9-month old suddenly very difficult to put down at night - help please!

[LaurenJadeMom]

My dd turned 9 months last week.  Ever since we did sleep training using pu/pd at 4.5 months, she usually goes down by herself for naps and at night very easily (assuming no teething or sickness).  Over the past week, she has fussed and started crying in her crib shortly after being put down for the night (naps are still fine).  DH and I have been going in to get her and bring her out of her room for about 15 minutes, then have done a wind down again, and she has then gone straight to sleep.  I haven't felt comfortable doing any type of sleep training because I think she has been teething.  Also, because she has been settling immediately after being put down the second time, it hasn't been bad.   

Well tonight she would not settle no matter what.  As long as she was in her room, she was hysterical.  I tried everything, even AP by walking with her and sitting in the rocker (both of us have always worked like a charm in the distant past) just to get her to calm down and go to sleep, but no luck.  Because I thought it might be teething, I gave her some teething tabs and then some tylenol, but that didn't help.  No fever, a slight runny nose, but nothing else.  Once I removed her from her room, she was fine, babbling, and trying to climb all over dh and I.  But as soon as I got close to her room, she became miserable again, starting to sob. This is VERY unlike her.

Developmentally she's started very fast crawling in the past week and is pulling herself up on furniture.  When I was holding her during all the crying, she was pumping both her legs up and down repeatedly, felt almost like it was a reflex. 

After over 90 minutes of this, she finally passed out on me and I was just able to put her in her crib asleep a few minutes ago (it's 8:30 p.m. here).

Her schedule was a little off today as she woke at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. due to stomach cramps I believe (she frequently gets constipated), but she had a good poop this a.m. and was very happy and active all day.  She had over 3 hours of naps today, including a catnap from 3:00-3:30 to make up for the early wakeup, so she shouldn't have been too overtired when I first tried to put her down at 6:30 p.m.

Does this all sound like it's related to the developmental stuff that's going on with her pulling up, etc?  Has anyone else dealt with a similar problem around this age? 

Thanks for any feedback,
Dee   

[shanaz]

Do you think it could be S.A?  Just an idea.

Shanaz

[litomi]

I think it's SA as well... my LO is similar. She wants to hold my hand to make sure I'm there... whenever I leave, she screams. She has also learned to pull herself up to stand in her cot. I've to wind her down several times, almost 1.5hr!

[motherof3]

Yeah, I am thinking SA too just b/c she is fine when you take her out of her room.  When nothing seems to help that might be teething.  Just b/c it can take awhile for the meds to kick in.  You could try some Tylenol before bed to see if this helps.  Also when Abby is very upset I use a little Hylands teething gel.  Just b/c it works right away. 

Andrea

[samijoe]

Dee,

It could very well be SA.  But i think you might need a bit of a routine change too....

Maybe you could post your routine for us?

Over 3hrs of naps might be too much...just a thought.  She might still be "obedient" enough to fall asleep at naptimes (especially with all the moving going on), but at bedtime she just isn't tired yet.  kwim??

Also, the 9/10mth phase is horrible on sleep in general.  There is simply too much going on...especially the fast crawling and pulling up.  Walking alone can screw with things for months!  Yeah, something to look forward to eh?

hth
sami

[LaurenJadeMom]

thanks all.  Guess nobody's immune to SA, right? 

Sami, she normally only has 2.5 to 3 hours of total naps.  Yesterday was odd because she woke an hour earlier than usual so was extra tired and needed that extra catnap. 

Her routine is mostly as follows (it can be adjusted 30 minutes in either direction depending upon when she wakes in the a.m.):

6:00 a.m. - wake and 7 oz bottle
7:00 a.m. - breakfast
8:30 -9:45 a.m. - nap
10:00 a.m. 7 oz bottle
11:00 a.m. - lunch
1:15 - 2:45 - nap
3:00 - 7 oz bottle
4:30 - dinner
6:15 - 7 oz bottle
6:30 - 6:45 bed

If SA, I assume there is something in the book or on one of the boards that may give me advice as to what I should do?  Also, if she still goes to sleep fine for all of her naps but it's just at night that it's a problem, is that still SA?

