Sleeping Problems - Medway, MA

Try feeding her more before she goes to bed. I think that two things are happening. She is getting ready to go through a growth spurt so she needs more food, so I would try a bed time snack like oatmeal or rice or something 'filling'. I also think that she should have something to soothe her teeth when she wakes up in the middle of the night like a cold teething ring. My thoughts are that she is using the bottle to soothe her gums. Maybe all she needs is a teething ring? It takes a lot of energy to do all that she is doing right now, so maybe these things will help. C.

Our son had the same problem when he cut his teeth. Try some Highland's teething tablets, they work wonders! My other suggestion may be some tylenol for the pain. Best of luck!

My 9 month old is doing the same thing. I am still nursing, and some nights he'll have me up 3 or 4 times! Just recently, I started sending his father in with a bottle when he wakes up. Since then he doesn't wake up as much, maybe once at 3 am. He'll drink a few ounces and go back to sleep. I guess Dad isn't as much fun as me! Also, Dad is better at letting him cry a bit. I tend to rush in over the smallest peep. We also just cut the top 4 teeth. I always used infant Motrin at bedtime, lasts about 8 hours. Hope some of this helps. At least you know you're not alone!

I was thinking that you could try a homeopathic remedy for teething called chamomilla (chamomile). It's completely natural and 100% harmless (she could eat the whole bottle and she'd be fine, not that I recommend that). It helps for teething and settling stomach. Some babies who cry inconsolably and you just know they're exhausted will respond to this remedy by falling asleep almost the second you give it to them. This happened for my son more than once. I don't believe in giving babies motrin.

I also think that if you let her cry and then give her the bottle you may be telling her that if she just cries long enough she'll get the bottle. So you probably have to decide one way or the other. A great book about sleep is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. My friend follows it to the T and her kids are great sleepers from the beginning. My son sleeps with me at 4 years old. He's never cried it out in his life. There are pros and cons but I just couldn't take the pain! I love cuddling with him. Would I do it that way again if I had another one? Probably not, but I can't say for sure.

Good luck,
N.

I believe my now 3 yr old went through something similar around the same age. I'm sure the teeth may be a factor but I have a feeling it's just a pattern. Like us waking at the same time during the night to go potty, etc.

You may want to ride it out until the teeth come through just to see if it makes a difference. Then, if she is still waking...you can make a better decision about the crying it out thing. We went through that with our son and it is heart breaking. But, within 2 nights, he figured it out.

You may also want to try Hyland's Teething tablets. They are all natural and dissolve as soon as they hit the mouth so there is no chance of choking. We noticed a diffrence with Josh.

Good luck.

H.

my daughter did the same thing when she was around this age. our peditrician suggested that she was just waking up to see us. and told us to slowly decrease the amount of formula in the bottle and eventually over about a wk make it all water. and that she would stop waking up once she realizes all she is going to get is water. it took a while but it worked.

Good luck

M.

Just wondering, A., does a bottle of water work as well as a bottle of milk?

When my youngest turned 9 months he started to get his teeth in I used to get one of his teething rings that was able to be put into the freezer and put a dab of baby anbesol on it.It soothed his pain and put him to sleep without having the bottle all of the time.

Seems like you got plenty of good advice. I'm having the same problem with my 6 month old girl. She is up every hour or so and can't seem to get back to sleep on her own. My cousing told me to try a snack of rice before bed, but I'll have to try the natural tablets that were mentioned.
Thanks

does she use a pacifier? maybe she just needs to suck on something.. or you can try giving her a little motrin when she's like that and see if that helps if you think it's teething that's causing the pain.

As for sleeping issues, you guys are not alone!! I never ever ever thought I would let my baby cry but Reaves was still up at least twice a night (and occasionally as much as 4-5 times a night and sometimes for long periods). It was getting extremely exhausting. I was fine with it until recently, I guess I thought he would start outgrowing it but he hasn't. Sometimes we bring him in bed with us, but that doesnt always work because sometimes he thinks its playtime and crawls all over us! Our doctor said as hard as it might be, we should try letting him cry a little. This is what she had to do when in a similar situation when her son was 10 months old. She said we need sleep, and boy is she right! It also actually will help the baby learn to sleep better. She recommended a modified "Ferber" method (my best friend also used this)-- Go through the bed-time routine, put the baby in bed awake but drowsy. If they cry and/or try to stand up, just put them back down, pat their back or rub tummy and hum, or sing quietly but just for 30 sec or so then leave. Let them cry for up to 5 minutes (if you can handle it!) then go back in and lay them down, pat back and leave (dont pick up or talk). Then add time--so 10 minutes of crying. Then go back in, pat back, and leave. Then 15 minutes of crying, go back in, pat back,and leave. (15 minutes will be the max). Each time you go in, lay them back down, pat back. Sometime during one of those 15 minutes, the crying will stop and baby will go to sleep. If baby wakes in the night, repeat this again. It really helps nursing moms if dad can go in during the night so baby doesnt smell mommy's milk. (it can be very exhausting, but from what I've read and heard, but the end of a week nearly all babies are sleeping much better!) For my doc, her baby slept through the night on the third night!

