16 Month Old Waking at 3 Am for a Week

My 17.5 month old son cut two molars at 17 months..now he is getting one of his canine teeth. She is probably teething again..I have a 7 to 7 sleeper too! He only wakes up at night about a week for two before that first white tip shows through the gum. I found that a little tylenol and some liquid ambesol rubbed on the gums before bedtime helped (even if I didn't see any sign of new teeth). Good luck...I am trying to transition my grea sleeper from two naps to one and it's not going so well...think I am going to post a question to see what others have done!

This is common.
YOu have been lucky that your baby has been a good sleeper since birth. THAT is unusual and not common.

So her waking at 3:00am is naturally not easy.
But actually, waking only at 3:00am is NOT that bad.
She is after-all, STILL sleeping through the night and doing at least 8 hour stretches of sleep, still. So that IS good.

But because she is waking "screaming" as you say, to me, indicates either "Night Terrors" or teething. Which both can crop up at about this age. Or, sometimes it is illness.
Or, sometimes, at certain age-junctures, their REM sleep patterns change too, and gets tweaked. And nothing we do, can change it or stop it, because it is developmental based.

As far as your concern that you might create a "bad" habit in order to get her back to sleep... I don't think so. And if a baby needs help to sleep, they need help. Because if after an HOUR of her not being able to do it herself, to me means she needs help.

BUT, there seems to be a pattern of her "screaming" awake... then intermittently crying off and on for about an hour, and "not" being able to fall back asleep on her own. Well, sometimes kids do that. Both my kids had moments like that too. But I observed them and their eyes would still be "sleepy" or closed... they were NOT "wide awake." So per those cues, I did not "wake" them more. I just kept quiet, patted them/rubbed their back and soothed them... would tell them verbally "Mommy is here..." and just hearing my voice they felt comforted and would go back to sleep. But it take patience. On my part. My daughter, would even "wake" but still be actually sleeping...and would even sometimes sleep-walk.
Their REM cycles gets affected sometimes.

Or, sometimes it is because they are over-tired or stressed and then their sleep gets affected. And also, at various ages, they can start to get sort of "night mares" too.
For my son, when he was about 1 year old, he had 'night terrors.' Then that phase stopped. As I knew it would. And then, once in awhile, he'd get night-mares. And he would even talk in his sleep or yell and what not. BUT, he was actually still asleep, but a little conscious and could hear me and respond back. But at these moments... I did NOT "wake" my kids... I just let the pattern occur... naturally. And the phase would stop. So, I did not "interfere" with it or try and wake them and "talk them out of it" or try and reason with them. I let them be, but soothed them like a stealth jet. No lights were put on, just kept dark and quiet.

I know, it's not easy, since your daughter has been such a good sleeper all this time.

All the best,
Susan

could she already be having night terrors? i would go in after she falls asleep and put a little night light on? does she sleep w/ any stuffed animals? i heard that ceiling fans are really good for a good nights sleep...i was thinking of putting one in my son's room..he's 3....so i'm trying to remember if he was waking like that at 16 months..did she just get her 15 month shots? If so did she get them all at once? that's when i started spreading them out..usually after my son got his shots he would wake ..if that's the case then it will probably end soon.
Could be teething even though u don't see anything..
hope it ends soon*
hugs
dd

p.s. I just asked my 3 year old "why do babies wake in the middle of the night? is it b/c they're scared? or hungry or is it b/c their teeth hurt?" and he said.."their teeth hurt"
hmmmm...
he should know..just thought i would try asking him to see what he would say..and that's his opinion.

J.,

Your little one may be experiencing 'night terrors', growth spurt or just waking...all these can come up at this age/stage and it's really very normal.

There's not much you can do if she's experiencing 'night terrors' or a growth spurt, but just wait them out. You might want to Google 'night terrors' to get some backround on what it is and how to best deal with them.

My son began experiencing them at around 15-17 months on and off...the only thing I could do was wait a few minutes to see if he REALLY needed me and then go in and comfort him until he was calm and could go back to sleep. The thing about night terrors is that they come on for no reason, but in my opinion do require a little comfort and care. It's not a bad habit if you are helping your child through a confusing and scary period of night. At least that's what I think.

For my little guy it passed in a couple of weeks. The whole other thing is you can start talking to your child about her feelings and what they are, and that not matter what Mommy is always there to help and care for her. Just some reassurance. Most kids according to my research don't even really remember why they woke up to begin with. Just be patient and loving and work with her through this tough time on everyone.

best of luck.

