6 month old previously good sleeper now waking up screaming in the middle of the night - advice wanted/needed

[Tasha100]

Hello
This is my first visit to the area and was wondering if anyone has experienced a similar problem with their ds/dd? My ds is 6 months old and up until recently has been an excellent sleeper - sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and from 7-7 at 18 weeks. I was quite strict at getting him into a bedtime routine from an early age e.g. bath/not falling asleep on the breast/bottle/dummy etc and even now when he goes to sleep at 7ish he does with minimal fuss. However recently he has been waking up screaming on average 2-3 times a night and taking a while to settle back again, even if I give him his dummy, water, a cuddle, put him into bed with us (which I worry about) etc. He has a bit of a cold, although this doesn't bother him during the day, and he doesn't seem to have many signs of teething other than lots of chewing. I can't face doing the controlled crying thing as I find it v.v. upsetting plus at 3am I just want us all to get back to sleep as quickly as possible! Has anyone experienced a similar situation - any advice? - could it be teething? I know I have been lucky up until now with the sleeping but I am a now a wreck cos of lack of sleep.

My ds does this, but he never slept well to start with.

could it be wind? reflux? noises, or the fact that noises stop (could you put a cd on in his room, on repeat?) um...hunger (is he on solids?)

As you can tell, I have no idea! My ds is 10 months and still terrible...but your post is bumped now, so hopefully someone else will come along with something helpful to say!

Good luck, and welcome to Mmusnet!

Oh, and GO TO BED!!!!!

{ astro staggers off to bed herself...}

I bet you it is teething! I had the same problem with my first baby and I wish someone would have told me! Get your teething gel, calpol or children's nurofen and teething granules ready for this difficult battle! As soon as the tooth comes through your baby should sleep well again until the next tooth (sorry)

Good luck and hope you get some sleep

That's for the suggestions - don't think it is reflux or hunger - maybe wind or teething. It's good to know that I'm not alone. Last night was ok - despite a bit of crying twice it was before we went to bed so not too painful to deal with. He then slept through. I'll get stocked up with all the different remedies. Also I hate that feeling when you go to bed - sort of anxious cos you don't know what night lies ahead

Our dd is 6 months next week & for the last 2 weeks has been doing the same as your ds. She never slept through but would only wake once, fed 10-15mins then straight back to sleep. We have put it down to teething, she has been chewing her fingers for the last 3 months & is now off her food aswell. She dribbles a lot & seems to have a little cough sometimes in bed..think from the extra saliva. She has been waking & taking 1-2hrs to settle back to sleep, most of the time only going back to sleep with a dose of calpol. I have been giving her nelsons teething granuals during the day, every 2 hrs, but they take around 1/2hr to work so during the night calpol is the fastest. Hopefully we will see a tooth soon..2 weeks lack of sleep is enough! Hope things get better soon for you too.

Glad to hear the calpol is working. Have you tried medised? I find that better than calpol especially at the moment as ds has a cold and is quite bunged up. Medised has a decongestant in it to help with breathing.
We hope to see a tooth as well cos that would mean ds has been teething. If he hasn't then I dread to think what the nights will be like when he is!!
Hope you have a good nights sleep tonight.

Well last night was our worst yet...just when I thought it was improving. We put her to bed at 7pm no problem, had only had about 1hr sleep during the day so was sure she would go down no bother. Didn't hear a sound all night, went in to feed her before bed at 10pm & that was the beginning. She didn't want feeding, had to put on some teething gel & then give calpol before would feed, wish we hadn't bothered, didn't feed well at all. Then the rain woke me at 1am..and 2 seconds later she started crying, thought I would feed her since she didn't have much earlier, had a tiny bit then straight back to sleep. Woke at 3am, fed 15mins, put back in cot asleep, woke 2 mins later & decided to chatter, cry, thump her legs on the mattress until 5.40am. Gave more calpol at 4am but still wouldn't sleep, her nose was all blocked & couldn't breathe. She was fast asleep on me or dh but woke up as soon as we put her in her cot. Went to sleep at 5.40am for 25mins then dh went in a cuddled her, I fell asleep so don't know how long for, but he was back in bed at 6.30am. She then woke at 7am, happy as larry, smiling and laughing!!! Hasn't fed this morning as her nose is so blocked, but have managed to get some pear & baby rice in her & a little drink of milk from her cup. She won't take a bottle...don't know where she gets her stubborn streak from! Hope you had a better night. Off to the shops to buy some medised...I am not one for using medicine all the time, but I'd do anything for a good nights sleep, or at least more than 2 hrs at a time!

Hi Caygil132
What a nightmare. I know what you mean about the medicine thing but as my ds is quite snotty at the moment it does help him if he has a few doses. Hope the Medised works better for you. As I said it has a decongestant in it and it seems to make the babies more sleepy. Lots of my friends swear by it so I don't feel so bad when I give it to ds. Our night wasn't too bad - woke at 1.15 for about half an hour. Gave him some aston and parsons herbal powder. And then woke at 6am but managed to get him back to sleep with the dummy until 7.30am. However I hark back to the good old nights of 7-7!! I am sure it's just a phase (or at least I hope so).

Do you find that your little one sleeps better when they have had more sleep during the day? If ds only has an hour vs the 2.5hrs that he is meant to then his sleeping is worse (don't know how that works!). Also do you find that if you feed during the night that they take less in the morning? I don't feed ds during the night (stopped when he was about 3 mths) cos when I did he took very little at breakfast. He's never been the biggest feeder so I try and make sure he takes what he is meant to during the day.

Hope to hear that you had a better night.

My dd is 9 and a half months. Slept through from 8 weeks until she was almost 6 months old, and I'm afraid she's been waking up at least once almost every night since. I also don't know what to do. She teeths badly, I give her teething gel at night, it helps a little in terms of getting back to sleep but not in preventing wake ups.

I'm going to start feeding her around 10pm/11pm again as she sleeps from 7.30pm until 3am, if I could shift this block of sleep until later than I might actually get a decent sleep. My only advice is sadly, get used to it. Read 'What Mothers Do', it makes everything you do as mother seem worthwhile, including waking up every night.

Oh well, sleepless nights it is then..maybe some babies are just born difficult, hopefully it means they will be good toddlers!!! Last night was better, Medised seems to be better than the Calpol. She has now also developed a really snotty nose, yesterday she hardly fed at all because it was so blocked. Been and bought some vicks and saline drops, seemed to do the trick yesterday. Gave her some Medised at lunch & she slept for 2.5hrs. Yes I do find if she has her full sleep quota for the day she def sleeps better..strange I know. I have never tried not feeding when she wakes it's just easier/quicker to feed back to sleep, but it does have an effect on her 7am feed, she hardly has one. So that prob is why she never slept through, was having her long no food spell from 4am-10am!! Have always fed at 10pm before bed, but didn't last night & she woke at 11.55, was back to sleep at 12.55am after a little cuddle. Woke this morning 6.20am..bit early but we can't complain really. She has had no milk this morning as nose is totally blocked, but has had some Papaya, and mixed a bit of milk with that. Fast asleep now since 8.40am so will try to feed her when she wakes up..or when I wake her in 5 mins. Can't have too much sleep either that also affects her night sleep.

Hi, just been reading these as my 6 month old had started doing the same. Her sleeping pattern has been amazing untill now. I have been advised that she is probably having night terrors. I have to go in and check on her but I've not to speak to her or try and comfort her as this will make her worse( which I perviously done) and it did make her worse. Just thought I'd give my bit of advice

For anyone new reading this post - please be advised that you should NOT give decongestant to children under the age of 6 years old.