Dee 





 

[Jaime]

info on SA:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=62612.0

Also, if she still goes to sleep fine for all of her naps but it's just at night that it's a problem, is that still SA?

could be.  the reverse can also be true.... in our case, ds had SA at his naptimes, but bedtime was just fine.

[LaurenJadeMom]

thanks for the link.  PU/PD will get her even more worked up, so I will try soothing in the crib and then walking away.  The problem I anticipate if last night is any indication is that the crying will be continuous even when trying to soothe in the crib, so at what point do I just walk away and then come back?

[Jaime]

if that does end up being an issue, perhaps gradual withdrawl is a better idea?? 

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0
(keep in mind, this is in the Toddler forum, but the basic idea is to camp out there for a couple nights to get her over the hump, and then you should be able to start easing your way out of there sooner.)

[LaurenJadeMom]

Thanks Jaime.  I finally got her to go to sleep before I read your post but it looks like I did some form of gradual withdrawal.  I'd appreciate any feedback on whether you think how I handled it tonight was ok.

Tonight she went right down at first and was asleep for about 30 minutes.  I breathed a sigh of relief and told my dh that maybe it wasn't SA last night since she went right to sleep tonight.   

Well, after 30 minutes something woke her up and she started babbling, then playing, then complaining, and it escalated into crying.  We couldn't believe it, but now we feel certain it must be SA.  I first tried soothing her in the crib by telling her it was only night-night and rubbing her back, then once she stopped crying, walked out.  Every time I left the crying escalated until she was hysterical so I had to keep immediately coming back and doing it again.  This went on for 20-30 minutes.  I even tried picking her up to soothe her but putting her back down made it much worse.  The tone of her cry was definitely an angry cry and not a pain cry. 

I finally just stood next to her crib and started softly singing the song I sing her every night right before she goes to bed while rubbing her back.  After a few minutes I stopped rubbing her and sat on the floor right next to the crib and continued singing.  I could tell she was listening and could hear her sobs into the mattress (break my heart!!) get softer and have pauses in between them.  After about 10 minutes of this her sobs turned to sniffles.  I let my singing get very soft and then crawled to the door and let myself out of the room.  Five minutes later she was asleep.  That was almost an hour ago.  I'm sure she is so exhausted and really hope it doesn't cause wakeups during the night.   

Should I expect this every night now??  For how long??  My in-laws are visiting from New Jersey on Thursday for a week and our guest room is right next to the nursery.  Boy are they in for something if this continues!!

Dee

[litomi]

Dee. My DD's SA gets worse when she's teething or not feeling well. She sometimes wakes up several times looking for me First it's Mentra cry, soon she realizes that I'm not there and she's wide wakes and it does takes a while to soothe her. I have to move her cot next to my bed, when she starts mentra cry, I just pat her or give her my hand to hold for assurance that I'm there. I don't know whether it's AP, but that's how I manage to get some sleep  I feel that the most important thing for my LO is for her to get a good night sleep. If just placing her cot next to my bed can help her to extend her sleep, I think it's all right.

[LaurenJadeMom]

Thanks Litomi.  How old is your lo?  How long has the SA been going on?

Dee 

[Jaime]

when luke was about that age, he had a severe bit of SA.  the 1st 3 days, i really was doing wi/wo (cause that was better for us) for 45 min each nap.  i thought i was about to go mad!!  after that 3rd day, it did start to lessen, and after a week, we were back to me just lying him down for his nap & leaving. 

the SA did last quite a bit longer than that, but the sleep part had pretty much been resolved. 

[LaurenJadeMom]

Thanks - I can handle this for a few days or so.  She slept through until 6:20 a.m. this morning and was happy as all get out the entire morning before I had to leave for work.  I don't want to obsess over it, but have to admit that I'm dreading the nights now for fear this will go on even longer.  I just hope bedtime will get easier soon.  I miss my baby who goes to sleep at night like an angel!!  Although, as soon as this passes, we'll probably be on to the next thing, right? 

Dee 

[litomi]

Dee,
SA is a phase. For DD, it's only about a week and then back to normal. But when DD is not feeling well, she becomes more clingy and she just wants mummy to be with her.... and SA starts again.