2hr Happy Night Wakings

[*Kimberly*]

My lo is almost nine months old and just recently he began waking up in the middle of the night.  He will wake up around 2:30am or so and chat and play off and on for about 2 hours and then go back to sleep.  It started about 4 days ago, then he slept fine the next night, but he has woken up again the last two nights.  The first two times I did not go in until about 1.5 hours into it when I could hear him shaking his crib so I laid him back down and within a half hour he was asleep.  Last night I tried to nip it in the bud early.  I went in after a couple of minutes and found that he was mostly asleep but he was messing with his toys or his crib.  I tried putting my hand on him and shushing him but it didn't help.  So I left but I went back in and tried the hand and shushing thing about every 15 minutes.  Nothing seemed to help.  After about an hour he seemed to be more awake and then after about two hours he was asleep again. 

I have tried looking to see if something in his day is messing up his nights but the first night it happened he had a great day and then a bad nap day the next day but he slept fine that night.  The last two days have been messed up mainly because of the night sleep.  He used to wake up around 6am but now I have to wake him up at 7am to eat and this affects his day.

I would love some advice on how to solve this problem because I am only averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep a night and it is starting to take its toll on me.

Thanks.

Kimberly

[M and N's Mom]

I wish I could offer advice, but I just posted almost the same message...except our lo is not really happy...just awake   Maybe there is something at 9 months???

If you figure anything out, let me know as I'm getting very tired...last night we were up from 2:30-5:30 with him!

It is nice to know in the wee hours of the night that we are not alone and people all over the world are struggling with the same thing!

[*Kimberly*]

I am not sure I would actually label my lo as "happy" either but I did not want people to think that he was waking up upset.  He is not hungry or in need of something, he is just awake.

Our lo's are almost the exact same age.     Thanks for sharing, it does make me feel better to know that someone else is going through the same thing.

I have thought of just turning down the monitor and sleeping through his awake time but that won't solve the problem, it would just make me a happier person in the morning.

Kimberly

[M and N's Mom]

If your lo isn't crying, do you go to him?  I think I'd leave him if he was happy.  My lo cries and wants to "hang out" with us 

[*Kimberly*]

He does not cry at all during this time.  However, him being awake for up to two hours is affecting his day.  It makes him want to sleep in longer and then messes up his meals and then it just snowballs from there.

Kimberly

[lisi's mum]

I wish I had the answer, but only have sympathy. Mine's still doing it  she's not exactly happy, but not mad either. The really irritating thing is that out of necessity her crib's in our room so we have to lie there the whole time trying not to make any noise.

Wish it would stop soon!

[Kimberly®]

DD did this at the same age. If you leave them alone as long as they are not crying it will pass. Might be time to relook at naps though. What are your naps like? # and length?
Sounds like both your LO's are learning to self sooth.
Tink do you have the monitor on? if so try turning it off.

[*Kimberly*]

My lo has always been good at self soothing.  For the most part we put him down in his crib after a 5min winddown and he goes to sleep on his own.  He had a rough patch a couple weeks ago after being sick but he has been great for the past week or so. 

His naps have been messed up because of this.  Before this started happening we had just gotten back to two nice, good long naps of about 1.25 to 1.5 hours each.  Now they are a mess because I have to wake him to eat and it will often mess the rest of his day up. 

I always have the monitor on.  I am uncomfortable with not checking on him.  He is new to pulling himself to his knees and sometimes has difficulty getting back down.  He also will get himself into a sitting position and then fall asleep that way.

Kimberly

[Kimberly®]

I still recomend turning off the monitor, or at the very least turn it to the lowest possible setting. This way if he needs you you'll here him, but he'll still have the opertunity to settle himself. He's off to a wonderful start, just needs time now.
BTW we turned the monitor off at 12 weeks and thats when DD started sleeping through the night, I didn't get up for every little noise anymore.
If he needs you you'll hear him.

[*Kimberly*]

Brendan has been sleeping through the night since about 8 weeks or so.  I usually never go in to his room.  The problem is that he has a fan in his room for white noise, we have a fan in our room for white noise, and his door is shut to keep the kitties out.  So it is difficult to hear him unless he is screaming.  I do not like him falling asleep while in a sitting position.  With these long night wakings he is getting himself into a sitting position and then falling asleep.  I have been going in after he is quite for a while to make sure he is sleeping in a lying down position.  I don't think his night waking has anything to do with needing to settle himself.  He has always been fine with that. 

Kimberly

[Kimberly®]

LOL you would be amazed at the possitions my DD will sleep in. I wouldn't worry about that. Especially not at his age, and mobility level.

[*Kimberly*]

It is on my list of things to ask the doctor about at Brendan's 9 month appt. next week.

Well, he slept through last night.  I heard him wake up at 6am (his normal wake up time) and he was a little cranky.  I left him in his crib till 7am (like normal) and he was lying down in his calm, kinda asleep but not really state and when I got him up he seemed happy.  I am not sure if this is just a one day repreeve or and end to the night wakings.  I did not do anything different yesterday.

Kimberly