9m old sitting/standing in cot at bedtime

Without wanting to state the bleeding obvious (which I will anway) - they obvs do grow out of it, because you don't see teenagers standing up in bed crying, do you.

I would continue doing what you're doing - ie going back up to settle her, if you're sure she won't settle herself eventually.

I'm sure your brother wont panic as long as you warn him about what's likely to happen, and how to deal with it. Or you could delay your going out until after the standing up/re-settling bit, if it's early enough in the evening to still allow you a decent evening out.

It is a developmental spurt. Totally normal. Mine both did it. When asleep her brain is making vital connections which will result in walking and in confusion, it's waking her and she is compelled to stand and practice the required skills. It will pass. She will be scrambling to her feet before even awake. Reassure, resettle and it will pass.

Just go and sort her out. I did. You can also take the time to show her how to get down again as she might not know how!

When the developmental spurt is over and the synaptical pathways established. Couple of weeks at most probably. So hard to know. Good news is good sleepers invariably go back to previous patterns. She will find it tough. She wants to sleep as much as you want her to. Chocolate cake helps. You obviously. Look out for a similar developmental leap at 12-14 months and again at 18 months +. Walking, talking in sentences etc. All affect sleep patterns early in the night.

My DS has been doing this for a couple of months now not weeks!! Bugger

Definitely approve of the chocolate cake cure!

Definitely approve of the chocolate cake cure!

Approve so much, my tablet said it twice!

Me too! Glad I'm not alone!! DS is 9.5mo and being doing this for 3 weeks. He is obsessed with standing in the day too. Really hope it passes soon as I'm tiiiiirrreeed!

It usually manifests itself in the earlier sleep cycles before they drop into a deeper stage of sleep. Probably 45-90 minutes after falling asleep. You also find that they find it harder to settle and yes they need you there while they are settling. It's reassurance mostly. They do find it most confusing and no wonder, switching your brain off is something most adults struggle with.

It's like when you have a new job or a big test/exam and you can't sleep for the stuff running through your head. You find yourself doing the job in your sleep, waking up with a shout talking about it etc. Sleep's always the first thing to go when learning something new and with a baby, there are some very new and very big things to learn. Trouble is the one new thing then segues into another and you can have a few months of it.

It's still worth clinging onto the fact that it passes. And you find often that they sleep better afterwards due to having a brand new skill which keeps them busy during the day.

Could it be you need to drop a nap during the day so she is more tired in the evening?

9 months is such a tricky age, I remember it being really hard to settle DS at that age. He only ever napped for 45 mins max. Plus he then started nursery and caught every disease known to man, so didn't sleep without coughing for months! Sorry, i had no idea what to do either, but dropping a nap helped (you've already done that though!)
But by 12 months he was a million times better and would feed to sleep and then not wake up till 5am.