My 8 month old daughter has been sleeping through the night since she was about 8 weeks old. Normally she will go down for bed between 8:30 and 9pm and wake between 7 and 8 am. In the last 2 weeks she has been waking between 3 and 5 a.m. and doesn't go back to sleep unless I prepare a bottle for her. Then she'll slee until about 6:30. I don't think she's hungry because we all eat dinner fairly late and she takes a bottle before she goes to sleep. She does have 4 teeth now, but I have not seen any others that are about to pop through. Do you think it's teething that is waking her? If not, what has worked for you as far as having your infant sleep through until morning?
My daughter stayed with my mother in law on Thursday night and when I arrived to pick her up my mother in law said she slept until 7 am that morning. But then I went to my parents house and early Sunday morning around 2:15 am, she woke up crying. I grabbed her up and felt that she'd sweat right through her pajamas and her face, hands, and belly were hot to the touch. She wears a cranial orthotic band so I removed that and sweat was just drenching her. It took 3 hours to get her back to bed. I worried she was really sick but didn't have a thermometer or children's tylenol with me to give her. When she finally woke up later that morning, I looked at the top of her mouth and saw 3 front teeth and another on the bottom on the verge of popping through. So perhaps all of these sleep disturbances were from the 4 teeth she has coming in - she'll have 8 teeth before she's 9 months old. That's so unusual considering my son didn't have his first tooth until he was 11 1/2 months old and he never had and sleep disturbances or became fussy when he was teething. Is it normal for children to have so many teeth at such a young age? She is big for her age - about 30 inches and 26 lbs.
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It could be two things, the teeth that you can't see yet are starting to irritate her but not enough to keep her from taking a bottle or she is changing her schedule on you. My son went from waking twice at night to once then sleeping through the night. 4 naps a day to 3, 2 then now he is on one. Your child could be changing her schedule.
If she is taking a late afternoon nap try laying her down earlier in the afternoon so she is really tired when she goes to bed. Unless she is totally freaking out and screaming her head off let her lay in her crib if she wakes up in the middle of the night, even if she cries a little it may help her doze back off.
My son would want to get up and I would just go in, give him his paci, and lay him back down, if he popped back up I would let him cry it out but if he started screaming uncontrollably I would go in a rock him without a bottle since I didn't want to start a habit. Usually if he would scream for me to get him up, it meant he was teething or he had tummy pains from gas. Rocking usually helped him go back to sleep. Watch too many rocking nights though, this too can start a habit.
As a mom you will know if your child is in pain and really needs you or if they are just wanting to get up.
When I had my son He never slept through the night (hes five now and still does not sleep through the night) But I noticed the later we eat the more reatless he is maybe you should try to eat earlier and give a glass of warm milk or some hot cocoa with my son it was warm apple cider (now its a small glass of water)
Welcome to the unpredictable world of children!!!!
It could be the things that others mentioned, but my boys still wake up after sleeping through the night for a while. I am convinced it is growth spurt activity making them hungrier and making their little bodies ache. They always seem to grow after they start waking up during the night. They are three and one. That's my two cents.
C. - I know you have your hands full and can't do much reading, but check out this site: http://www.lovegevity.com/parenting/mother/early_bedtime.... If time permits you, grab a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution by Jodi Mendell - it worked wonders for us with our 8 month old son. He's been sleeping 7pm-7am now for 2+ months, with a few variations here and there from teething/growth spurts. He WILL wake occasionally at 4am, stir around for a few minutes, even whine a little, then re-settle himself back to sleep. Don't rush in at the first peep! Sometimes they just need to re-settle!
Keep up the good work, and good luck with your PPD, I too suffered from that longer then average. It's no fun, and I was constantly stressing out over trivial things. Remember - you're never given more in life then you're capable of handling, the good lord makes sure of that :).
Hello C.,
Could be just a stage or it could be what it was for my oldest and youngest. Ear infections. No sign other than waking in the "middle" of the night and not going back to sleep til a couple hours later. My youngest never runs a fever with an ear infection. Maybe you should get her checked. If no infection then it could just be a phase that she will get out of.
Best of luck to you.
Mel
