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Why Does My Baby Wake Up Screaming?

Rachel - posted on 01/19/2010 ( 16 moms have responded )

I have a three month old baby girl. She has been sleeping through the night since she was two weeks old. However, recently she has been waking up suddenly, screaming. She continues to scream and cry for about five minutes and although it is not her hungry cry, she is only soothed by a bottle. It doesn't happen every night, only occasionally, but it still worries me some. Any ideas of what might be causing my baby to wake up crying and screaming?

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Heather - posted on 03/15/2012

AHH my mind is a ease...hope my baby isnt having bad dreams

Samantha - posted on 01/30/2011

I have a 16 month old who wakes up screaming but everyone tells me he is just having nightmares

Beverly - posted on 01/19/2010

My first thought was gas is probably why your baby wakes up screaming. The bottle soothes her stomach for a while. Try placing her on your lap with her bottom facing you and bounce her. This saved my sanity.

Julie - posted on 01/19/2010

114

it could be that she gets a bit of gas some times when my babies wake up crying i normal give them a cuddle talk to them quietly and rub there back and see if they have any gas that needs to come up then i rock which ever baby is awake normally zak until he goes back to sleep then i put him down again and so times a baby will wake just to see that you are there

Kelly - posted on 01/19/2010

my son is almost a yr old and he does it every time he wakes up but as soon as he sees me or hears me he stops i think its bc he dont see me an freaks out.

Brandie - posted on 01/19/2010

Bottles are not always the answer for when your baby wakes up screaming; i have a 4 month old son who cries in his sleep and sometimes screams if she is not gassy or hungry or a wet diaper she may just need to be cuddled. Every baby is different and sometimes it is night terrors and other times it is not but if she isnt really hungry try giving her water it wont kill her or hurt her it may not be what she wants but also around 3 months babies start developing being thirsty and it is scary so try giving her water with a lil juice that way you don't get her too off schedule with feedings

Nikki - posted on 01/19/2010

It happens to my daughter too, I looked it up and i read that when they scream just all of a sudden and you walk in the room and try to hold them or touch them, and you see that they are still laying down with their eyes still closed or half asleep, its night terrors, but if they are screaming and fully awake and try to reach out for you its a nightmare..when it it night terrors, it is recommended NOT to try to grab her or soothe her but let her know u are there in the room with her by talking to her,when you touch her when she is having these terrors it scares them even more b/c they think it is someone trying to harm them or grab them, like a monster in a bad dream..hope this helps. :-}

Amanda - posted on 01/19/2010

218

my baby started waking up crying and screaming around three months old as well. the doctor said it was probably night terrors.

Racquel - posted on 01/19/2010

It may be gas. My son is 1 month old and he has had trouble with gas since he was born. When he has trapped gas and he's sleeping he will scream in his sleep and when he wakes only the bottle will make him stop.

Stefanie - posted on 01/19/2010

My son does that as well. It doesn't happen all of the time, just randomly. We looked up information about night terrors and found some things that might correlate, but his age (7months) is pretty young to be having those. I would just make note of it and if anything changes or it gets worse (not soothed by anything) call the doctor and see if there's something they can recommend to you. Good luck - stefanie

Adina - posted on 01/19/2010

Hi Rachel , she might be having a stomach ache and the only relief is a little milk , you might want to ask your doctor if its becoming often

Karen - posted on 01/19/2010

481

Gas. It usually starts or hits it's peak at 3 months of age and lasts till around 5 months (info from a doctor). And be careful not to fill her up too much more because it sometimes causes it to get worse. Try googleing massage for gas pains. Works wanders. Mylicon drops are too expensive and don't always work on all babies. I have 3, the drops worked some on my oldest.

Samantha - posted on 01/19/2010

I dont know what the problem could be, But if it helps at all, my baby wakes up screaming and crying too. She is just now almost 4 months and has been doing it for a month or so.

Heather - posted on 01/19/2010

My son does the same thing sometimes to. But i was told that he gets scared but we don't know what it is. Yes a bottle help him but it is the worry what is scaring him. Well that is all I know about that

Ashley - posted on 01/19/2010

i would say your baby wakes up screaming because of a bad dream. my little one does it sometimes but then when her opens his eyes and sees and hears me he stops crying and goes back to sleep. i would try to talk to her next time and get her to see that its you and see if it works. Good Luck!

Temeka - posted on 01/19/2010

Look up Night Terrors, they could be the reason your baby wakes up screaming and crying.