10 month old started waking in the night

[Diddlum]

Just posted this under General Sleep Issues, then saw this board!

Hi, this is the first time I've posted on here, but am getting a bit desperate for help!

She's actually 11 months old now but it was about 5 weeks ago when this started happening.  She was 9 weeks old when she first slept through from 7pm till 7am and for months  we never heard a peep out of her during the night.  When she was about 7 months old she started waking and crying out, but only for a minute or two so I didn't actually get up to her.

Now, she wakes in the night and won't go back down again.  I've been up with her for 2 or 3 hours at a time some nights and just don't know what to do.  I've tried picking her up for a minute or two until she's calm, then of course as soon as I lay her back down again she starts to cry.  Then she gets up at the cot bars and won't lie back down again.  Sometimes I try just holding her hand or putting my hand on her body, but nothing seems to work.  She doesn't seem to be in pain (she has cut two new teeth soon after this started), sometimes she just seems to want comforting and others she's wide awake and wants to play!

Last night and tonight I also had trouble settling her at bedtime, which has never been a problem previously.

Any ideas what might be causing this, and what can I do to stop it?

[rooby-rooby-roo]

Hi there and welcome to the boards!

I would hazard a guess that it is developmental milestones that are causing the wakings. Around this age is a time of great leaps in development. I don't know exactly what your LO is doing, but my 10 month old is crawling, pulling up and cruising the furniture. He is also waving and working on clapping. He is babbling loads and using new sounds all the time. It is when they are sleeping that they 'process' all of the stuff they do during the day and when they are doing more then this can affect their sleep. We are in the middle of the same thing, and funnily enough it was going through the same thing with my first dd that led me to find these boards!!

Consistency i think is the key. Get through these rough times without falling into bad habits and as sooon as they are through the rough patch they should fall back into the old pattern.

I think that Put down would be the best tool to use. Wait until your LO is sitting or pulled up and gently lie them back down, place a firm hand on her back or tummy and say a simple phrase like 'time to sleep' or similar or just shhhhhh if that suits you. Repeat this until she drops off. It may take time, but she will get it. What you are teaching her is that it is time to sleep, but you are realising that it is hard for her and so you are providing her with comfort, but not becoming a prop.

Good luck, and i hope you get some sleep soon x x

[Diddlum]

Thanks rooby-roo!

Yes she has learnt LOTS of new stuff lately.  She's been crawling since just before 8 months and that didn't seem to cause a problem, but I think she's very close to walking now.  She can stand for a short time on her own and you can see her sort of daring herself to take a step but she's too scared!  So yes, I think you're right and I wondered if it was something like that.

I'll try the Put down thing next time she wakes then.  She actually woke about half an hour ago but went back to sleep almost straight away.

What on EARTH am I still doing up at this time though?!!  I was going to bed 2 hours ago!