8 month and old suddenly hysterically crying out of nowhere at night really worried!!

[Latinorapida]

Hello,

For the past couple of weeks my 8 month old will be asleep and then suddenly starting crying hysterically. The only other time I’ve seen him like that is when he had a blood test. We co-sleep so I’ll be lying right next to him and he’s asleep and then suddenly he just screams and cries in a really extreme way. I’ll put him on the boob and rock him in my arms and then he’ll go back to sleep. This has probably happened 4/5 times over the space of maybe 3 weeks. It’s so sudden it almost gives me a heart attack.

Everything I find online says that at around his age they can develop extreme separation anxiety but I’m lying right there with him.

I personally thought that maybe it was a bad dream or something because it comes out of nowhere but apparently night terrors don’t happen until babies are about 18 months to 3 years.

I don’t know whether I should contact the HV about this? He’s happy and content otherwise (never been a great sleeper).

Hoping someone else can offer some insight or perhaps had experienced something like this before??

Thank you!

It’s so sudden and so intense it’s the sort of cry you’d expect to hear if a baby had hurt themselves - if that’s helps

We had this with our DS too around the same time. The crying was really sudden and frightening. When I'd go in and pick him up he was actually still asleep, then waking him up made it worse. Only way to stop was a bottle and lots of cuddles. I've still got no idea what it was but HV and friends said it was normal and they'd all experienced it too. Do you think your baby is actually awake when the crying starts, eyes open?

It does sound exactly like a night terror.

My guess would be ear ache.

Strangely my baby went through the exact same thing - at around 9 months old he started waking up about 30-45 mins after going down, crying hysterically. Within about two-three weeks he had stopped again and hasn’t done it since.

I think they're bad dreams. I know the line is that babies don't have them, but we can't know really.

Sounds like night terrors. DS2 had them from age 9 months to about 7 years.
He never remembered anything about them next morning.

Could be an ear infection, they find it very difficult to lie down if they have ear ache as the pain intensifies. Feeding eases it briefly because of the swallowing, worth getting him checked for that.

Agree about bad dreams, also could be teething. My DD used to do this as a baby and she does have night terrors occasionally now (she's 2.5) so perhaps a precursor? I doubt HV will have much of any use to say, however I've had two horrific sleepers who do this kind of thing, and more, a lot so I am probably not the best judge of what is normal. Hopefully it'll be a short lived thing.

My son has had night terrors on and off for years. They're scary to watch but he never remembers anything. It sounds like your baby is having them. x

My guess would be teeth

It’s about the starting age for night terrors - they usually wear off at about 2.

@SwanShaped

My guess would be ear ache.

Same. I'd think possible ear infection

I think it's night terrors. My oldest had them at 9 months and we co-slept too. I think we just had to wait for the stage to pass. You're lucky he'll latch on - mine wouldn't and it was awful!

Thank you for all the replies - it’s reassuring to know others have experienced this. I agree I think that it’s night terrors. I don’t think the pain of teething or an ear infection can bring on such sudden screaming - when he’s teething he’s grumpy and grizzly but he would never start screaming inconsolably. It’s really scary when it happens especially when you’re asleep!

@FireworksAndSparklers mine won’t latch stretch away either. I have to rock him and hold him tight and then eventually he will.

Thanks a lot everyone

I can absolutely confirm the pain of an ear infection can bring on sudden screaming in small children.

@Garman oh gosh really ok that’s good to know

Just another one saying possible ear infection. Sounds like my DS at around 11 months. Perhaps get his ears looked at by GP to make sure and if not then possible night terrors / separation anxiety.

My DS also co-sleeps with me and he does have nightmares and anxiety still occasionally, particularly during big development times like learning to walk etc. He's almost 18 months now.

You could give calpol at the beginning of the night and see if it makes any difference. Ear infections usually clear up within 10 days. My daughter had it with sudden screaming, not grizzling like teething. Doc said that antibiotics aren’t recommended for routine ear infections as they only reduce the length of infection by a day and they’re trying not to over prescribe them.