phase and then another, and another, hee hee..
Good luck!

Hi A.! This happened to me with a couple of my kids ( I have 4) and I talked to my pediatrician about it. He told me to calm them down, but never take them out of their crib. He said kids start doing this because they start the "stranger fear" phase and they become very clingy to their parents. If ever they wake up they are scared and they cry or call out for mom and dad for comfort. It is just a phase and it passes. he even said that if they aren't hysterical, but just kind of crying, to not even go in there and then they learn to calm themselves back down and go back to sleep on their own. It worked great for me. I only went in if they cried longer than about 15 or 20 minutes, unless it was a really terrified cry. one other thing it could be is teething. in that case, I just gave them tylenol and then laid them down and left the room. But, if I can stress anything, it would be to never get him out of the crib, because it only encourages him to wake up because he knows he will get to get out of his crib and you will rock him. Good Luck!

Sounds like a classic case of seperation anxiety to me. You as the mother know best. Could be activity, could be teething. Could just be that he is waking up wondering were mom is sometimes just needs to know that you are still there. For my Son at about this age my dad suggested that I comfort him from the door. I would crack open the door and quietly in my sweetest mommy voice let him know "mommy is here go back to sleep sweetheart, I love you" this usually worked he would fuss a little for a few more minutes and go back to sleep. If that didn't work I would go in and gently rub his back, or head reassuringly. I didn't pick him up unless he started getting super upset, then I would pick him up calm him, and lay him back down even if he cries when you lay him back down you can usually tell what kind of cry it is if it's not to upset you can try patting or shushing, or singing. Try different things and he will let you know what he likes best. Sometimes I would just wait a while and see if he would go back to sleep on his own, to my pleasant suprise he did sometimes. I have a sleep book that I absolutely love called "Good Night Sleep Tight" by the sleep lady Kim West. She teaches that learning to sleep is a skill just like learning to walk and talk, and it goes through ups and downs that kids have with learning this skill. She suggest gentle ways of helping your little one learn how to sleep through the night, or put themselves back to sleep if they wake up. Sometimes they need some coaching from you. It has tips from birth to 5 years of age. It's been an invaluable resource for me. Each Child is differnt for my daughter she usually would prefer to be left alone to work out her sleep troubles, I've tried all kinds of things for her she usually sleeps through the night now, but when she would wake up I seemed to be more of a disturbance than a help when I would try to help her so unless she got really upset I would leave her alone. Some kids it helps to just be in the room for a few minutes they don't need you to do or say anything just reassure that you are there. Good Luck.

Just a few thoughts. I too have an 8 month old!!!
Separation anxiety?
teething?
Growth spurt and he is hungry?
ear infection?
and yes-you picking him up could "wake him up more!"

My first son did this a LOT around 8 months and at the point, I was SO tired because he would get up anywhere form 5-10 times a night. I finally put a shirt of mine (that had my smell on it) in his crib with him and he fell right back to sleep. It worked great-however, he had to have it up until he was 3 years old. I guess that was fine-he slept better and so did I!
Another thougth, playing soft baby classic music in his room or getting a "star light moble" for the ceiling in his bedroom!
Good luck!
Good luck!

Hi A., you definitely do NOT want to pick him up and hug on him! Here's what I do and it works for us: I will change the diaper, check and make sure my son doesn't have a fever or that something else is wrong. Once I've made sure that all is ok, I lay him back down with his lovey and leave. If he cries I will go back in 5 minutes, pat him on the head, tell him I love him, and leave. I then go back in 7 minutes if he is still crying, etc. This is hard to do as it breaks your heart to listen to him cry but after about 3 nights, he will stop waking up and crying. Good luck!

My first boy started waking up in the night about that age. I was tired and getting really cranky about it. Two months later, some teeth popped out and he stopped waking up. I felt so bad! His mouth just hurt. If I'd known, I would have given him Tylenol.
I don't remember if he was still sleepy or wanted to play. But it's a lot easier to get your mind off of the pain while you're playing, instead of laying there trying not to think about it...

