8 month old suddenly inconsolable all night long.

[Betania]

our baby has had a cold for the past five days, he has obviously been under the weather but nothing too bad at all. He woke occasionally in the night coughing but would go back to sleep really quickly!

however last night at 12:30am he woke up and was crying, nothing would soothe him I tried breast feeding, tried a bottle, tried calpol and he just refused everything and got more upset the more we tried! He pretty much screamed until I managed to get him to sleep again for about half an hour - the same thing happened again on and off all night. We ended up ringing 111 at 6 in the morning as he had been crying for 6 hours pretty much solidly and they told us to go into a and e.

the doctor checked him over and said she wasn’t concerned about anything, he had bronchiolitis and she thinks that’s what set him off.

anyway he’s been fine all day, has had naps all day and been fine but as soon as I got him to sleep for his bedtime nap, twenty minutes later the exact same again he is inconsolable and I just don’t know how to help him!

he doesn’t sound snuffly or snotty when he is sleeping and seems to be breathing soundly so not sure what is disturbing him. He had calpol 40 mins before he woke up and also put anbesol on his gums incase it is teething pain.

It just seems so bizarre that it’s just in the night time he’s doing this and in the day time he is completely fine?? He was great right up until he went asleep so it just seems mad!

i just feel so sorry for him and can’t bare another full night of this 😭😭😭

Firstly, sounds like he’s under the weather even if no overt features of illness given recent events. Be patient. Can you have him in your bed for a couple of nights?
Secondly, if this continues for a while, don’t panic. 8 months is a shit age for sleep. I remember with both of mine they were suddenly inconsolable in the night around this age and would scream for hours and wake up constantly. Lasted maybe 6 weeks-2 months and then got better. Some nights I’d just either sleep next to their cot or I would bring them into bed.
regardless, it will pass although when you’re in the thick of it that doesn’t help much.

Thanks so much for your message!

We co sleep with him already and so we don’t have that as an option 😭 the only thing that has settled him has been rocking him walking round but then once we put him back into our bed he wakes up after 20 mins or so and starts screaming again 😭 it just seems so strange as he napped in our bed about 3 hours ago completely fine!

I just feel like I don’t know what to do to help him as pretty much nothing works and none of us are getting sleep!

Babies are such a mystery! It might be he’s just not feeling 100%. If you’re already cosleeping is there any way to take shifts so you can each get a chunk of sleep? Might just be a case of survival for a while!

Sounds like teeth to me :(

And I think they are more sad at night because everything is quiet and dark and there's nothing for them to change their focus onto. So it just makes the pain seem worse.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Try Nurofen instead of calpol

I sympathise. It sounds like a phase he is going through especially as he is sick.

my little one is almost 16 months and had phases like that especially around big developmental milestones or being sick. She currently is going through screaming her head off everytime she wakes up throughout the night. She was sick not so long ago and it’s linked with teething. Wed been checking for teething but didn’t feel anything until her molar came up a few days ago.

itll pass, just keeP doing what you’re doing and take turns so you can get some sleep

I could have written this!

My 8 month old is exactly the same right now. We suspect he has Bronchiolitis or some other virus. GP just said viral infection but he has an awful cough so much he is vomiting.

He has cried pretty much every time he's been awake for the last 2 nights.

Sending hugs and know you aren't alone. It's so hard when they won't stop crying x

When my DS had bronchiolitis we put him in the pushchair to sleep so he was sitting more upright and that seemed to help a lot.

Ahh thank you so much everyone for your help and support! He managed to get a bit more sleep than the night before so that was good!

he then woke up the next morning with a rash all over his body so panicked and took him to the doctors but they said it’s all part of the virus and some babies can get that! They also prescribed antibiotics for him so he is now on those, some allergy medication for his rash as it’s making him itch and also calpol bless him 😭

And then last night he slept normally!! So I’m so happy. It’s just so horrible seeing them sick isn’t it?? I’ve cried so much as I feel so sorry for him haha especially when he had his rash I just felt awful.

hopefully he will start to feel better soon! @e323 hope yours is starting to feel better too!!