What is going on?

[McDreamy]

I am sooooooooooo tired! DD (1 tomorrow) is having rubbish nights and I don't know what to do. She goes to bed like a dream and doesn't stir until about 11pm. From then for the rest of the night she moans but in her sleep. I have tried hot/cold, milk, painkillers but nothing seems to help her. When she gets up in the morning she is lovely, happy etc but we are shattered!

Anyone else had this experience? My other 2 DCs didn't do this

Are you sharing a room?

Maybe better to move her into a travel cot in another room if sharing, when you go to bed, then you can get a better nights sleep. If she's not waking and crying then I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe she's having vivid dreams? Or it's a developmental stage with learning to move.

That's my opinion anyway for what its worth, it got to about 10 months with my boy in our room in a cot and I had to move him elsewhere, as he was constantly moving about and I was having trouble sleeping, worrying about him etc. We all slept better once he wasn't in a our room, him and us.

No she's not in our room but her room is next to ours and because we have a fairly new build the walls are thin

Last night was awful! Have now realised she is teething - how did I miss that but calpol/nurofen don't seem to touch it. The other thing that has changed for her is I have started to introduce cows milk instead of formula. Anyway today I have kept her on formula. Fingers crossed for tonight!

If the teething was bad with my 2 kids, I give teething gel first and then a feed to help them get back to sleep again (if needed) or replace dummy and leave. When the teething was really bad my DD1 would wake every 3 hours as the bonjela wore off.

My DS2 is a thumb sucker and isn't quite as bad with the teething shenanigans. But it really fouls up their sleep

I sometimes sneak in as going to bed and put teething gel in their mouth as that'll make sure they sleep for about 3 hours ish before they wake you.

Also for naps in the day I give teething gel as putting down as it helps them nap better and longer if teething.

Of course maybe these tips only work for my kids...

SHe seems to sleep well in the day, in fact she's as happy as anything in the day. I don't give her anything. Last night was another shocker. Fed her and gave her medication at 1am, then she moaned for the rest of night. If you go and pick her up she settles on me but as soon as I put her down she's moaning within 10 mins (she seems to be asleep throughout all this btw).

Oh well, we'll keep going and hope that it's just a phase! Teeth have broken through both sides but there's more to come. I will get some gel today. Is bongela the best? (My other 2 never needed gel).

Teething always affects my 2 kids worse at night, another mumsnetter once explained to me why, but I've forgotten. Some people like Anbesol best, I preferred Bonjela. I like the teetha sachets too as the Chamomile really calms them.

The big molars always upset my 2 kids more as well, they also seem to take ages to come through

Could you sleep with one ear plug in to half muffle the noise so you don't wake with every noise she makes for a while? Or could you sleep with both in and your hubby wakes you if she starts actually crying? Just so you can get one good nights sleep? I was just thinking that as long as the baby is not actually crying, it's probably best to just leave her to it. Otherwise you may encourage a waking habit. Or maybe I'm being paranoid? But one good nights sleep where you're not constantly aware of her, may make you feel a million bucks, especially with two other LO's to care for as well.

i think they teethe worse at night as there is less to distract them?

i have found anbesol the best painkiller for sore gums

It's normal normal normal.

Do a search on my name as I seem to answer this question a lot. It's always around this age and is developmental. In fact it's expected.

It's because their brain is very, very busy and usually coincides with learning to walk. They physically lose the ability to sleep soundly. Once the developmental urge to stand and walk kicks in they cannot switch it off while the skill is mastered. So their brains say get up, stand, walk at all times, particularly while asleep. Some children you go into and they are standing in their cots with no idea why, can't lie back down, distressed. It's a normal part of development and does pass.

Of course teething, illness etc may be a factor but once you've ruled them out, it's almost always developmental. They just can't settle, their brain is too busy.

Do what you can to get through it, always keep checking it isn't something else and it'll be over before you know it.

It's the same with talking and other major developmental milestones.

It's like when you start a new job or are stressed and you can't sleep properly, thing whir round your head, you wake up often, dream about work and find yourself doing your job in your sleep. Children do this too and they find it harder than us as they don't understand why they are doing it or that it will end and why things are different all of a sudden. Once the skill is learnt, the stress is gone, you've learnt your new job, you go back to sleeping well.

That's really interesting SOH thanks and thanks for all the other advice too. She certainly is a very busy baby so makes sense SOH.

I used some gel on her gums last night and DH and I moved to the spare room where we both slept much better - not sure if it was because she didn't make any noise or because we were further away.

Fingers crossed for tonight