Help! Sleepless Nights.....O_O

Allison - posted on 03/20/2010

Teething is a big culprit for frequent waking, but so are hitting new developmental milestones, like crawling, cruising, and walking as well as separation anxiety (which hits around 9 months, then again at 18 months). The brain is just so active when they are about to hit a new milestone and babies are so excited to practice their new skill (imagine what it's like for you when you're in bed and trying to solve a problem at work, and then Pop! you figure it out. Don't you get out of bed to write it down?).

No matter what's causing the frequent waking, it will go away eventually. My 3 year old was a frequent waker, up every 2 hours from 4 months - 20 months, but now he sleeps all night. So I totally understand how frustrating it can be, and how tired you feel. But this time only lasts a short while and eventually they all sleep well and don't need you for it.

Sherree - posted on 03/20/2010

Omg, I thought I was the only one! I posted about this myself, I think in another forum. It started at 9 months with my daughter too. Ad exactly the same, after 5 or 6 hrs sleep, she'd be up and there was no getting her back to sleep until she'd played for an hour or 2. And it was really random. She'd do it a couple nights a week and then she'd have a good week where she wouldn't do it at all. It kept me on pins and needles! It went on for months! Finally I think I realized it was probably teething and I started giving her Motrin if she woke up and didn't want to nurse back to sleep. Then that would kick in and instead of being up 2 hrs, we'd be back to bed in half an hour. What a relief!

Jessica - posted on 03/20/2010

My son is 11 1/2 months and he did the same thing.He is a cosleeper half the night and he has never actually slept through the night but only when teething was involved did he try to stay up longer then to nurse a few moments..I think by playing it distracts them from the pain. I would try orajel maybe before laying her down and then doing your normal bedtime routines. I know it's difficult but hopefully it will only be for a few weeks if that. Make sure not to turn on any lights ( which I learned pretty fast :-D ) and try to keep everything to a minimum ( noise and whatnot ) and hopefully she"ll go back to her normal routine.

Beck - posted on 03/20/2010

My son is doing the same every few nights bewteen 11-1.30 which is the 'pain window' in my book the Dream Bbay Guide and as he is getting more teeth I figure thats the prob. Usually he will self settle of with us giving him a sip of water and his dummy he is fine but on these few nights he is wanting to cuddle, but not wanting to cuddle, he wants to snuggle and feed but doesn't! Its real odd behaviour which is why I think its teeth related. The second night my son left me and my husband who were laying on a materese on his bedroom floor cos I had been trying to get him to lay with me for comfort (sadly after 6 mths he now thinks our bed is for play time which is what we do in the morning after his bfeed and he no longer thinks its for co sleeping :-( Anyway, he walked off, leaving us laying on the floor, shut his bedroom door and went off to play! We were like - ahh super cute, but what the ?? its midnight!! Anyway, he played for 30mins then we did his setteling routine and he was fine again? He woke again 3 nights later the same and cried and cried when we tried to settle / comfort him but was happy to play, so I let him (ahhh so hoping I am not forming habits?? but it was nicer than dealing with crying bub for the 2hrs) After an hour, I fed him (doesn't usually) then put him back to bed - no more tears. So, we are trying to follow our usual sleep routine to keep it normal when he wakes BUT if he wont settle I am just going to be a little leaniant, I had a tooth ache a while back and remember the pain and the tossing and turning I did, so as long as the good nights out way the bad, I am happy. So, sorry, I have not been a lot of help, but it sounds like the same teething sleepless nights at your house and I would recommend trying to keep things the same so to keep routine BUT go with the flow because teething sucks! Good luck

Georgia - posted on 03/19/2010

I went through this with both my boys... at around the same age... and we are co-sleepers too. My eldest did it intermittently for a couple months, while my younger son did it for only a few weeks. Unfortunately, I think it's just a normal phase. The only suggestion I'd have is to sleep when you can. Perhaps nap with her during the day to get the extra hours if you don't want to go to bed any earlier. It's normal to have to just give up getting everything done all the time when you have a baby to look after.

Marissa - posted on 03/19/2010

I'm going through a similar thing with my 8 month old son. He's never been very good at sleeping through the night but when he does wake up he'll go right back to sleep. Lately he's been getting up around 4 and staying up for an hour an a half just wanting attention and wanting to play. I've also been having a rough time getting him down. We'll do his routine, then I'll nurse him and put him down to sleep. He'll go right to sleep but then he'll wake up half an hour later screaming and it'll take over an hour to get him back to sleep. I have a feeling more teeth are coming in because during the day he's very clingy and tugs at his ears and that's what he did for his first 2 teeth. Maybe your girl is going through the same thing! I don't have any suggestions I just wanted you to know that you aren't alone!