Help! (11 mo waking up screaming) UPDATE: still need help!

[kris10s]

Kate used to sleep really well, for about 3 months before she started teething. Then, teething woke her, but it was pretty obvious and easily fixed with hylands, even though it took forever for each tooth to come it, we'd see some sleep improvement afterwards. Her top two teeth came in two or three weeks ago, and she slept slightly better for a little bit but now she's waking up very frequently (some nights every 45 minutes), just SCREAMING. Hearing her before we go to bed, there is no working up period like she has had in the past where she fusses a bit and then she cries (and then screams if we don't get to her in a minute or two, but that was infrequent.) Anyhow, teething tablets or nursing will calm her down, until she wakes again.

She's had an ear infection, and she's not acting like she did then and has no other symptoms.

Could an allergen cause such havoc only at night?

Any other ideas?

I really need some help or some hope. The only thing we've found to keep her from waking us when she wakes is to set her up in front of the TV on the playhouse disney channel and then she doesn't scream when she wakes and goes back to sleep. It works at 4:30a when she's been up every 45 minutes, but it's not a solution.

[AmyDoll]

(((hugs))) sam did this night before last. so i have no real solution for you... just lots of hugs and sympathy! maybe nightmares? i wonder what age those start :shrug

amy

[malakoa]

Sounds like teething to me.

Her doctor (not the one who recommended the bad book) said there are no medical problems that happen only at night...

:hug for you. and thanks for being there for your baby.

[Soliloquy]

If you really suspect teething, you could give her a dose of infant's ibuprofen at bedtime. I really prefer homeopathy, but if my DD is in serious pain that isn't abated with Hylands, I will give her a dose of ibuprofen and she sleeps so much better.

I was thinking of nightmares, too. Is she on the brink of any milestones? Crawling? Cruising? Walking? Anything new or potentially stressful can cause nightmares.

Are you nursing?

[tiglet]

My dd does this too, sometimes.

I second PP's idea to give an ibuprofen dose for really bad nights. We usually do this after she's woken up a couple of times, and then the rest of the night is much better.

Also, last night B woke up screaming and screaming - in pain - and, after we saw dots of blood come out of her mouth, we saw that she had bit her tongue, with her new sharp teeth, in her sleep. :( Poor thing.

:hug to you.

[anniegirl]

Definitely try the Tylenol before bed. Is she eating any new foods? Maybe something is giving her gas?

One thing I thought of but probably wouldn't cause instant screaming, is if your milk supply has gone down in pregnancy. Mine is waaaaaayyy low, it's frustrating. Ds had some hard nights because of it, especially in the early morning. He was so frustrated that hardly anything was in there. I think he's slowly getting used to it though.

[kris10s]

I've tried tylenol and ibuprofen. :shrug I am so tired.

[Radosny Matka]

:hug Sleep issues are sooooo hard.

[kris10s]

She's still waking up screaming every hour. We are exhausted. If she manages to fall asleep in our bed, she will *usually* go longer, but for every time she does fall asleep in our bed, theres another 2 or 3 where she plays and climbs around and dives off the end of the bed and will not under any circumstances lie down or rest. So it's 30 minutes of being awake and then back to the carseat for Kate and another waking in an hour. Teething tablets, breastfeeding, ibuprofen, etc. all don't make a difference.

Here are some ideas I have:
1) I am not producing enough milk and she's hungry. A possibility, but she's waking up SCREAMING, does hunger cause that?
2) Nighttime Seperation Anxiety. Another possibility, but she doesn't have daytime seperation anxiety and after being given *something* (a breast, some teething tablets, etc.) she usually goes *right* back to sleep
3) Developmental Milestone she's been walking well for about a month, or at least, she walks most of the time and happily picks herself up when she falls. What does waking for a developmental milestone look like?

[kris10s]

While I was posting last, DH fed Kate rice cereal mixed with formula, to see if hunger might be the issue.

She went to bed at 8.
She woke up at 9:15
She woke up at 10:15 (fed rice cereal)
She woke up at 3:15 (nursed a lot)
She woke up at 7:30 (nursed a lot)
She woke up at 9:30 (for good.)

WOW! what an improvement. I hope it wasn't just a fluke...

[anniegirl]

Wow! She got some good stretches in there! Maybe she's going through a growth spurt and was having those piercing stomach hunger pains? Those could make a baby scream I think. Glad you found something that worked, I hope it keeps working. :tu

[herbalwriter]

Growth spurts can cause piercing hunger pains? I didn't know that.

[ArmsOfLove]

Yep--and more sensitive children are more sensitive to what is actually going on as their bones and muscles rip and grow. Also, growth spurts can last for up to 6-8 weeks!

[herbalwriter]

Wow! more great information. There seems no end to it on this site! :-) Thanks so much. :heart