Hello,
My DD will be 9 months next week and is doing the same as your babies since the end of Jan (she was 6 1/2 months old). At first I thought it was because her routine was completely gone 'cause we went to Spain for 5 weeks, but we have been back for almost 7 weeks and still the same. She used to be a very good sleeper (I had to wake her up to feed). She had her first 2 teeth at 19/20 weeks, but nothing happened. But in Jan she started to be in her four and try to crawl. By 7 and a bit more months she was crawling and 4 teeth were breaking (in 2 weeks). So I assumed it is the reason: teething and activity during the day ( = she does not "switch off" completely). She is still the same (two more teeth breaking...) and I do not know what to do either.
She is in bed between 7-8, fully fed. Sometimes she wakes up every hour and sometimes she wakes up around 10 or 11. Then at 2, 4 or 5. Then up for the day around 7 or earlier.
She wakes up and quickly goes to the bottom of the cot and stands up crying for us to go and get her. Sometimes it is enough to put her down and tap her back a bit and she will sleep again (not often I have to say). Most of the times it will take between 45 mins to 4 hours... You think she is sleeping, but as soon as you leave her room she starts to cry!. I try not to pick her up, so she gets used to go back to sleep on her own, but sometimes you just have to. And sometimes it does not work either because the second you put her back in her cot, she starts the crying. So not a fixed pattern.
Sometimes when it is too much, we just get her in bed with us, so we can get some sleep (I am not a person if I do not rest...).
We have tried the "leaving her to cry" method and the opposite, but they do not work, maybe because we do not stick to up long enough??
Average she wakes up between 2 and 5 times a night, but sometimes even 10!! This is killing me and I am dreading going back to work, because I do not know how I will handle it.
She also moves a lot in her cot, and like Upsidedowncake said, a few times she was frantic in the cot, crawling up and down, non-stop, like a mad animal!! That night she kept we awake, next to her cot from 1 am to 5 am....
She also sometimes settles only by touching me, one of my fingers, a bit of my hand... It is like she know I am there and she is safe ( = separation anxiety??). Of course, while the hand is there she is fine, as soon as I remove it thinking she is asleep, she moves, sits down, and gets all nervous... Just a few times she was really sleeping.
I have been recommended an osteopath and I will give it a try. Nothing to lose. I will let you know. If anyone interested: www.fpo.org.uk
I know this is not going to be forever, but at the moment it looks like it.