7.5 months - screaming when waking in the night

[tathi-b]

Hello Ladies,

I don't know what else to do with my little girl!  She's generally a very good sleeper but over the last week she has been waking every night at different times screaming and sobbing, and I when I say screaming, I mean screaming!  It's no cry that I have ever heard her do before and I honestly don't know what to do and I can't figure out why this is happening.  My baby very rarely cries and she only sobs when these "episodes" happen.  I'm starting to get a little worried that there is something happening to her?

It generally takes about a half hour to resettle her.

Waking times were around these times -

Night 1 - 5am
Night 2  - 4am
Night 3 - 3am
Night 4 - Midnight
Night 5 - 9:30

She has only just learned how to stand up on her own so I thought that this could be the reason, but it feels like it's going on for a little while now and there is no pattern.  She is normally a very active sleeper, but watching her in the baby monitor camera as I type this I can see a lot of movement.  Turning from one side to the other, moving up and down the cot, her legs keep on coming up. 

I've wondered if it's nightmares - but do babies have them this soon?

This had never happened before and she was screaming, crying, arching her back and the sobs... they were so heart felt.  My first instinct was to soothe her so I lifted her from the cot and sat with her.  I'm not sure whether this is the right approach though? Her heart was beating so hard in her little chest.  She still cried and screamed in my arms for close to 20 minutes.  I was almost crying with her she was that distressed.  She wasn't taking the dummy, I offered her a bottle with water and she wasn't interested in that either.  After much shushing she finally calmed down enough for me to feel that I could put her back in the cot and managed to get her to sleep by giving her the dummy and the lovey.

She sometimes takes the dummy to sleep and other times she isn't interested.  And when she does take it we also remove it after about a half hour if it hasn't fallen on it's own, but mostly she will spit it out herself.  As a rule of thumb we only give her the dummy if she is distressed or very tired.  She also has a lovey which as most loveys she will suckle on from time to time.  The lovey never leaves her cot and is only for sleep time.

The other nights I only held her until she stopped crying and again she fell asleep cuddled with the teddy and the dummy but spat it out minutes after I left the room.  I had to sit in the room and shush occasionally when she started making awake sounds until she slept. 

I don't think it's dummy dependency, but I am definitely thinking of starting to wean her off the dummy to avoid that from even starting to happen.   

Her naps are pretty consistent, 2 * 1.5hr naps.  Her EASY looks a little like this (give or take 15 minutes either side) now add the erratic wake up times in the middle of the night!

6:30 - wake up
7am milk
8:30 - breakfast
9:30 - nap

11am - wake up
11:15 - milk
12:30 - lunch
1:30 - 2pm - nap

3:30 - Wake up
4:30 - Dinner
5:30 - bath
6pm/ 6:30 bed

10:30 - dream feed.

Any insight into what could be happening and how I can help my baby go back to have the smooth, calm sleep she normally has would be greatly appreciated.

[Palmira78]

Hello!
I have 2 children, and with my elder one we had a simliar situation than the one that you described
In our case he was in pain, and this is why the extrange screaming. Have you considered taking him to the doctor?May be it could be teething, may be an ear infection.... but on my experience they only scream wierd when they are ill.
Regarding nightmares this is more usual after they are one year old.... although who knows?

[FPT23]

Hi there!

Oh my, I'm so so sorry about these night wakes! Does she only wake ONCE a night screaming this way? Or multiple times a night?

Honestly, your EASY looks quite well. I wouldn't change or modify much. If you yourself are saying its a different type of scream and it's so unlike her.... I would def consider pain as well. Teething perhaps? Reflux? Tummy problems? Maybe a new solid? How long has this been happening?

When she wakes, does she wake up screaming and upset right away or is she awake a bit and just can't go back to sleep?

Have u tried medicating before BT or at her DF?

One thing I would also consider is that DF... Do you wake her for that still? Or she does on her own. Usually Tracy suggests weaning the DF when solids are well established... Could it be that maybe her DF can be now affecting her Night? ...just another suggestion although it doesn't really fit much into that type of cry you say she has. Mom knows best

Many hugs!!!

[tathi-b]

I'm was planning on starting to wean her off the dream feed just before this started, she is a reflux baby so it took us a little longer to be on 3 full meals; she still takes it in her sleep. But now I'm a bit weary because she cries so hard that I'm afraid she gets hungry!

I don't think it's the dreamfeed causing the issue because last night she started crying about an hour before and I fed her because I figured that an hours worth of screaming would have made her hungry!

I feel that she wakes up pretty upset already which is unlike her. She's generally very slow to wake up.  On the odd occasion that she woke in the night before this, I had plenty of time to get to her and soothe her before she was fully awake. 5 minutes max to shush her back to sleep.

Absolutely, I have considered pain, but what kind of pain only comes once a day in the middle of the night every night at different times and no other time of the day?

This is also not teething, although she has teething pains in the night when they are coming they cry itself is different. More of a moan. This is high pitched, throaty scream and sob cry.

What I'm wondering is if it could be a development leap? She's crawling and experimenting with different styles and this week she learned how to pull herself up and stand? Thinking about it all of this started on the night that she stood on her own...

Xx

[FPT23]

Oh ok I see. Well, just giving suggestions but mom knows best

Would crawling cause her to scream the way she does? Honestly, I go off of what you tell me and you sound very concerned with the way she is crying and that it is unlike her. That is why I resulted to pain. If it is only once a night, every night- then maybe developmental.

Maybe other mommies can come and make suggestions. I figured if it was the developmental leap then she would wake slowly and not go back to sleep and decide to crawl in her bed, and can't put herself back to sleep after- but you say she wakes and screams suddenly.

How is she when you put her down to bed at nights? Some resources also say seperation anxiety can peak around this time but it's at its high after 10+ months. Has she shown any signs of her being upset when you leave or anything? Maybe she's waking at nights and looks for mommy and she's not there? It's super normal as they miss us.

I hope other mommies jump on and maybe give other suggestions. Her easy looks good and if you decided to start tweaking her EASY- you could start increasing her A times soon. But I think her routine looks fine. I also can't suggest any w2s methods since you say it's different times.


Many hugs xo

[*Ali*]

Could it be discomfort/gas/reflux related to solids? Maybe it depends when she ate certain types of food that day. 7.5mo is actually slighy on the early side to be on 3 full solids meals (UK recs are to build up slowly adding a third meal at 8-9mo) so maybe her immature digestive system just can't cope yet with the solid food she is eating.

It could be developmental too I would think.

[tathi-b]

No crying last night and she slept 13 hours straight!  Maybe we turned a corner?  I fear (hope) this carries on and we never know for sure what was bothering her!

[*Ali*]

Fingers crossed