Activity waking up 8-month-old good sleeper?

[yummymummy]

Hi,
My 8-month old daughter is a generally good sleeper but for about a week now she has been waking up once or twice a night. She cries & when I go in is often sitting up. Not sure what to do - so far I have been picking her up & giving her a cuddle & she goes back to sleep easily but am concerned this might be a bad habit to develop.
What should I do - PU/PD or pat/shh?
She recently has learned to crawl, pull herself up and cruise, and has just got 1st tooth. I have read that such milestones can lead to night waking, but am not sure why??
Thanks for any thoughts/advice.

[isaac'smom]

Hi,

Is she in pain from teething? She may be waking because of the pain. You may want to consider some pain meds. if you're sure that's what it is. Like you said, she could be waking because of all the milestones she's recently reached. It took about a week for ds to stop practicing his new 'tricks' at night. The following is what I did when ds starting standing in his crib.

Go in and just lay her back down. I wouldn't want her to start depending upon you to cuddle her back to sleep. She may cry when you lay her down, so I'd just go back in (after waiting to hear if she can resettle herself), lay her down again and repeat it over and over. Conisistency is important.

I hope it soon passes and things go back to normal (whatever that is, right?
 :wink: )

 

[N Lou]

Hi there,

my son did this also at around the same age.  I think sometimes he would sit up before he actually woke and then cried becasue he wasn't sure how he had got there.  We would just go in and lay him back down, whisper to him that he was ok and he could go back to sleep and generally he would.  A few times we would need to pick him up, give a quick cuddle and put him back down.

Also, your daughter may be coming into a separation anxiety phase where she's discovering that she is a different person from you and may just need reassurance that you are there.  Its ok to go to her and comfort her when she's upset, just make sure you don't comfort past her need or you may create a dependency that you don't want.
I'm sure all the other mummies will have some more advice but just want to let you know that you're not alone and it will pass in time!!

Keep us updated on your progress.