15 month waking at midnight every night

[futurity]

This has been happening for about the last 6 weeks. It started with ds waking about an hour after we had gone to bed and we had to go and comfort him etc to get him to go back to sleep. This would happen a couple of times a week.

However, over the last 4 nights it has been happening every night like clockwork at between about 12-12.30. A couple of the nights all I had to do was go in and stroke his back and he would go back to sleep but last night that didn't work and we had 2 hours of calming him down and trying to settle him only to have to get him up again. We did everything culminating in giving him Nurofen (he had already had Calpol a few hours before!) and that worked and he slept from about 3-7.30am.

Needless to say all a bit bleary eyed this morning and I am looking for "answers"! Of course the obvious thing is teething as he now has molar number 2 coming through but I just wanted to hear if others went through this regularility of waking up at exactly the same time every night and how to break the cycle? If it is teething then I am even considering waking him up at about 10pm to give him the Calpol to get him through that difficult midnight hour but I am extrememly fatigued by it all so mad thoughts go through my head at times like this!!

I can't give you any advice as my 14mth old continues to wake throughout the night. However, I'm hoping you get loads of good advice as I need it to. Just remember when you are pacing the floor trying to comfort your ds I am probably doing the same with mine.

Unfortunately mine has never slept through the night and I have created a bad habit of giving him his bottle and letting him drop back off to sleep himself. Recently though this has not been working. Any advice you have for me about weaning him off his bottle is appreciated.

I did have some advice about him maybe being cold so I bought a grobag and even though this has stopped him waking as often as he did he is still waking.

I also worried he was cold but he already has a Grobag and I checked the room temperature.

Any ideas/experiences gratefully received!

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Hey futurity - Welcome to this week's groggy-eyed set. DS (15 months) goes through phases of waking in the night, at the same time, needing lots of comfort. I think it's teeth blending seemlessly into habit! I put up with it for a few days then sleep train again when I can't cope any more and / or think he's through the teething (ie once he starts eating again.) Hubby has to be sound asleep for that to work though... but it isn't fun especially if you didn't do it when they are really young. Some phases are just more fun than others...

He sleeps for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after lunch. Goes to bed 7-7.30.

Message withdrawn

My ds is 16 months and only just moving from 2 sleeps to one sleep - usually sleeps more than 2 hours total during the day. In my experience better daytime sleep makes for better night time sleep - I think futurity if your ds was getting too much daytime sleep he might be more likely to resist bedtime or wake early than have broken nights. Personally I think your problem is most likely to be teething compounded by getting into a habit of needing help to get back to sleep.

When ds goes through unsettled patches, I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt for a few nights (go in and comfort and give calpol), then if nothing obvious is wrong but the waking is persisting, I get a bit tough and leave him to it.

Futurity - sounds like we both need to get tough and let them cry.

Edgarcat - thanks for the advice on the grobag. It has helped and you are right the times he is waking now is probably due to habit. It has certainly cut down the amount of times he wakes. Mind you last night he decided to vomit all over his grobag so slept without it.

Is anyone else's child sick at the moment. Mind had a raging temperature last night. As soon as the temperature and illness settles down I'm going to bite the bullet and let him cry it out. I'll comfort him but no bottle and no picking up from the cot or putting into bed with me.

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

My ds is 21mths and has never slept through the night. We tried EVERYTHING, inlcuding 2 nights of CC (DISASTER)!! It is now very much a habit, he wakes about 3 hours after going to sleep, he has a drink of water from a baby bottle, he goes to sleep again, only to wake a couple of minutes or hours later to have another drink and come in bed beside us!!
So, futurity, can I join in the bleary-eyed Mums thread too.... yawn.....
Advice also welcome.

Futurity - is he screaming whilst he's awake, or is he quite calm?

Edgarcat - my ds goes to bed at 7.30pm, but still sleeps for 2 hours in the afternoon and if he doesn't he falls asleep on the carpet at 6pm.... a bit like his father then.

I thought that was quite normal?? Might be wrong, my ds might just be a lazy sod (except at night).

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

Futurity - when our ds' (16 months) first lot of premolars were coming through he woke every night at about 4 am. I used to go in and give him Nurofen and he would settle again. Once the teeth were through we just went back to normal somehow (I probably decided to ignore him a couple of nights running and he gave up!). Luckily for us the 4am wake-up wasn't quite as bad as yours which is happening about an hour after you're getting to sleep.

I would try Nurofen at bedtime. My experience is that it's more effective for teething pain and its effect lasts longer. As for waking him up to give him more painkillers before you go to bed, if all else fails it might be worth a try, but what if he won't settle easily again? And it might just reinforce the habit of waking around that time.

