13 Month Old Baby Girl Waking at Night

I would love to tell you that you shouldn't pick her up and that you shouldn't love on her and try to comfort her, but the harsh reality is that you are her mother and you will do what you feel is right! There are tooooo many "by the book" moms out there that raise their children like the expert tell them to. But no one knows your daughter like you. You are the only one that has to go through this at nite. If picking her up and comforting her is what you feel is right then do it! I promise she will grow out of this and sleep thru the nite. My 4 yr old son had nite tremors so bad that it terrified him I would comfort him and put him back to bed. At 4 he still has one occassionally, but not often. He knows that when he has a bad dream that he can come to me.....and your children knowing that they can come to you when they are scared is good. It is our job to make sure that they are safe and feel safe! So do whatever it is that you think you should do to help your daughter. You are her mother no one else! Good luck and I hope it gets better soon!

My daughter is alomst 14 months and does the same thing. around 330 or 430, she almost always wakes. Sometimes it hit or miss. She'll sleep through. I think that it is normal and can tell it wont go on forever. Luckily for me, my husband gets up with her!!!! In my opinion, you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out "why".
Just go with the flow!!!!
Margaret :)

I am going through the same thing with my 14 month old. At least 3 times a week she wakes up in the middle of the night yeling out. We have never fed her, we just pat her back and she if she will go back down. I'll admit there are times when we are too tired to even do that and just put her in bed with us....not good I know. I don't know what it is. I wonder if they are dreaming. Could you nursing the baby be why she is waking up? Maybe that is comforting to her. Good luck. I'm in the same boat!

C.
Congratulations on nursing your 13m old! Your baby will receive numerous benefits from continued nursing!

I have a 15m old who wakes multiple times a night. At least 2 of those he will nurse before going back to sleep. Sometimes he cries out (pain, nightmare, who knows) and I'll get him from his toddler bed and bring him in with me. After nursing him, I'll put him back in his bed (if I haven't fallen asleep myself). His bed is in the same room, so I don't have to go too far.
There are so many things going on at this age: mini-growth spurts, teething, learning to walk, run, climb, puzzles, etc. I feel that my family functions better when I comfort them during intense learning times.
Side note: keep in mind that breast milk typically digests in about 90min. So if that's the only thing she gets for a while before going to sleep, she might be waking up hungry. Little bellies in utero never know hunger - there's a constant supply of nutrition at that point. Our babies transition to life outside us and start having these strange, uncomfortable feelings of hunger. I think it can take a while before they can deal with an empty belly for very long. But then, my babies are growing learning and changing so fast - bellies the size of their fists....I think I'd be eating a lot more often too :-)

As far as the should or shouldn't pick up, comfort, etc
Do what's right for you and your family. There are different ways of parenting because there are many different parents!
Go with what's in your heart -- mother's instinct/intuition, if you will. For my part, I don't resent the times I'm awake with my son right now. The time is so brief that he will be this small and needing me at night.... oh, which reminds me of a book - Dr Sears Nighttime Parenting

HTH
K. H, mama to
Catherine, 4y
Samuel, 15m

My son was still waking up in the middle of the night to nurse until he was 14 months. He woke up very hungry so I think he just needed the extra calories (he is tall for his age, and was off the growth chart as an infant). I could tell he was hungry by the way he was nursing strongly as opposed to nursing half-heartedly to soothe himself.

My kiddos also woke up more frequently when their molars were coming in around a year. I would use infant Tylenol on occasion when I felt like they were having trouble falling and staying asleep due to their teeth.

I would also go check on my kiddos after five minutes of crying. After I while I could tell the difference in their cries: if they were tired and winding down and going to go back to sleep on their own, or winding up for a screaming fit where they needed a little extra attention to help calm down (whether they hungry or needed a diaper change or just wanted mommy). HTH.

I am going through the same thing as well. I think that my little girl may be teething though---getting those back molars in. Also, I've been told that this is the time that they truly start dreaming. I can only imagine how odd that is to dream for an toddler. They have a hard time expressing their thoughts and then they have to dream something that they cannot express. . .