9mo wakes up screaming, inconsolable after weeks of STTN

[Anonymous]

It seems to be the day for talking about night wakings!

My mild mannered 9 months old is generally a good sleeper. He puts himself to sleep at night with no rocking or anything like that, just a paci. At nap time I can put him in the crib sitting up and he will eventually lie down to sleep. So he knows how to self soothe. There were several stretches he was STTN: from 2-31/2 months. Then his 4 months sleep regression lasted until about 7 months at which point he was sleeping regularly 7:30 - 5:00; sometimes 7:30-7:00.

About three weeks ago I went away for the weekend with my 4yo. Baby slept through the night both nights. After I got back he got sick and it all went to hell. He started waking up screaming, inconsolable, and totally unable to soothe, and it is getting worse. two, three, sometimes four times in a night he will wake up -- we will find him sitting in his crib bawling--and no amount of patting, holding, pacis - even turning on the light and trying to talk to him - works. He just screams and cries, his face puffy and won't stop. Give him the paci and he throws it across the room. Some thing for the lovey. The only thing that comforts him is the breast, and my milk is almost gone so this won't be an option much longer.

Thing is, you used to be able to just pop in a paci. He hadn't been nursing at night for ages. He is literally inconsolable.

A few things:
- He is cutting his first tooth, but behavior is the same with our without advil/tylenol. So it's probably not that, right?
- He has had a fever on and off the last couple of weeks. Doctor said to keep eyes open for ear infection (it was a little red) but fever is gone now, napping is fine, and he shows no sign of ear infection except for pulling on the ear when he is really upset, which a lot of babies do because they are, well, upset. Again, behavior is same with pain killers so i don't think it's that.
- Just starting to crawl...could he be finding his body in a new position in the middle of the night and just freaking out?
- Because my milk is drying up, we thought he was actually hungry, so we upped his formula intake during the day, but it is not that.

Before you tell me to let him cry it out, we have a 4yo who shares a door with him and does wake up if the crying goes for too long. Any other thoughts about what is going on? is this developmentally normal?

[Anonymous]

I would guess ear infection or the tooth. Either way, this is normal. Expect random things to wake up your kids on and off for several years to come.

[Anonymous]

Ear infection or teething. In my case, my baby slept fine with ear infections but teething would make him wake up screaming at random times of the night. Try motrin instead of tylenol. I was told that it works better for teething. And also orajel.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reassurance. Is orajel considered safe these days?

[Anonymous]

Nine month sleep regression--the just starting to crawl is one indication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the reassurance. Is orajel considered safe these days?

They have some that are natural and for babies.

[girljoe]

My husband and I have always said it’s too bad children don’t come with their own personalized user’s manual. Each one is different so what works for one, even in the same family, may not work for the other. So don’t be discouraged as you try to figure out how to help your sweet boy.

Having mostly eliminated the teething, ear infection and hunger as causes, what you describe could be separation anxiety. This can be significant for some babies. It sounds like physical contact with you makes him feel more comfortable so this is my best guess. Some research on separation anxiety may help you decide how to proceed. I think this article is a good one http://bit.ly/28NHaIV

I’m sure you, your husband and your 4yo are losing sleep too, which makes everyone cranky but hang in there, you’ll get thru this.

[Anonymous]

So just a quick update, especially for first timers who may be in the same situation and feeling desperate. I left last week for a trip. The first night baby woke up 7 times. My husband was a mess. Since then has been sleeping 7-7. We started feeding him a lot more at night, which seems to have helped, and his little tooth broke through. Whatever it was, the 9 month sleep regression seems to have paused...for the moment...

[girljoe]

Woo-hoo, congratulations on the parenting win!! Seems like a full belly can help with so many of life's problems. I like to fill mine with cookies, but then I have to exercise. Sigh. Anyway, sooo happy for you.

[Anonymous]

It seems like there's always a "x month sleep regression" excuse everytime people post about their kids suddenly becoming bad sleepers.
My 10 mo old is like your 9 mo old except he has a bunch if teeth and sucks his thumb instead of a paci. I end up nursing him. It solves the problem. I assume he truly is hungry given that it does the trick.

So either nurse him, formula feed him (you say your milk is decreasing).I don't understand why you won't given that it works. Isn't it better than waking up your other child and you get up 3x/night?

[Anonymous]

I would think it was the tooth. Hence he was tossing the paci since it was not comfortable for him. Happy it's fixed itself.

[Anonymous]

It seems like there's always a "x month sleep regression" excuse everytime people post about their kids suddenly becoming bad sleepers.
My 10 mo old is like your 9 mo old except he has a bunch if teeth and sucks his thumb instead of a paci. I end up nursing him. It solves the problem. I assume he truly is hungry given that it does the trick.

So either nurse him, formula feed him (you say your milk is decreasing).I don't understand why you won't given that it works. Isn't it better than waking up your other child and you get up 3x/night?

[Anonymous]

OP here - we were supplementing with formula, but I didn't know how much to give at night because I had been previously nursing. Clearly it wasn't enough. We doubled it and things are going much better.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like an ear infection. Why not just make an appointment with the doctor to get him checked out. Whenever my son would cry like that it was always an ear infection, and he never pulled on his ears or showed any other sign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like an ear infection. Why not just make an appointment with the doctor to get him checked out. Whenever my son would cry like that it was always an ear infection, and he never pulled on his ears or showed any other sign.

Oops never mind - should have read the whole thread