Suddenly Waking in the Night (Gina baby)

[YumMum]

My DS (21 months) and a Gina baby (from 2 days!)and has slept 7-7 since 10 weeks has suddenly and unexplicably started waking in the night with a sudden scream/cry i.e. he's fast asleep and then just suddenly wakes up crying. He started doing this at 10pmish, then moved to 12ish, now at 2ish - it's normally only once, but it's sometimes 3 times in quick succession (over a 10 min period). We don't need to do anything else but go in and say something like 'go to sleep' and he just drops off again immediately. We've tried cutting down on the lunchtime sleep (taking it right down (gradually) to 1hr 40mins) but it didn't make any difference. Any thoughts...? Thanks.

Have a look at my "waking through the night-at my wits end" thread. Lots of ideas there, my ds started this at exactly the same age!? Good Luck, and Boy, do I know how you feel.?!

I don't think you need to cut out any nap... he is not waking to have a party so he is not having too much sleep... could he be having a nightmare ? His sleep is very light when he wakes but if he goes right back to sleep - don't worry too much - how long has he been doing this for ? I suspect it's just a phase to be honest.

Why is it a problem? Especially if he goes back to sleep fairly quickly. DOn't you someimes wake in the night?

I think it's nightmares too probably - or teeth ? My dd is only 7 months but I know other friends babies who have previously been good sleepers go through periods of disruption. Im sure he'll go back to normal

ds1 is 18months old and has done this same thing on occasion. Its started again recently. m/w thought it might be the course of a/biotics he was on for an ear infection, but I think its nightmares and some insecurities about new ds2 (2weeks old) arriving on the scene. Slept through again last night after 5 days of interupted sleep. a/biotics have finished coincidently, but I spent 3/4hour with him by myself at bedtime last night, and he was much happier to settle. Fortunately dh was around to look after ds2.

I agree with Gracie. I know its awful having to get up in the middle of the night, but you're lucky he goes straight back to sleep. He's just being human - none of us can sleep a perfect night, night after night. It doesn't sound like its anything to with the length of his lunch-time nap. Rather something like bad dreams that is bothering him. I'm sure it will pass as unexpectedly as it started. Good luck!

Something similar is happening to DS - after a month of 7 pm to 7 am sleep - DS has in the past week (he's almost 6 mos old) started waking at 4.30am - usually he just lies there - cooing away to get our attention - if we ignore him, he returns to sleep before waking again at about 6am.

This is disturbing - is it just a phase? Have thought thru' & ruled out following:

1. Teething - after initial aggro over feeding, he's actually coping very well & not crying or whining at all.
2. Hunger - he doesn't cry, just lies there trying to get somebody to come pick him up. Plus I'm meeting the minimum milk intake plus solids during the day (he is very healthy - abit on the fat side).
3. Over-sleeping - he takes his 45 min in the morning & his 2 hrs at lunch time. I tried to cut out his 4pm 15 minute doze but it means he's cranky for his last feed & even when I succeeded in keeping him awake until bed time, he ended up falling asleep at 6.30pm & waking again at 4.30am.
4. Darkness - room is pitch black until 6.30 am.
5. Swaddling - he hated it from day 1 & was never swaddled - this did not seem to be a problem for us at all.
6. Growth Spurt - another one perhaps???

This is really bizarre. I am anxious as altho' he doesnt cry & returns to sleep on his own - I do notice that he becomes a bit too over-tired by 5pm. So obviously these early wakings are having an adverse effect.

Comments please on what could be happening.

pena - as gf says, all babies go through wakeful stage at this time in the morning, normally between 4.30 and 5.30am. The trick is that gf babies know how to go back to sleep by themselves. How long do you reckon he is awake for? it sounds to me, if it's not too long, that I wouldn't worry. Could he not sleep a little later in the mornings to make up for it, or does he always wake at 6am and not go back? My ds usually has a wake around 5 - 6a\m, but goes back til 7.15 if left.

Good to have you back, by the way. Where have you been?

Once he wakes at 6 he's ready to play - unfortunately. Its just strange that out of the blue, he started waking early & altho' he's not crying he obviously is impatient to start his day. I just can't figure out what's changed??

Thanks Manna, good to be back. Been working like a dog plus all the grandparents were in town for ds' christenning - which I'm happy to report went swimmingly even tho' it cut into his normal lunchtime nap, but ds was a star, was really happy & excited.

Hi all,
DS still waking at 6am & not going back to sleep. Also flipped over this morning. What to do? Should I invest in the sleeping bags - I have a feeling that he'll hate it as he hated being swaddled or having his movements restricted.

Have tried to follow GF strictly to ensure that he is not over-sleeping but to no avail.

Tired all the time.
P

definately get a sleeping bag. Also - if you can find one, I have a thing calleda guardian angel which is like 2 small bolsters that run either side of the baby held together by a piece of fabric. They essentially stop them turning over. Don't worry about the sleeping bag - they're so roomy that it's nothing like swaddling. Grobag do great ones, all different togs for different temperatures. I think they are www.grobag.com / .co.uk ? They do mail order too.

This may sound hideously unsympathetic but... you are so lucky! At six months my son was waking up to five times a night and not going back to sleep by himself at all! He'd yell and yell for hours if we didn't and had constant colds. Now, at nearly eight months, if he sleeps between midnight and six am with only one waking at 2am we consider ourselves to have had an excellent night! We take it turns to do the early shift then sometimes get back into bed for an hour. Or I take him into bed at 6am, feed him and then lie down with him all warm and tightly wrapped in my arms and he sometimes goes back to sleep like that for an hour or so. I think it's not unusual to wake at 6am. I would be so happy for him to sleep 11pm to 6am uninterrupted so I could get seven hours, but it's never happened so far - though the night wakings are slowly reducing to one or two brief ones a night (and I don't count any that occur before we go to bed).

But he does have a grobag and it's not at all restrictive, and just putting him in it seems to let him know it's sleep time and we have very little trouble getting him off to sleep, it's just staying asleep he/we has a problem with. Isn't it Ok for babies to flip over if it doesn't bother them? I thought once they had the strength & coordination to do it, they should be left to find their own preferred sleeping position?

five times in the night!! I sympathise immensely aloha. I will try the gro-bags.

And Yes I do recognise that I am (as are many of the Gina Ford mums here) extremely lucky that ds has a good sleep routine (check out the threads on GF to find out more). Lots of hard work for the first 4 months to settle him into a routine & sort out his sleep patterns but the time & effort really paid of.

DS still wakes up at 4.30 but thankfully he goes back to sleep quickly & is patient enough to wait for me to get him at 7am. Methinks this is a phase.