My daughter will be 1 in three weeks. Since she was two months old she had been sleeping through the night..peacefully. In the last few weeks we have noticed that she is waking at 3 or 4 in the morning screaming. When we check on her she motions to be picked up. As soon as we pick her up she puts her head on our shoulder and falls asleep. When you try to put her back down in the crib, she screams. We usually let her cry but last night it had gone on for about 20 mins with no relief so my husband took her downstairs and she slept the rest of the night on his shoulder. Tonight I put her in her crib and she screamed. Her teeth seemed to be bothering her so I got some oral gel and before you know it she is asleep in my lap. I brought her up the stairs and she did not wake until I made the motion to put her in her crib and then they crying started again, full throttle. She has been upstairs crying for the past ten minuets. She is fed, has a clean diaper and is obviously ready for bed because she was just asleep on me ten minuets ago. Has anything like this happened to anyone else? Is it maybe that her teeth are bothering her and I should give in to her wanting to sleep with her mom or dad, or should I fight this urge and let her cry it out in her crib so as to avoid problems down the road? Any suggestions?
KELLY
I am so jealous, Ella did
I am so jealous, Ella did not sleep through the night until she was eight months and it took my pediatrician and husband telling me to not go to her when she cried or stirred. It was tough but it worked but I do not remember her crying for very long. It is so scary being a parent and really hard at the age when they cannot communicate with us. I wish I could be of more help. Let me know how things turn out.
31 year old mom loving being mommy to my two year old Ella Bella running Mommy Time Hourly and Drop In Day Care www.mommytimehourlydaycare.com or www.mommytimedropindaycare.com
I was very lucky to have a
I was very lucky to have a baby sleep through the night that early, but it took all I had to not go to her when she cried, and a lot of times I was keeping my husband from going in to get her too. There was her tired cry, which was easy for me to ignore since I knew she was just crying to wind down and that she was in the right place (her crib) for what she needed. However, the crying she does now, in no way resembles her winding down crying, it is borderline screaming, and hard t resist. Last night I fought and fought with myself to not get her. Between 10pm and 7 am she woke up 4-5 times, crying. I must have been s tired that it made it easy to do nothing and wait it out, and it worked this time. Each time she cried for about 5 mins and went back to sleep on her own. I just wish I knew what was disturbing her so often during the night.
KELLY
And By the way I saw the
And By the way I saw the photos of your daughter in the July album and she is so adorable.
31 year old mom loving being mommy to my two year old Ella Bella running Mommy Time Hourly and Drop In Day Care www.mommytimehourlydaycare.com or www.mommytimedropindaycare.com
My daughter went though the
My daughter went though the same phase..she was sleeping though the night since she was 3 mos. and then all of a sudden she started waking up every night about the same time. I would go and check on her to make sure she was ok and picked her up to comfort her and calm her down. and put her back down even if she did cry, I let her and it probably lasted 2 weeks on and off but I am glad I didn't start letting her sleep with us...but it is so tempting. Also, we have always put baby einstein cd on when she went to bed and that calms her down too.
Brenda* mother of 2
Thank you very much, that is
Thank you very much, that is sweet of you to say, and incredible that you noticed!! I always look at the pictures, and I love that they let us post pictures on this site, but I never pay attention to who posts them, I surely will now. It would be nice to put faces with names so to speak.
KELLY
This may be coming from left
This may be coming from left field, but I'm thinking about when my wisdom teeth were trying to come in, and I had to wait several weeks to get them removed. And you sound like you're in that place where you'll try just about anything.
You say that, when one of you puts her on your shoulder, she settles down and conks out? When you put her down, does she have a pillow yet? Does she sleep on her back, or does she roll around?
If I laid down with just one pillow, I'd wake up several times a night with a throbbing head and jaw. When I added pillows to elevate my head and keep me from being able to moosh my face in the pillow, the problem went away.
Of course, you can't use my preferred homeopathic pain reliever: take one half shot of chilled Wild Turkey, swish and swallow; repeat until pain subsides.
If you feel that teething is
If you feel that teething is the problem, don't be afraid to give her Motrin for infants. It helps reduce the inflammation of the gums. It will help relieve her from pain.
If Motrin is not the answer, it may be that she was over stimulated (doing a lot of things not within her norm like being at a zoo or having a family over and kids playing a lot, etc) and having a little night terror. Sometimes that could cause a toddler to wake up crying and then once you pick her up, she goes back to sleep.
Once she gets back to her routine, she should be fine.
Good luck :)
H~
Mom of 2 Daughters - Kelly (3 yrs) and Skylar (21 mos old)
zoostationu2@hotmail.com
Has she had a fever; either
Has she had a fever; either high or low grade? Have you noticed if she's been tugging on her ears at all? Could she have an ear infection? I always knew when my oldest daughter would get ear infections because she would wake up screaming in the middle of the night.
My littlest daughter had teeth just break through on the bottom. I gave her Tylenol when she was teething and it seemed to help.
I know it can be frustrating when you don't know what's wrong and they can't tell you! I know it always makes me feel so bad and helpless!
I like the CD idea too. I have a classical music channel on for my little one throughout the night. That might help your little one comfort herself when she wakes up too.
Good Luck to you!
Mother to 3 beautiful daughters. Owner/Instructor for Baby Boot Camp Tempe www.babybootcamp.com
Thank you to everyone for
Thank you to everyone for your responses. You all had very good ideas about what might be going on. She doesn't tug on her ears, nor has she been doing anything out of the norm these past few days. I do have music going for her. We put all her good night cd's and songs on an ipod, she has a god night playlist and a playtime playlist, which she seems to love. Someone asked if she had a pillow and she does not, she moves around during the night. One poster said he daughter went through the same thing and although I do not know what is causing her to wake I suppose I am doing the right thing by going in and comforting her and then laying her back down to bed even though she screams. I think my husband and I have been so tired lately that it seems easier to just let her sleep on his shoulder. But last night when he was gone and I was able to just let her cry, she went back to bed on her own after 5 mins, she woke up 4 times during the night but she ended up going back to sleep on her own. Thank you to everyone for your advice and ideas, I am truly grateful.
KELLY
We all, adults, adolescents,
We all, adults, adolescents, toddlers and infants, wake up many times throughout the night. Because we are older, we simply roll over and go right back to sleep and often do not ever remember that we awoke. Infants however, do not have the refined self-comforting skills that adults do. So, sometimes when they wake, they cry. When that happens, adults go to them and soothe and comfort them. It feels like the right thing to do. But, here is the catch...infants love to be comforted by their parents. They can also develop habits quickly, like waking at the same time every night because it gets them the response they wanted - to be held. You may want to try the following:
When your baby wakes crying, do not pick her up or turn on a bright light in the room. Try to be calm and matter of fact. Check for the obvious - diaper issues. If there are no diaper or illness issues, help baby lie down and pat her, telling her it is time to go to sleep. Leave the room. If she continues to cry, decide how long you will stay out of the room before you go back in a do the same thing - pat and tell her it is time to sleep. This whole process is typically much harder on the parents than it is on the infant. However, once your child can self calm and go back to sleep, you will have a well rested child who sleeps through the night.
You are almost there. The fact that your child only cried for 5 minutes is great. She will cry less each night. It usually does not take longer than 7 nights to change the pattern of waking and falling back to sleep!
Good Luck!
Goldie La Porte
Child Development Specialist
Banner Children's Hosptial at Banner Desert Medical Center