8 month old waking up FAR too often @ night! HELP!

Rita - posted on 07/02/2009

This is the most excellent book if you get through all this and she still has issues waking at night. We went through it and after ruling out all pain we read this book and it was a night-saver =) http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habi... it really is nice because it's not a preachy CIO method book, lots of good information and you take it from there. It worked for us anyways.

Sarah - posted on 07/02/2009

Teething sounds like the most likely culprit. My daughter started teething at 3 months & didn't get her first tooth until she was 8.5 months old & her second at 11 months. She is almost 14 months now & has 7 teeth and is working on more. Teething can be pretty hard on babies. Once my daughter's top 4 teeth pushed through, she started sleeping through the night for the first time in months. Try Orajel (check with the pediatrician first) or different teething methods. We always tried Tylenol, but sometimes it worked & sometimes it didn't. Give her lots of comfort & love =]

Lynlee - posted on 07/01/2009

You can use weleda teething powder from when they are newborn til they have all their teeth. Either as straight powder or mixed with water - check instructions. You could use bonjela or similar numbing gel but it only works for about three hours and can be hard to apply in the right places, especially if you have no idea which area of his mouth is sore. Some gets swallowed too and some kids hate the taste. Not sure if you can get Pamol where you live but you can either buy it straight from the chemist here for about $16NZ or ask for a prescription from the doctors and it is free. It can be difficult to tell for sure if baby is waking due to teething. Symptoms during the day can indicate they are teething - red cheeks, drooling, grizzly, putting fingers in mouth, chewing on hard things etc. I guess over time you can tell, if there is nothing else wrong, it is probably teething. Good luck!

Tamara - posted on 07/01/2009

Thank you so much to everyone for your advise... there is good news, although I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch... SHE SLEPT THROUGH last night!!!! wow! as I say I am going to wait to see what is going to happen tonight, but so far so good! thank you all SO much I really really appreciate it!! :-)

Cynthia - posted on 06/30/2009

teething is most likely the culprit. however at this age he might be experiencing growing pains. I measured my son mid May and then again yesterday. he's now 9.5 months old and he gained a pound but also an inch and a half in length (nearly 5 cm!) So all those wakey cryey nights have now made sense. Our little budda has started to stretch out. He was also going through teething. On the a third wakeup in the same night I would always give tylenol before the feed to calm him down. The teething remedy wasn't cutting it as he wasn't teething, instead he was growing fast and furious. hope this helps. good luck.

Lynlee - posted on 06/30/2009

If everything else is well, then I would suspect teething. Our son suffered with teething for months before the first tooth came through - i guess they are just moving below the surface and touching the nerves etc. We used Weleda teething powder which is a natural product, also bonjela while he had only a few teeth and then Pamol which has worked really well. Our sone would wake 4-5 times a night for months due to teething. If he had Pamol he would wake once or not at all. But we made sure we gave him Pamol before he went to bed and then gave another dose when he woke (as long as it was at least 4 hours later). Some medicines seem to need to be at a certain concentration so they can begin working before the real pain in the middle of the night starts.

Jodi - posted on 06/30/2009

Some babies just teethe harder than others. My oldest son has been trying to cut his 2 year molars since Nov. They are just noe cracking through. Try Tylenol and or teething tablets. If it is teeth those should make a noticeable difference in her behavior. I am always hesitant to medicate but on the other hand you don't want the poor thing hurting and not being able to give you any clue to what is going on. Unfortunately there is no sure way to tell what the exact problem is because they obviously have no way to communicate. Good luck. Hope everything turns out okay.

Erin - posted on 06/30/2009

If you're uncomfortable using the CIO method (even if there is nothing 'wrong' with her) you shouldn't feel pressured to. I understand the feeling of not wanting her to get into a bad habit - I've spent countless hours worrying about this too (especially when I couldn't get my daughter to sleep in her cot during the day for the first 10wks) - and I've come to realise that the best approach for us is to do what works TODAY. eg, my daughter has her morning and lunch time sleep in her cot, but WILL NOT go in there for her afternoon one. So to ensure I don't end up with a cranky overtired baby for the last couple of hours before bed we cuddle on the lounge for this sleep. Every day. She usually only sleeps 30-40mins at this time and I actually enjoy the quiet time with her. But people still tell me I'm doing the wrong thing and that I should just MAKE her go to her bed or she'll get in a 'bad habit'. How we deal with our babies day-to-day is a personal choice so if you don't want to use CIO, don't. Maybe you can research some gentler sleep-training methods, or PM me if you like and I'll outline what I did :)

Joy - posted on 06/30/2009

tamara just to give you an idea on how long the teething process can last, my son started teething symptoms in April and his top 4 teeth finally broke through in June...My niece teethed for 6 months....some babies teeth really well and fast, others are drawn out. You will both get through,good luck.

Tamara - posted on 06/30/2009

Thank you Erin.. It is all just so confusing! I really don't want to have to let her cry it out, will first investigate to make sure that nothing else is bugging her, but also cant let bad habits form! shame it is so difficult when they cant talk! wish she could just tell me what is wrong! anyway I am sure it will all work out one way or another! Thank you for your help! :-)

Erin - posted on 06/30/2009

If you think she's in any pain or discomfort you're right in not using the CIO method - she is definitely not a candidate for that. If it's only been a few days (though I know it feels like an eternity to you) you'll probably find she comes out of it soon. It may be teething, or she may be fighting off a bug or something. Either way it will pass, which I know is not much help to you now when you're exhausted. My daughter had bronchiolitis a few weeks ago and she was up and down all night for nearly a week. On the day she was admitted into hospital I had been awake for 36hrs. But once she recovered her sleep improved gradually. It's a process though. My daughter was sleeping 6pm-6am before she got sick and now she's still waking once for a feed between 2am-5am. It really doesn't take much to throw a baby out of routine.

Tamara - posted on 06/30/2009

Hi Robin, no she hasn't had diarrhea... it is just a bit runnier than normal but nothing to worry about.. she is well hydrated and I give her the tea rehydrit solution for just in case.. 
How exactly do you tell for sure that it is teething though cos she has had all the symptoms on and off for about 3 months now and you can see all the teeth under gums but now teeth have broken through yet! and as I say I don't want to let her cry it out at night if this is caused by teething.. Thank you for your help though!

Quoting Robin:

By runny tummy do you mean diarrhea? If she's had diarrhea since Friday, I'd take her to the pediatrician-she could be dehydrated.

When my son is teething, we use Hylands Teething Tablets-they work like a charm :)

Robin - posted on 06/30/2009

By runny tummy do you mean diarrhea? If she's had diarrhea since Friday, I'd take her to the pediatrician-she could be dehydrated.



When my son is teething, we use Hylands Teething Tablets-they work like a charm :)