Baby Wakes up Screaming

No clue why it is....but my first two children did this too. For at least a year and a half. I posted about it awhile back and for the first time on here, got almost no help.

I would talk to your pediatrician as well. The good news I would think is that he calms down when you pick him up - so it doesn't seem he's in pain or that it's physical. Not sure when night terrors can start, but I thought that was much later (toddler years). May just be what he does, but check with the Dr to be sure there isn't anything they would look into.

My son, who is now 23 months, used to do that too (and sometimes still does). Not all the time, but frequently enough that I remember it vividly. He usually only did it after sleeping for a while, like a nap or in the morning when he was waking. I honestly think that babies sometimes have trouble adjusting/balancing themselves, so things like waking up are difficult for them. At first, I used to go into his room and try to sooth him, but after awhile, I would just let him be for a few minutes and he sometimes calmed himself down. If he didn't, I would just go in and get him. If he did it in the middle of the night, I wouldn't pick him up, I would just shush him and softly rub his back until he calmed down and he would fall back to sleep. You may already be doing these things, but I would make sure that you have a routine before nap and bedtime that you do every time. I would also make sure that the room is the same when he wakes up, like if he falls asleep with a nightlight, don't turn it off so when he wakes up it is pitch black. I would also make sure you are putting him down awake so that he puts himself to sleep. Not sure if any of these things would help, but babies like routine. Tell your hubby not to worry, you guys are doing a great job!!

Does he sleep well all night long or is this just a first thing in the morning situation? If he is continually doing this and not just when he wakes up for the day, I would make sure there are no problems - my son for example, had really bad reflux that only affected him when laying down, so he would wake up screaming until we got him on meds to help. However, if it's just in the morning, I'm sure this isn't the problem. Is he getting enough sleep? - My son (now) only wakes up crying or screaming if he is still tired and isn't well enough rested. At 9 months he should be sleeping around 11 hours at night and waking MAYBE once for a feed. anything less than this, maybe he is overtired....

Speak with your ped, it might be "night terrors". These are different than nightmares. The fact that baby settles instantly, suggests that like in night terrors, he wasn't really awake, its almost like sleepwalking.

This is very typical, I think just about all babies go through this stage at various ages. neither of you are doing anything wrong. of course that doesn't make it any easier, but at least you know it's normal!

It doesn't sounds like night terrors, plus he's a bit too young for that. My son went through a stage of night terrors it's when they cry and cry and no matter what you do you can't console them, because they are asleep. Yes that's right, screaming in their sleep, it's awful but it's a stage that usually passes. Since your DS quiets as soon as you pick him up I'm pretty sure that isn't it. He just woke up possibly startled and wants you to come get him.

www.babycenter.com is a great site with lots of info an articles you may find some helpful info on there.

Be sure to agree with your husband about his concerns. You probably aren't minimizing his concerns but I just want to make sure you aren't dismissing his thoughts as if he just doesn't know anything. Sometimes we do that without realizing it. We act like their fears or concerns are ridiculous.

I like that you are sharing others' stories so he can see that your son is normal and isn't "possessed" or anything. Talking about it is great. Good job!

What I guess happened is your DH would wait and let him cry a bit till it escalated to a loud cry before he would go in to get him. Now your DS has learned to skip the whimper and move right into the full-on scream to get dads attention. LOL

Our son always woke up this way. It made me sad bc why would you wake up SO upset day after day. It was immediate. We did not leave him in there and his wimpers became screams. So I believe what you say and your son is like ours was. He just eventually outgrew it. I would tell him you know, you don't have to wake up crying. You can just call out mama or dada. Eventually this clicked...but he was about 2. We now have a daughter who is 2 and she was never like this. I believe it's a personality type. My son really really really didn't want to be alone. When my son was 5 he told me he remembers crying in his crib. I asked him why were you crying and he said he just really wanted mama. He always has been sensitive, stubborn, intense, and a roller coaster of emotions!

wow...in reading others' responses, I'm surprised to hear this is considered normal. My child is 6 and has never done this. If he did, I would be seriously worried/concerned and straight to the pediatrician he would go the next morning.
The only way I could see this being normal in any way is if he's watching shows that are scary. I don't mean to say he is actually watching/understanding but that he's in the room while you and your spouse are watching a show that's scary or violent or something similar. They can remember disturbing images and those will reappear in their subconscious while they're sleeping and thus their dreams can be disturbed which could incur waking up crying/screaming/etc.
I sure hope it goes away or you can figure out why he's doing it so it can be stopped.
I want to add that our son did experience extreme discomfort to the point of constant crying loudly when he had a bout of colic--I believe he was about 6 months old or thereabouts when this occured. Could your son be having something similar to colic?