As much as I don't believe in crying it out, I think we are to a point where we need sleep and Reaves needs to learn how to put himself back to sleep without having to nurse. This is our third night. The first night he fell asleep in the 2nd 15 minutes of crying. He only woke up once and Dh went in after 5 minutes of crying, put him down, patted his back and left--he went back to sleep! And slept until the morning--boy was I engorged! Last night he fell asleep during the 10 minutes of crying, woke up once and Dh was able to go in and he fell back to sleep. He then nursed at 6 am and slept for 2 more hours and woke up happy and playing (never happens! usually he wakes up crying or whining,I think because he is still tired). By the 3rd night he slept through until 5, nursed and went back to sleep until 7:30. By the 4th night he was falling asleep after less than a minute of crying!We are on the 6th night now and he continues to do great.

Oh, also I am not doing it for naps right now. I am nursing/rocking etc whatever it takes.

With the teething, I would give motrin before bed, or if you dont like to give medicine you could try the Hyland's natural teething tablets (but beware that they have dairy in them if your child is sensitive to that).

Good luck! I'm right there with ya!

J.

I went through the same thing with my daughter. We increased her baby food/formula and gave her Tylenol if she seemed really out of sorts before bed because her teeth were bugging her. She is one now and sleeps through the night in her crib in her room. I know how you feel. You will get your child through this.

Does your daughter use a pacifier? You could also try buying the Fisher Price Ocean Acqaurium that hooks to the crib...that will usually sooth my son to sleep. Also, if she is teeth, try giving her some motrin. She may be waking from the teething and than just wants the comfort of the bottle. Good luck!!

as sad as it is so hear your little one crying for such a long time, letting her scream and fuss is really the only way that works. even during teething. it's about them learning to fall asleep on their own, and believe me, she will. you don't see any adults who still need their mom's to come in with a bottle to help them get back to sleep, right? for the teething, what i did with my two little ones was before they went down for the night, rub some baby anbesol on her gums. on nights when they were especially bad with their teeth during the day, i would give them a small amount of baby tylenol, too. just so they could get through the night without having to wake up from their teeth. it helped soothe my conscious about having to let them cry it out. believe, it does get easier, and is so worth in the long run. stick to bedtime routines, and if you absolutely MUST go in, make it quick and quiet. say bedtime, or nothing at all, and just tuck her back in. the more attention you bestow, the more they think they're behavior is correct. don't worry, all babies have to go through this, and so do all parents. you're not a bad mom for letting her cry it out. if it hurts too much to listen to, get some headphones and listen to music, and only listen to your baby every 10 minutes vs. all the time. i hope this helps.

Hi A., I do not really see the harm in giving her the bottle at 3am. My daughter had a bottle in the middle of the night untill she was 12 mos. I would just give her a little bit enough to sooth her back. My daughter did not have a pacifier, and the bottle is was she liked for comfort. I noticed out of my friends who's babies took to the paci they slept better, and usually through the night. You say your little one was sleeping through before, so maybe it has to do w/ the teething? Has your pedo rec giving her some baby tylenol before bed when you think the teeth are acting up? I just really did not like the whole crying it out routine. It never worked for me, my daughter cried also for over an hr, and I just said thats it I am her mother and i cannot let my baby just cry. Some people their babies only cry for like 20 min. Thats fine, but when a baby is whaling for over an hr, I just think its cruel to ignore it. But that is just me. My daughter is almost 4 now, and besides some minor attitude problems, LOL! She is fine. Oh and her teeth are perfect. She has never had a cavity, knock on wood, LOL! Just do what feels right for you!!! Good Luck!!

You've gotten some good advice, and I have little to add except that you should use caution with Hyland's (we've used them too) because they contain a very small amount of belladonna, which is a deadly poison. The amount in the tablets is so small that it won't cause any harm, so just be careful how many you give.

During teething, we've also tried giving both motrin and tylenol (with the pediatrician's approval), when our daughter's pain seemed particularly bad. This helped her sleep through, after several nights of waking.

I wouldn't worry about giving a bottle in the middle of the night either, or trying an extra feeding before bed. Babies grow quickly & sometimes need the extra nourishment. She can obviously soothe herself; otherwise, she wouldn't have been sleeping through before these episodes, as your post seems to imply. So, you're really just responding to her needs and letting her know she can count on you. It's temporary, she'll start sleeping through again very soon.

Good luck.

Hi A.,

You might try moving her bed time to later and then later so the feeding ends up being early a.m.

Everyone is different but for me 90 minutes of crying after awaking from a sleep is a very long time. I think "Yes, you did the right thing" and in my opinion it was NOT caving but dealing with your infant's need. Remember beside eating and teething, developmentally she's going through a lot too. They start having separation anxiety around that age; you really don't want her stressing that she can't find her caretakers.

Plus some kids get riled up if they get really frustrated; if that's her personality you want to stem it early with distraction or you're going to have a very unhappy kid. Why let her get that unhappy unless your schedule really needs to be guarded for whatever reason. Keep in mind she'll change her sleep patterns 5 more times before she's 18 mos.

If there are times that you feel she shouldn't be hungry, try playing with her or showing here stuff to distract her or get her a teether to chew on.

I always comforted our daughter when she cried at night and wanted to eat. She was also colic and the pedi's always told us to let her cry it out and leave her but I also can't stand doing that. I always held her and gave her what she wanted and it didnt hurt her any. She's fine now and sleeps through the night and she's 2 1/2.