9 month old recently started waking several times a night

[momofanna]

My 9 month old daughter who has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 1/2 months old has recently started waking several times a night.  As part of her nightly routine we give her her pacifier and wrap her up (she still is comforted by this).  It has worked really well and she has learned that this is the signal for her to go to sleep.  I didn't really think the pacifier was a problem because she would spit out her pacifier at some point and still stay asleep for the rest of the night (usually 10-11 hours).  However, she had her first cold and earache about a month ago which naturally disturbed her sleep, and her nights haven't been the same since.  At first I thought it was just a habit that she formed during the weeks that she was sick, but it doesn't seem to be consistent enough.  Every night the times and frequencies of her waking are different.  I don't think it's a teething issue because it has been going on for so long.  She's not crawling or pulling herself up yet and I'm sure she's not waking out of hunger either.  She eats solids 3 times a day and has about 24 oz. of formula over 4 feedings every day.  She naps really well during the day.  Usually she'll take a 2 hour nap in the late morning and another hour nap in the late afternoon.  We put her to bed at about 8:30 and she goes right to sleep on her own.  But starting around 11:00 or 12:00 she'll start waking up.  It's always really easy to get her back to sleep.  I just have to go in and give her her pacifier and sometimes re-wrap her and she's out again.  I never even have to pick her up, but getting up 4-5 times a night is so exhausting for me and I'm sure it's not great for her either.  I've started leaving her arms out when we wrap her and she's usually okay with that, but she still can't find her pacifier by herself in the middle of the night which is why I think she starts crying for me.  I'm just not sure what to do about it.  Recent studies say that sleeping with a pacifier decreases risk of SIDS for the first year, so I don't really want to wean her from her pacifier.  I'm tempted to try letting her cry for a little while before I go in and see if she'll go back to sleep on her own, but I don't want to break any bonds of trust and I'm sure that if she gets hysterical she really won't be able to go back to sleep.  Any ideas of what might be causing her disturbed sleep.  I would really appreciate any advice about what to try to help both of us get a good nights rest!

Melissa

[zelkad]

Hi

If she's quickly comforted by you going in and giving her the soother, I would think that would be what she associates with sleep.  If she falls asleep that way in the first place, then I would bet that when she wakes during the light sleep stage (around midnight) she needs it to fall back asleep.  If you're not ready to get rid of it, you may just have to bear with it until she is able of putting it in herself.  When she is able to do this you could put a few in her crib at night (that's what my SIL does) and it seems to work.  Would a nightlite help her find it?  I know you say that the paci wasn't a prob before with sleep, but I think Tracy's book says somewhere that they become more dependent on these props as they get older.

It doesn't sound like it's any kind of pain (teething, gas, etc) since she is so easy to resettle. 

Not that this will help you with your lack of sleep but if you look at the bright side, at least she's not a thumbsucker.  I'm constantly worried that our lo won't give up his thumb ever.....at least when you're ready you can wean her off the paci whereas we can't take his thumb away!

I hope someone else can offer you some more help!

Zelka

[Katet]

Zelka is right, if she goes off easily then the Paci is probably part of the problem & as they get older issues "change".

My ds eventually worked out how to find his Paci BUT not always & so there were always times I just had to help...ds#2 doesn't have one & we still have wakings due to his increased mobility, so I think age is also probably an issue too...

Best advice I can give is make a decision on keeping/loosing the paci & then be consistent with what you choose...if you let her cry then you can't in all fairness give her a paci at bedtime & then let her cry at other times as she has no chance to learn how she is meant to get to sleep if you "change the rules" for different parts of the night.