My little man (now 20 months) did the exact same thing, I figured out that he was cold, if I swaddled him in a blanket and cuddled him he would go right back to sleep. Worked for us, not sure if it will for you but I guess anything is worth a try? He may be teething too, or just going through a growth spurt and is hungry. I would just do trial and error and see what works. I know that if I picked up my kiddo every time he would also wake up completely, so since laying him down and rubbing his head worked, I would just stick with that until it doesn't work, LOL! If that continues to work then yeah!!! But if not I would give those other things a try. My oldest who is now 8 never would sleep in his own bed, so I was willing to try anything to make sure the next one did! I didn't get my oldest out of my bed until he was 4 years old (told him he couldn't go to big boy school until he slept in his own bed :-)) Hope that helps and good luck! Hugs!

My son is 10-months-old and has had good times sleeping and very, very bad times sleeping, so I thought I'd let you know what has been working for us (sorry it is so long).

Each night, we have set up a ritual, bath (or Daddy holds him in a shower, which he loves and prefers), PJs, brush teeth (he has 8 already...even the dentist is impressed!!!), book, nurse, then bed. When I put him in bed, I cuddle him under a blanket (he never liked swaddling much, but that is a good suggestion too), tell him he is a big boy and can go to sleep by himself and turn on his mobile as well as I made a CD of sleepy time songs (we got the CDs from the library and I made a mix) that plays for about 3 hours very softly (it is mainly Veggie Tales sing the Nursery Rhymes/older hymns with a modern feel...it is adorable...I love it). We also have a fan going on low for white noise. I piled some (6-8) safe toys in his crib, which he now plays with as he is going to sleep (it is so cute to see him "read" his soft books as he goes to sleep) and when he first wakes in the morning. I'm sure the probably plays some in the middle of the night too.

When he wakes in the middle of the night (which is quite often), I wait until his cry is more urgent...then I know something may be wrong (if it is a sleepy cry, I don't go in and he usually goes back to sleep on his own after about 5 minutes or so). If I go in, I first try just patting his back first and if he doesn't settle down to that, I will pick him up and try rocking him...oh and I don't ever turn on the light, just a nightlight we have in the bathroom or keep one plugged in in his room or don't turn the light on at all if your eyes are adjusted (if your son is like mine, he is drawn to lights and will sit and stare, rather than go back to sleep) and we sit and rock for a little bit after I turn his CD back on, but only for about 5-10 minutes, then regardless if he is asleep or not, I put him back in bed, re-cuddle him in his blanket (which he has become very attached to in the last week...he doesn't use a paci or suck his thumb or anything like that, but if your son does, help him find those things too) and turn on his mobile and leave the room right away. If he seems hungry when we are rocking (I assume growth spurt), I nurse him again, but we are trying to wean that feeding, so unless he is acting starving, patting my chest (which is his "sign" for milk), I try not to feed him in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, some of our fallbacks have come because he gets sick lots (and is teething lots), but I still try to keep the routine going even when he is sick (though I go pick him up as soon as he cries then and rock him for longer, usually until he is almost asleep).

I do feel that the best thing I have done is putting him in his bed sleepy, but awake and letting him cry for a bit (which sometimes means turning off the baby monitor and closing the door to keep you from bursting back into the room to rescue your baby and turning on the TV or movie on LOUD if you are still up...even sometimes have had to do this in the middle of the night too especially after a bout with illness and he has gotten into the habit of waking up again in the night...may seem like I'm a bad mom, but it has truly worked with good results) which teaches him to settle himself and put hiself to bed. Now, after about a week of that, he now can go to sleep on his own without putting up too much of a fuss and even fall back asleep on his own in the middle of the night. It definately takes some willpower and is not for the weak at heart! I don't profess to being very strong because I have to admit that I have had nights where I am SO tired (I sometimes do my transcription after he goes to bed and work until the early morning), I just rock him and nurse him until he falls asleep, but every little thing you try is going to help (and hopefully will help make sure that you don't have kids in YOUR bed as they grow...which is hard for us, we only have a full size bed and even as a little baby, if he slept with us, I ended up getting kicked out of bed sooner rather than later and got a horrible nights sleep, so I can't imagine as he grows or with other siblings in the mix!!!)!

