my 10 month old daughter is sometimes staying awake for hours at night in the middle of the night. at times, she refuses to go back to sleep unless she is nursed.
when she stands up, i lay her back down and try to reassure her with a hand on her back. i don't speak to her except to quietly tell her it's bedtime. she doesn't cry initially, she just keeps standing up. after about 2 hours she will start to cry and get hysterical. my husband will then come into her room and ask me to feed her as he thinks she is getting too upset. i give in and feed her and she goes to sleep. i have also tried feeding her immediately when i go into her room instead of doing the PD. sometimes, when i've done this, she will nurse and instead of going to sleep, will want to stay up. :?
i am at a loss. she started teething at 7 months. she now has her four front teeth. previous to this, she had been sleeping 9 to 11 hours straight at night. she is on the EASY routine and her daytime naps are good for the most part. she will usually take 2 daytime naps averaging about 1 1/2 hours each. she is also a good eater taking 3 solid meals per day, with snacks and breast milk in between.
right around the 7 month mark, she started experiencing separation anxiety, but i thought it was getting better. (except for this night waking thing.) despite our difficulities at night, ella is a happy and easygoing baby. i would describe her as textbook/angel.
please help me figure out where i've gone off track. i know ella can put herself back to sleep because there are times at night when i hear her and she eventually goes back to sleep on her own. sometimes, though on those same nights, she wakes up and i'm up with her for hours. what gives? i'm also a little bit anxious because i go back to work fulltime in a couple of months.
any thoughts, ideas, suggestions would be so appreciated.