Author Topic: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!  (Read 3770 times)

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Offline Andys mum

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Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« on: May 19, 2006, 00:43:12 am »
Andy is 13 months old....recently he has started waking during the night and early morning.

His routine is like this (most of the time):
7 wake /BF
8am breakfast
9am sleep
10.15 wake/bf
12 lunch
1.30 sleep
2.45 wake/bf
5 dinner
6 bath
6.30 bf
7-7.30 sleep

Andy is a textbook baby and goes to sleep by himself.  I use walk in/walk out if he is upset.....if he is really wound up (eg after his cousins have been to visit!) I stay in the room until he is asleep...generally he is good, his naps are between 1-1.30 each during the day, most of the time he wakes up happy though recently there have been a few more grumpy wake ups.  He is a great eater too so no problems there.

The last 2 weeks have been a bit of a struggle during the night so some advice would be greatly appreciated.    He wakes up screaming, he is usually chewing his fingers, last night there was a bit of vomit on the sheets.  Sometimes he still seems half awake.  There is no set time that he wakes...its has been an hour after going to bed, 12, 3am, 5am etc.  usually once or twice a night.  It can take 20mins -1 hour to settle him.  He has only slept through once recently and I heard him cry for about 5 minutes before settling himself.  I do wait that little bit before going to him (as in the past I can get to the top of the stair and he is already asleep again!) but I am talking about blood curdling screaming.

I have always breast fed him during the night if he has woken and it is what I am doing now.  Sometimes he falls asleep on the boob, or in my arms......once or twice I have laid him back down after his feed and he has gone to sleep.  I have given him paracetamol a few times during the night too as he has been clearly in pain.

....I'm guessing its his teeth.  He has had runny poo for 2 days too.  He has 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom.  He has always been bothered by teething, but not generally for this long.  I have looked in his mouth and there is nothing obviously coming through. 

I just want someone to give me a logic check here!!!  Are his night wakings likely due to teething?  Should I use walk-in/walkout during the night too, to eliminate night wakings...this seems quite cruel if he is teething....though am I reinforcing bad habits even if he is teething....

Thanks in advance.
Andy's Mum.


Offline Andys mum

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Re: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2006, 01:11:44 am »
I also wanted to ask...would his day time sleep be affecting the night wakings, I basically put him down for his nap (as per his posted routine) and let him sleep until he wakes up...like now he has slept for 2 hours and its 11am and he is still asleep... he was up 3 times last night...so I figure that he needs his sleep...am I getting into a vicious cycle here??? 

Normally he will sleep anywhere from 2-4 hours during the day....typically sleeps no later than 11.30am or 4.45pm.....it doesn't (well didn't) seem to affect his sleep.

Thanks again.
Andy's mum.

Offline Florencia

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Re: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2006, 16:42:06 pm »
Hi Andy's Mum!

By reading your post i would place a bet on teething, symptoms and age and being a textbook baby i can guarantee it's about molars. They are HUGE routine breakers and can turn the angel babies into bears without aparent reason. 13 months is the mark for bad nights if you happen to read some of the posts around here, many moms are struggling with kids that age. I was one of them and tried EVERYTHING (wake to sleep, etc) and nothing seemed to work until i gave a mix of paracetamol and ibuprofen TOGETHER. And yes, there were no lumps/white bumps for a while (I'm talking about 3 weeks). Average time for molars to pop up are 2 months, and the ped explained me that textbook babies are OK during the day but it's when they're relaxed (that is, sleeping deeply as in night sleep) that they are bothered by the pain. Try that combo, cause paracetamol is a very mild pain killer and apparently molar pain is LOTS bigger than a simple teething pain. At least, that's been the case around here quite a lot.

I don't think his napping is affecting his night sleep. He seems to nap quite fine and being on this good routine he is, it sounds perfectly logical to me that he wants to make up for lost sleep during the day.

The vomiting might have been caused by the fingers in the mouth. My ds uses to scratch so hard that he manages to put his whole fist in his mouth, of course causing a gagging reflex, hence the vomit. Some oraljel before bed might also do the trick with that.

We got so badly on a period that i even tried an homeopatic remedy along with all the meds and that also seemed to help for a few nights (it was not magic but it got better). We used to have that inconsolable crying you're describing that lasted for 2 hours and he continued to wake during the teething process but he'd be easily calmed with pat/shs and some reassurance and some wi/wo not longer than 10 mins once the meds and all the other remedies were being used.

Also, i would stop offering the breast. It might seem to calm him but that's just because of the chewing he gets to do, so he might seem comforted and then get used to it and then you will have another thing to get rid off. If he's desperate to chew on something, offer a blankie or a paci, but i think the chewing anxiety might be solved with a teething gel.

HTH and keep us posted so we can think of anything else to help you out Good luck!
Mom to Manolo, spirited monkey and Jose Miguel, an angel cupcake

Offline Andys mum

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Re: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2006, 01:31:44 am »
Thank you very much for your thorough reply.  Last night I gave Andy panadol before bed and he woke up exactly as the next dose was due...then slept through until 7am...waking up happy, so it does look like it is the pain waking him up!!

I got some homeopathic medicine today and will combine ibuprofen and panadol tonight (the pharmacist also recommended this).  We will just ride it out and wait for the teeth to appear.

The up side of this is that I am lucky that I am a stay at home mum so I get to catch up on my sleep during the day too......the housework can wait!!!

Thanks again.
Andys Mum.

Offline Florencia

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Re: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2006, 18:09:41 pm »
Hye Andys mum i'm so glad to hear that you have him figured out! I remember some nights I desperatly wanted to cut his gum so the damn molars would be OUT LOL...I hope the combo and homeopathic remedy will help him for longer.

Here's to a good week of sleep! And don't forget to catch up during naps... housework? who cares!!!!!
Mom to Manolo, spirited monkey and Jose Miguel, an angel cupcake

Offline Andys mum

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Re: Night wakings 13 month old - only just started!
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2006, 01:11:17 am »
We are still struggling through!!  He actually slept through last night and woke up happy....I feel like a new woman with a whole nights sleep.  I have to say I'm trying to be consistant but it is hard when he is obviously in pain....the boobie does come out every now and then.....meanwhile I'm still looking for those teeth to come out!!!

Thanks again,
Andy's mum.