9mo SCREAMS at regular intervals after bedtime. why?!!

[allyw]

Hi all, thanks in advance for any advice you might have...

Well it started a few weeks ago, and i have tried to ride it out but there is definitely something going on here. Our 9mo baby wakes regularly between 7pm (bedtime) and 11pm (df), and after that sleeps well till 7am. When she wakes, she SCREAMS. We generally wait a couple of minutes to see if she'll settle, go in and try to comfort her in the crib, and offer her the dummy. She is usually screaming even louder now, so we pick her up, but she pushes us away, arches her back, and yells like half a zoo. She is just inconsolable. Eventually we get her back down, but she's awake again soon. It varies every night, but the typical pattern is at least two wake ups before she is dream fed at 11pm. We've had a few NW at about 5am with very similar, inconsolable behaviour. But generally she sleeps well till morning.

Could it be night terrors? OT? surely not hunger...

Here is her Easy:

7am breastfeed
8am cereal
9.30am sleeps for 1.5 -2 hours.

11.3o breastfeed
12.00 veggies and fruit
2pm sleeps for 1-1.5 hours

4pm breastfeed
5.30pm dinner
6-7 bath, stories, breastfeed
7pm bed

11pm dream feed
 
I know she's a little old for dream feeding but i'm too scared to try dropping it with all this going on. I have tried once before, but my supply plummeted and she started waking at 4, so we picked it up again. She does have a dummy but its never caused NW problems before.

Any help would be appreciated. The one thing keeping me going was those precious hours between 7pm and bed. Now they are gone I am basically a nervous wreck...

Thanks,
Ally

[alethiaperry]

Our DS was doing that same thing before we increased his A to 3hrs.  We got into an UT OT cycle.  UT for naps and OT for bed.  You could try to increase A to 3hrs over the next few days.  If nap is under 1hr, then keep A less than 3hrs.  Maybe 2.5 to 2.75?  Then arching back reminds me of my DS.  Wanted to settle self and trying to get out of our arms, but too OT or OS for that last stretch before bed in order to have a restful sleep.  Hope that helps. 

[allyw]

Thankyou both, I'll give it a try. She does generally get three hours of A time in the middle part of the day, but I have never put her down later than 9.30 because I always assumed a shorter A time in the morning was the norm. Also, she often wakes at 6.30 and chats to herself till 7, giving her three hours of A time by 9.30. In this case, do you think it would be too risky to keep her up till 9.45 or 10?

My other concern is that she'd be too hungry to sleep well, as she's not a good eater. Maybe she'll surprise me :-)

It did begin with teeth, but that was over a month ago and she's been waking ever since. 

thanks again!