Cause of night waking? and How soothe baby that appears not to want help

[Essy]

Hi,
My seven month old has recently started waking in the middle of the night - not the exact time each night but usually between 2-4 AM. His cry is not a hunger cry. I recognize that cry so I know that is not what is going on for him. My problem is firstly I am unsure of why he is waking and crying. It is not a pain cry either.......... he does the mantra cry then cries loudly and then returns to the mantra cry. This can occur for half hour. When I watch him, he does this with his eyes shut as if he is sleeping. He does not want to be awake, I am guessing. And then he is having trouble getting back to sleep? 

My next question is how to soothe him. He is super tired, his back will be arching and he pushes away so he does not want to be held. I put him down and he cries. I try to put my hand on him and it appears to do little. Any noise from me appears to make him angrier. I am completely at a loss at what to do to assist him.

He is on a great schedule in the day. Goes to bed for naps with little concern. Nice long naps. Goes to bed at night with no problem. Bed time routine is exactly what should happen. Gets lots of sleep. Eats well. Breast feeds and eats solids three times a day. He has a blanket but does not appear to care to have it in the middle of the night. Teething is happening but again, his cry does not appear related to pain..........  he just wakes up in the middle of night and then won't let me soothe him.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[munzle]

How long does he wake for and how do you get him off in the end? At about this age, I realised that I was responding to DS a bit too quickly at night. One night I was particularly tired and didn't wake when he did. DH woke, but couldn't be bothered to get out of bed (!) but said that he settled himself back off. Apparently this happened a couple of times. The next night I stayed in bed when he woke, waiting for a real 'I need you now' cry and he went back off on his own. It was at that point that I got rid of the baby monitor. I always hear him if he's really screaming, but I don't wake for every grumble. On the other hand, though, it could be teething. Even if he's not in real pain, he might be in enough discomfort to have a grumble, but not to fully wake him up. What do you think?

[ccaawc]

Essy,
My dd is doing exactly the same, and I thought it is teething too, I saw there are 2 canine coming, and probably molars too 'cos I saw her chewing her fingers at the back of her mouth. My dd is 11 months.

[Essy]

Both or your comments were helpful. The cry, that is grumbling cry, can occur for over half hour.  This happened a few nights in a row and has stopped. So indeed, it just have been teething?  Also, if I do not respond because it is a grumbling cry and it happens for quite awhile, like half hour, is that okay?  Like I said, he does not want to be comforted by me so all I can do is listen.