Please help - 6 month old distressed at bedtime after holiday

[Someaddedsugar]

Really hoping someone has some advice/experience with this!

We’ve recently returned from a 10 night holiday and our 6 month old ds is so distressed when it comes to bedtime. He goes to bed in his cot no problem but wakes approximately 30 minutes later he wakes up distressed, crying uncontrollably, and is inconsolable. Last night this lasted on and off for almost 3 hours, and the only thing that eventually worked was popping him in the car and driving around for 10 minutes.

Both prior to our holiday and on holiday he has slept brilliantly, going down at bedtime and sleeping through until 6am.

We’re really struggling with what to do for the best - PIL have suggested letting him cry it out but I’m not sure whether this is a good idea with him only being 6 months and the crying becoming uncontrollable pretty quickly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

How long has it been going on for? If it’s only a short time then it could just be a phase/developmental thing. Or he could just be a little unsettled due to being away, it’s very normal for holidays to disrupt sleeping patterns temporarily. If it’s only been going on a short time I’d just wait it out and see if it passes, and continue to comfort. IMO he’s too little for any form of cry it out/controlled crying

6 months could be a growth spurt. Could he be hungry? Maybe try upping milk intake?

Thank you for the replies.

@KatnissK I don’t think he’s hungry as he refuses any milk offered (once he’s settled enough for me to offer it) but it could be a growth spurt as you say.

@FortheloveofJames I wasn’t too keen on the idea of crying it out (just my personal preference). We’ve been home for three nights. The first night I think he was so tired after the day of travelling that he just fell asleep, however last night and tonight he’s been so upset. Thank you for your reply - I’m hoping it is just a temporary thing (I hadn’t realised it was normal for holidays to cause disruption) and will continue to comfort as you suggest.

...he wakes up distressed, crying uncontrollably, and is inconsolable...

It may be worth ruling out that the baby is not in pain. Generally when good sleepers start waking up during the night crying there is usually a reason. It could indeed be a disruption to the routine but other possible explanations are teething or an ear infection.

My DD had gone through a tough week before she cut her first two incisors at 6 months. She used to wake up during the night screaming blue murder and would only settle for nurofen. As soon as the teeth cut through the gum, her night wakings stopped and she went back to happily sleeping through the night.

Thank you @wintertravel1980. He doesn’t appear to be in pain during the day - was this similar to your DD? However he does show other signs of teething but nothing that causes distress so maybe it could be a combination of the disruption and teething...

Teething pain often gets worse during the night when babies are (1) lying flat and (2) do not have any distractions around them to keep them focused on something else.

My DD was also grumpy during the day when teething but she does not take pain or discomfort well. Other babies around me (e.g. in my NCT group) dealt with teething much better but they still woke up during the night.

Really hope your LO will get through this stage soon, OP!

@wintertravel1980 thank you! Last night he managed longer periods between the distress however when he was offered a teething ring to try and get him to settle he was biting down pretty hard and so I think you could be right with teething and I’ve confused this with the holiday being the direct cause. Off to get some nurofen for him today. I feel so awful for not knowing what’s wrong!