I have a 16-month old son who has been going through a similar thing for several weeks now. We've also had issues with irregular napping and loss/increase of appetite. As well as being clinging/irritable/whining, which is not my son's personality at all. You might want to check to see if her molars are coming in. My son had all four come in over a 4 week period. The two on top didn't cause much of a disturbance, but the bottom two proved more challenging and painful. I also think he's been going through a growth spurts, both physically and mentally. In particular, he seems to be making new strides in language and communication.

If it's the teeth, I give my son Tylenol. (My pedi recommends Motrin for pain and fever, but it seems to hype my son up like he swallowed a bowl of sugar.) I also have lots of cool teethers and soft, cool foods. Smoothies and yogurt are good. At night, sometimes a hug is all he needs or a blanket. Other times I rock him or bring him into our bed...it all depends on the type of crying.

These disruptions in sleep and behavior are going to continue to happen as the kids go through different developmental changes. When it's finished, my son always settles back to his regular routine (for a while...lol...until the next change!) It's rough on the parents, but somehow you find a way to make it through. Hang in there!

For whatever reason she's crying, go to her and comfort her. You will NOT do any harm in being there for her. You are her mother and her cries are for a reason and she needs your love and attention.

I'm raising three children and I've (and my husband) always gone to each of them when they needed me/us - never letting them cry for more than a few minutes. They are all happy & healthy & well adjusted children! NO reason to let your baby cry for so long.

When you bring children into the world you give up your "right" to sleep! I mean that in a serious way, but it does sound funny! Once you become a mommy, your baby's needs come first. Go with it and don't resist, you'll enjoy her more. One day you will get back to the sleep you desire, but for now be there for your baby.

Follow your maternal instinct. It will guide you correctly!

J.,
You are on the right train of thought. Considering all you have said and the questions you are asking yourself... Babies/Toddlers can easily and QUICKLY learn a habit. They can quickly learn that when they wake up at night and scream you will eventually come. This may have only happened once or a couple times for her to learn that you will come. I would just leave her. You have identified that she is fine... so now she needs to be reminded that yes when she wakes up at night (very natural, she needs to soothe herself back to sleep. (http://www.lullabyluna.com/2009/04/sleep-ponderings-from-...)

C., mother of 3, sleep consultant and blog writer www.lullabyluna.com

J.,

Have you had her ears checked? It sounds like she may have an ear infection.

When a child cries, there is a reason... a need is not being met. And the awesome, easy thing is that we can help them meet that need!

If she is screaming then the need is profound. It sounds like it is more than just wanting you near her. (But just in case it is just that, is co-sleeping possibly, by any chance? It might be a way to meet everyone's needs)

Lots of Love,
Linda
www.RivieraPlaySchool.com

Hi J.,

My 17 month old son is doing the same thing. We share a room, so I bring him into our bed when he wakes and we've also started giving him a cup of milk. He lays down, drinks and goes back to sleep. He is cutting the eye teeth. I don't have another room to put him in so I've just accepted the fact that until we are able to get into a larger home, he will sleep with us from time to time and I'm ok with that. But the couple times he has woke, he's histerical. Once he was running around the room like the tazmanian devil. Not sure if he's having nightmares?? growing pains?? My husband suffered from those at a very young age for years. We will ask the dr. at our 18mo check up. Curious to see what others say about this. I wish you luck...I'm sure at some point it will pass!! I hope so! :-)

E.

I would say it's a growth spurt. My son went through this off and on and was always a great sleeper through the night. He's 2 1/2 now and still will have an off week here and there. He'll wake up every night for 4 days and then the next week he'll be fine.
Your baby will grow out of it. :)

This has worked for us several times with ourselves and 3 kids. According to chinese medicine, there are specific waking times or symptom times associated with certain organs. This might be an emotional thing or a physical thing that isn't hardcore enough to show up on blood labs, but hey, it might help?

1am -3am LIVER (emotion is usually anger)
3am - 5am LUNG (emotion is usually grief)

And the emotional stuff can be super insignificant to someone else, like, let's say she lost her doll and was sad. It might not even be anything that would register for you on your scale, but a child is easily impacted....and some more than others.

Are you sure she is not sick? Does she have ANY symptoms? My son (13 mos) was doing the same thing, he had a slight runny nose. After almost a week of him waking up screaming, he woke up with an eye infection. I took him to the dr where he was diagnosed with an eye infection (obviously), AND an ear infection. I had NO idea as I thought he was teething. Poor little guy. :-(

After a few days of antibiotics, he is back to sleeping great.

This may not be your situation but just thought I would put it out there... just in case.

Good luck!

invest in some good earplugs!