Wakes up screaming

Alicia - posted on 04/04/2009

sounds like teething or growing pains to me. 

I remember watching a video about this before I gave birth.  At about 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, etc babies are on a kind of growing cycle.  When they are growing physically or developmentally thier sleep patterns may change all of a sudden.  If it keeps up past 1 1/2 weeks - 2 weeks, then I would worry as long as there aren't any other alarming changes, such as decreased wet diapers or runny stool.  Take inventory of any new foods you might have started feeding her that might be giving her some gas at night as well.  That might be what is going on too.

When my daughter is learning a new skill her sleep schedule will change.  Sometimes she will start waking up at 3am for 2-3 days, but it passes.  I keep the room dark, give her some water or formula, and then just calmly sing her/rock her back to sleep.  I think maintaining the 'nightime atmosphere' helps her to go back to sleep.

L - posted on 04/04/2009

Bad dreams, night terrors??? According to the following study, 'Infants 3 to 5 months old dream much more than infants 6 to 12 months old do. 18-month-olds dream almost twice as much as 3-year-olds do. By age 3, the amount of time spent dreaming per night is in the same range as that of young adults. As the wheel of time turns throughout life, each year we dream a little less.' See this web site for more information.. http://www.drgreene.com/21_619.html

Jessica - posted on 04/04/2009

My 12 month old son did this just the other night for the first time! I was walking with him and trying to comfort him and he just got louder and louder. I finally got him a bottle and he settled down and went back to sleep. He's never done this before, and my older two never did, so I didn't know if it was a night terror or not. I hope it doesn't start happening a lot!

Jody - posted on 04/04/2009

I agree that it sounds like night terrors. My son suffers from them and has since he was three years old. There are many different ways to treat it so seeing a doctor should be your first step. Good luck.

Catherine - posted on 04/04/2009

My daughter started having night terrors when she was about 7 months.  They were the same time about 3 times a weeks.  The doctor told us it was a baby's mind processing the events of the day and because she was so small there were probably things frightening her while asleep.  It passed itself by the time she was about 12 and she hasn't suffered with them since.  She used to waking screaming and her body would be rigid.  We used to find it very very difficult to calm her and only rocking her back to sleep would work.  My son who is 2 wakes at least once a week at about 2am screaming.  Night terrors again.  And I recently found out that my husband suffered with severe night terrors from age 3 til age 7.  Conincidence?  I'm not sure.

What you're describing sounds very similar to what we have gone through with our 2 but if you are worried you should see your doctor.