I hope this helps you get some ideas to try. Good luck!

S., 25, mom of 10-month-old boy Tyrrone

do NOT get him out of his crib. do NOT turn on a bright light. turn on a soft lamp, check his diaper--change it if it's wet at all, then scoop him up and lay him back down on his back, pat his tummy, and walk out of the room.

They say you shouldn't talk at all, but I like to say "it's still night time. time to sleep"

if you think he's teething, give him some tylenol or an herbal remedy...or a binky.

if he cries, go put in some laundry or load the dishwasher or drink a glass of milk....if he's still crying 15 minutes later, go in and do the same thing - change his diaper and put him to bed. He'll figure it out...and you'll all be happier at bedtime and naptime for the next 5 years.

This is very normal, as you said, when their activity level goes up, this can sometimes interfere with their sleep, it could also be the begining of teething, try giving some tylenol before bed and see if this doesn't help, it could also be that he just needs some reasurance that you are around, which may be why he ok with a little head rub and then right to sleep. I would try to avoid picking him up if you can, unless he is real upset, and keep everything as dark as possible, see if that helps, usually they wake up for something, but they eventually get back on schedule.

My guess is teething, or that kind of thing just happens. Check his mouth and try Tylenol when he wakes up or before bed.

It may be that your baby is teething and he wakes up because of the pain. Or it may be that he is going through a growth spurt and gets hungry at night, do you breastfeed him or give him a bottle when he wakes up? I know some people will tell you that he does not need to be fed at night, but in my experience when a baby is hungry you just feed him no matter what the clock says! Massage is a great way to relax your baby and get him back to sleep, but only if he is NOT crying hysterically, you want him to associated teh massage with relaxing moments, not times when he is really unhappy. Since it clemd hiom down before, try giving him a nice baby massage before bed time and see if it helps him sleep through the night any better. Good luck!

Hi A.
you are right, DO NOT PICK HIM UP! Actually , let him cry a few minutes, then go in, lay him back down and leave. Repeat every few minutes if necessary, slowly increasing the time between him crying and your going in his room. It is very easy for a baby to get used to being picked up and cuddled. It becomes a bad habit FAST. I have 4 children, and did everything wrong (sleep wise) with my first child. He is still my worst sleeper. A baby needs to learn how to get himself back to sleep. This may take a few days, ususally only 3 days. Don't give in. There are alot of books on this subject at the library if you need more confirmation.
This is very common....he may be teething, growing, who knows? The solution is still the same.
Good Luck
C.

Do you breast feed? Because my guess, is that like our son he may be going through a growth spurt and may be hungry. Trajan slept through by 4 months and at 8 months consistently wakes up between 2 and 3 a.m I am a SAHM, so I don't mind getting up & feeding him.
Otherwise, I know when we have stress at the home/ we re hving an argument he responds by not sleeping well.

somtimes they can start waking up because they hit a growth spurt and need a few extra calories. But if massaging his head worked then go with it. Keep being constant and try to avoid picking him up unless you think that he is teething or is hungry. Because yes you are waking him up more and then they come to expect that every night.

My 7 mo old is doing exactly the same thing. She is breaking all 4 upper front teeth and going thru a growth spurt at the same time... midnight,2 am,4 am and up for the morning around 7!!! This is soooo hard.

She's eating 8 oz milk, #2 jar of baby food and 1/2 cup of oatmeal thru the night... I have been making bottles with food in them and keeping them close by. This allows her to get the food she needs and chew on the nipple for teething. It's working. The teeth finally broke thru the skin and she was only up once last night...

In my opinion, you can never cuddle your baby too much, whether it be day or night. Sometimes they just need a little snuggle to ease them back to sleep. so snuggle away!

Hope this helps you - good luck, I feel your pain!

I hear ya sister!! my daughter is doing the same thing, but with her is worse, she do not want to sleep on her crib at all, and she sleeps in our bed, like you, we tried all sorts of things but nothing worked neither, this phase this killing me.