I have a beautiful almost 15-month old daughter, who prior to the past 2 weeks, was sleeping through the night for about 12 hours since she was 3 months old. Suddenly, she has started waking up several times during the night and we don't seem to know why. Sometimes, she does have a full, wet diaper and we'll change her, but other times, this is not an issue and she will continue to wake up even after a diaper change. We let her cry it out for a while hoping that she'll go back to sleep on her own, but this usually does not work and she starts screaming in frustration. Once up, she is happy and often, we can walk around the house with her for a few minutes and then put her back to bed. She is a late teether and she has been teething, but I'm not convinced that this is the reason for her frequent awakenings. Has anyone else experienced this and do you have any suggestions on how to get her back to sleeping the full night? We are currently getting up 1-4 times a night now. Any advice would be appreciated.
The spoils of sleeping through the night... Most likely, she is going thru a growth spurt. And yes, teething is a possible cause too. I like the idea of changing the bedtime by 30 minutes plus staying consistent with the bedtime routine - both of those will be very helpful. Remember, all phases a baby and toddler go through are temporary. It always helped me to know 'this' won't last forever.
N.,
Mine are teens now but my boys did this when they were teething and going thru a growing spurts. As long as your sure she's not having like any pain in her ears or a sore throat (maybe allergy related??) and that she is well...I would feed her a little extra snack before bedtime and see if that helps. Also, is she taking long afternoon naps during the day? if so I would change up naptime :)
My guess is most likely the teething. Be sure she's not in lots of pain in the evenings. Is she drooling a lot or chewing her hands/toys more than usual? Sometimes the clues are more subtle-- general crankiness, sudden bursts of crying when everyting was super 2 seconds ago. My daughter is 17 mos & also a late teether. We have had a very similar scenario to yours. The front teether weren't half as bad as these molars. 2 of them have been especially bad-- just AWFUL pain for her! We tried a little bit of everything listed in your comments so far. We switched to nighttime diapers, make sure she has a snack an hour or so before bedtime, and use teetheing tabs, frozen teethers & either motrin or tylenol when she's hurting (tylenol seems to make her hyper, so usually motrin at bedtime). She has also gone down to 1 nap a day. She still wakes every once in a while, but it's easier to get her back to sleep now. We turn on her bedtime music if she wakes & that seems to help, too. I say try any or all of these tips below-- something's bound to help- and it is temporary! Good luck!
My son (2 1/2) has gone through phases like this. In general, he's a great sleeper, but every few months he does the same thing. I just stay consistant and put him back to bed, pat his back for a few minutes, then leave the room. If he's screaming (I think he has nightmares sometimes), then I'll hug him for a few minutes until he calms down. After a few nights he's back to sleeping through the night again. Sometimes it's due to teething (his 2 year molars just came in), but it's usually not.
Hi N.,
I just went through the SAME situation with my 13-month old son a few weeks ago. For the last 2 months, he started waking up crying 1-2 times per night; sometimes wanting a bottle.
A friend told me his doctor gave him great advice when his kids went through it (apparently it's common).
You need to "reset" their bedtime clocks...For 4 days you need to change her bed time. Example, if she currently goes to bed at 7:30 p.m., have her go to bed at 7:00 or 8:00 for 4 nights. No more, no less.
Do not get up when she cries (unless you think something is wrong with her).
I know it sounds too simple to work, but we were SHOCKED when our son went right back to sleeping through the night after only 4 nights of changing his bedtime by 30 mins. He hasn't woke up in the middle of the night since.
Good luck!
It could very likely be teething. Have you given her motrin before bed or anything like that to see if it helps. The good news is, it's a phase and she'll be sleeping ok as soon as they cut through. You can try different things, but if it is teething there's little you can do other than to ease the pain in some way. Hylands teething tablets are good too.
My son didn't sleep through the night (as in over 5-6 hours) until his last molars came in at 2 1/2. It will get better. Just hang in there. The nights are so long sometimes, but the days are short. Good luck!
Hi N. ~ She may need a late snack right before bedtime. My kids did this when they were around her age and I found out that they needed dinner, dessert and sometimes an extra snack before bed because they were growing so much that they were waking up hungry. Even though they are 3, 5 and 7 they sometimes still need the extra food when they are on a growth spurt. I hope this helps so you all can get the rest you need.
