is this a developmental thing?

Jilleena - posted on 10/12/2009

i think it is just a stage my goddaughter started to do that when she was 9 months old...they grew through it before you know it he will stop.......

Jennifer - posted on 10/12/2009

It's normal for that to happen. It could be teething pain or night terrors. If it happens at the same time every night then my guess would be hunger. My son went through growth spurts that caused him to wake up hungry. Sometimes he woke up crying because he was cold.

Charlie - posted on 10/12/2009

It is very common when teething !! night terrors , just give him a little pat or cuddle if it is worrying you too much see a doctor :)_

Jenny - posted on 10/12/2009

I agree that it's probably not nightmares at that age. It could be teething, but I think the object permanence mentioned above is more likely the culprit. I nursed both of my kids back to sleep through this phase and it wasn't a problem, but I understand it can make us weary.
Something that really helped us at this age (in lieu of nursing) was a Leap Frog toy called "Baby Tad." I would go back in the room and press the little frog's hand 4 times - it chirps "4 minutes till night-night" and then plays lullaby music with little lights. I would lay the baby back down, soothe her with a hand on her back, or stroke her cheek/hair for a few seconds and then walk out. The key for me was not picking her up and not talking. It was really hard to do and if she was really out of control, I would have to pick her up to calm her down first, but if I got in there quickly enough, it usually worked. I think any sort of music/soothing sounds toy would work. We also used the Fisher Price Aquarium for this with one of our other kids and it helped soothe our daughter back to sleep.
Some ideas...I hope you find something that works for you. Best wishes.

Laura - posted on 10/12/2009

Sounds to me like he is having bad dreams. It could be a number of things! Have you begun potty training? My little guy would wake up freaking out at about 1 yr because he did not want to pee in the bed. I also had him go through a dream phase where he would tell me every night he drempt about cats?/?? we never figured it out but yet I used to nurse him back to sleep....I became the bigest pacifer ever...but it never hurt him any! He was nursing for longer than most children. I returned to work at 13mths and he could only nurse then twice a day. At the ge of 2 I finally said enoghs enogh and took pampers and his boobie...he never looked back for either. He has to this day never had an accident and he knows with sissy on the way she is now going to get boobie. Never regret a moment of it!

Amber - posted on 10/12/2009

I think it sounds like a fear of the dark. My daughter went through this and we found an awesome light I can 't remember were ill have to think about it. ( It has an adjustable sensor)we were able to hang it above her crib and it was turned on when theres a noise. Similar to a car alarm but not so annoying. When she would cry the light would come on it wasn't to bright and it would slowly get dimmer and dimmer and we set it to turn off in 15 minutes. It worked very well. ill try to remember were I got it and let you know. I know they had ones with music also but for her that was to much and it would keep her up.

Kari - posted on 10/12/2009

if your child was a little older, I might consider it to be night terrors. but they typically don't hit until age 2. if you go to wikipedia.com or about.com and look it up, it'll tell you all about them. it does say that it can happen at any age. if nothing else, see the your doctor. may be something simple to fix. I hope all goes well for you

Megan - posted on 10/12/2009

There are a couple possible explanations. It can't be nightmares unless your children have been witnesses of violence or stress heavily. Nightmares typically come from subconscience dealings of emotions that babies do not experience until well after two years old.



Growing pains could be a very good explanation, but I wouldn't advise giving motrin everynight before bed.



At 9-13 months object permanence and separation anxiety to come into play heavily. The brain is finally able to think about things (like mom) that are not present and realize their absence. Your child is also at an age where he's figuring out he has some control: I scream, mom comes.



Even if you think he's not hungary, every 3 months or so in the first 18 months children experience growth spurts and he may very well be just a little extra hungary. I can undersand you not wanting to be his pacifier though. Have you tried using an actual pacifier ONLY at night to keep him comforted?



My daughter is a year old now and has been sleeping through the night since she was about two months old. She typically wakes up once and cries. By the time I get to her room she's sitting up or on her knees. She sees me, I give her the pacifier, lay her back down and pat her tummy for about a minute and she goes right back out. But, occasionally when I lay her back down she immediately begins to cry and tries to flip over on her tummy so she can push herself back up to her knees. When this happens, I pick her up in a craddle position - for some reason - no matter what the reason may be - your child is needing to be close to you. And the closeness may be all it takes, perhaps he doesn't need to nurse, just to be close. I typically lay down with my daughter next to me in that craddle position and do whatever it is that calms her - for her its patting her tummy or butt or playing with her hair. What calms your son? Let him feel that you're there for him and he'll calm down and go back to sleep. After he's gone to sleep, wait about 10 mins and then carry him back to his bed.

Sherry - posted on 10/12/2009

How long has he been sleeping in the crib? It could be seperation anxiety and his way of winning your undivided attention?? What is really sad is my daughter won and is still sleeping with us... i couldn't handle her crying uncontrolably in her crib when all she wanted was mama.. I know that she will eventually want to sleep in her own bed so i am not worried about her sleeping with me right now..I guess i will worry when she wants her husband to share the same bed with mama and dada... hahaha

Rachel - posted on 10/12/2009

my little girl is doing this and the only thing i can think off is she is having nightmares.

Janess - posted on 10/12/2009

Hi Nicole ... my daughter and son both did this and the doctor said it was more than likely growing pains ... i gave my kids some motrin before bedtime and it seemed to help, if they still woke up and enough time had passed i gave them another dose of motrin. It seemes to do the trick. I hope it helps! I hope he grows out of it!! Best wishes!!!

Samantha - posted on 10/12/2009

he could be entering an attachment phase already, and might just have to be with Mommy. I bet he'll grow out of it~hang in there!

Maria - posted on 10/12/2009

it could be his teeth i would say the top ones would be hard coming threw try bonjela thats very good babies trive in there sleep so that why its prop at night i wouldnt nurse him he will think every night he wakes the samr thing will happen

Maria - posted on 10/12/2009

it could be his teeth i would say the top ones would be hard coming threw try bonjela thats very good babies trive in there sleep so that why its prop at night i wouldnt nurse him he will think every night he wakes the samr thing will happen

Jessica - posted on 10/12/2009

At this age children are starting to develop their sense of fear so among the things you mentioned this may be one hang in there

Lacey - posted on 10/12/2009

my son used to do this all the time!!!! he grew out of it though..i think he might be scared of the dark or something..either that or hes hungry. but he grew out of it! just wait and he should grow out of it too.