As for daytime sleep, I'm with elliot on this. My ds still needs 2 naps some days and certainly sleeps better at night if he has a good 2 hours sleep during the day. However, they're all different and your ds may need less daytime sleep. But if he's settling well at bedtime you've probably got it about right.

Message withdrawn

My 20 month old sleeps between 1.30/3 hrs in the afternoon and then goes down at 7.30/8pm and sleeps through till 7ish. Can't remember the last time that he woke up during the night ( famous last words ).

Trying to remember what we did - he dropped night feeds quite early on, about 4 months ish though did still wake up sometimes especially when teething hit. Mostly, I think I just left him to get on with it unless he was obviously very distressed ( ie: screaming ). Certainly, some nights you could hear him chatting away to himself but after a while he just went back to sleep.

I think most babies and adults ( I do somethimes) wake up during the night but then settle themselves back to sleep. It sounds like your babies haven't got into the habit of settling themselves.

I think you have to be tough and remember that there screaming blue murder is not the same as adults screaming - they are using it to get attention not necessarily because they are in distress.

Mum2Toby - 2 nights controlled crying is not a lot, it took us about 3 nights and my DS is not at all stubborn.

My ds is doing it too, he is 11 months this week and just wants comfort with a bit of teething thrown in too, we cannot let him cry it our for too long as it wakes dd who will not go back to sleep if woken after 5am! He is waking at about 3am and then again at 5.30-6am. We usually get away with the dummy at the early one and then milk for the later one, after which he will sleep til about 8am. He has a grobag but still gets cold, we never had this prob with dd, she was tough as old boots when it came to teething and after a spell of CC at 7 months she slept through ever since unless she is ill so this is all a bit of a culture shock, we used to get more sleep when he was a newborn!

So am afarid cannot offer any advice only empathise.

Thanks for all the responses.

I also believe he needs the 2 hours sleep in the day as if he has less he is a grumpy so and so later in the day! He has now been asleep for 2 1/2 hours making up for last night so I will get him up soon I think!!

Mum2Toby- He screams at first when we go to him but doesn't take too long to calm him (normally just have to stroke his back but last night was different and up for hours!). I wondered if it was "night terrors" but it isn't as he does calm down and seems aware of surroundings.

Nurofen does seem to work better than Calpol when he is teething. We have been giving it at bedtime but it doesn't seem to last long enough (ie give it at 7 and he still awake at 12).

Normally he is fine at resettling himself so we figure he is definetely being bothered by the teeth but it is finding the line between it becoming a habit and there actually being a problem. We have had to use CC in the past to get through such phases but I am unsure when to classifiy a molar as being through..is it just when it splits the skin or when the whole thing is through as we are along way off that stage!

OOps..someone awakes! At last!

Well he wouldn't eat any tea...a sure sign of teething with him. Gave him calpol at bedtime and put Calgel on his emerging molar which is definetely on the move but has along way to come yet. He has gone off to sleep immediately but he generally does. So just trying to work out what to do later..whether to wake him at 10 and give him Nurofen although he may not settle again!? Saying that am so tired I am probably going to bed at 9!

I can't believe how cold hearted your message sounds Kaz33. How do you know a babies cries are different to an adults? How do you know they aren't crying because they think they may have lost their mummies? I obviously come from a different school of parenting. I just couldn't do cc with a baby under 12 months. In fact not sure if I could do cc at all.
Anyway, sorry to take over this thread with that I just had to get it off my chest. Hope your babies settle back to sleep soon. My dd has just started to sleep through (11 months) but last night she decided to wake at 12 and not go back to sleep for 2 hours. Always seems to be to one step forward and 2 steps back....

Futurity - my ds is also normally fine at settling himself. I can usually tell whether he is being bothered by teeth by his daytime behaviour. If his teeth are hurting he often wakes screaming after his daytime naps. He also tends to sleep for only a short time after lunch (usually his long nap) and seems to be still tired but refuses to settle again. Like your ds he refuses some meals. Lastly, he chews his fingers! While all this is going on during the day I give him the benefit of the doubt during the night. I get tough when he seems to settle down again during the day. HTH.

Futurity - it might be worth getting his ears checked. He may well be starting an ear infection which is made worse when lying down. It may have nothing to do with him wakening over the previous few weeks. Does he tug at his ears wehn he is awake at all/ Especially when teething, ear infections (which can be common) can be overlooked. Just a thought!!!!

Ds has had ear infections in the past and it is always marked my different behaviour than we have now as well as a raise in temperature which also isn't apparent this time.

He had a scream last night at midnight but then went back to sleep only to wake up at 1am screaming because he kept banging his head on the side of the cot! DH sorted him out and he went back to sleep so all feeling a bit more human today!