7 Month Old Frequently Waking at Night

My little one is 8 1/2 months old and she started waking up frequently a couple weeks back. I was so frustrated and concerned. Then about a week or so of that, she had two new teeth poke through and she's now back to one night waking, per night. I don't know of any other reason than what you listed, but I know that it will pass. It's so frustrating at the time, but soon enough she will get back to a routine. Good luck!

Hi M.:
I have mentioned this to many mothers here as well.In my personal opinion,I don't think it benificial, to you or your baby to leave her to cry it out. I don't think you, or the majority of mothers out there would leave their baby to cry,while they're experiencing teething pain,or feeling ill.I certainly will agree,that eventually your baby will stop crying.Even adults will eventually (pass out) if they become to exhausted. I'm sure, once your daughters tiny teeth come through in front,she'll be doing alot better. Sleeping and her demeaner will improve.I wish you and your darlin daughter the best

If she is on the verge of crawling, this will cause night wakings as well. Studies show that infants on the "verge" of a developmental milestone often "work out" those issues in their sleep. So, watch out, she may be on the move in a week or two!

I have an 8 month old daughter - who also isn't sleeping well right now, as well as a 2 1/2 year old son. My experience with teething also was that the first bottom front tooth pops out, and then just a few weeks later the second one comes - so it is a few weeks of bad nights in the 7th and 8th months for those reasons too.

All this will change before you know it - cherish every moment!

Your daughter sounds exactly like my 7 1/2 month old son! He just started sleeping through the night at the beginning of July and then about a week ago we were back to 3 wakings a night! Eek! I try to help him back to sleep, but he wants to nurse and is definitely hungry. (Sorry, but I'm not a big proponent of crying it out.) I think they're going through a lot right now. He's teething and working really hard on crawling. He's also getting ready for a brain spurt (read "The Wonder Weeks" it's very enlightening!). After doing some reading, I also think that his daytime appetite is growing bigger and I wasn't feeding him enough of the solids. Yesterday I increased the amount I was feeding of solids and made sure he had two meals (I was only giving one) and he dropped one waking last night. (Yeah!) I know my friends keep telling me that once things seem like their settled and in a routine, get ready because it's going to change again! What a rollercoaster! Good luck!

I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old and I have been through a few different thigns with the first one that are helping me now.
One thing that I have done and will always do when something unexpected happens, like your baby waking up all of a sudden when she was fine before, is that I ask myself
"When was the last time she was doing well?"
Then I find out what change I introduced (in your case solids) and I take the change away to get things better to wehere they were before.
In your case I would then try and take her off solids for a couple of days. If she gets back to normal, you know for sure it's the solids, which means wait a little longer to introduce them.
If nothing changes by taking away the solids, then it must be the theeting, so no need to take her off solids.
That's how I do it. Hope it helps.
I.

M.,

I too have a 7 mo old daughter and I am a first time mom. I started her on solid food about 5 months and she did start waking up more. My little girl started to do the same thing so I'd go in there and try to sooth her maybe feed her because she may have been hungry. Nothing really helped and I was at my wits end! I decided to let her cry knowing she was fed and dry. Luckily she doesn't get much gas but I know of other mothers who would give their children Mylicon every night before bed because their kids did have a gas issue. Back to the crying. The first night she cried a lot. When she woke up at 10:30 she cried for over 30 minutes, the second time she cried for maybe 15 minutes, the 3rd time (after 6 hours) I fed and changed her. Both times she cried herself to sleep. The second night we had no problems. Maybe a little whimpering but she got herself back to sleep. Now (after 2 weeks)she will occasionally wake up crying but she always manages to find her binky (there are at least 3 in the crib) and get herself back to sleep. It's great because now I get more continuous sleep and in the morning she has a smile on her face! Good luck.
M. P

We experienced the same thing when our baby started solids at 6 months. She does have reflux and the solids I think were causing her discomfort when she would lay on her back. For some reason they made her really congested...I think the solid foods were coming up and burning her nasal passage. I try now to feed her solids earlier in the day and not within an hour of her bedtime and this seems to help.

if you think she's teething try giving her tylenol or motrin (lasts longer) for a couple of nights and see how she does. She may have just developed a bad habit that needs correcting too. The older she gets, the more curious she will be, including at night.

My now 8 month old regressed in sleeping at age 5-7 months. We are back on track with sleeping through the night with the ocassional once a night feeging. I often hear my baby play with her crib toys in the night. I know she wakes up several times and doesn't always cry. This may be overly simple, but do you have a few crib toys and a night light so she can entertain herself back to sleep. Chances are, things will get back on track in the upcoming month or two.

I did not read the other responses so forgive me if it's redundant but I have a 7 1/2 mo old girl and she also just got her first tooth and it did interrupt her entire schedule and then her second tooth came up right after it (this morning!). I have been using Hyland's Teething Tablets and they work GREAT!!! They are all natural and you can find them at Whole Foods. I read about them and heard great things and because they're natural there's no concern as I don't like to give her meds unless necessary. Everything should return to normal after the first teeth come in. Remember teething is a difficult time for them and they needs extra comforting and patience. Good luck.

I always found in that 1st year that once things seemed like there was a routine, it changed.

it's hard to know what it is that's causing him to wake up. teething, growth spurts, separation anxiety, etc. are all things he could be going through right now and can affect his sleeping patterns.

you might be able to find some answers at this website. good luck and hang in there.

http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp

It's probably not connected to the solids,just the age. They often want more cuddle time and get into a pattern of getting it when you go to them at night. Read some sleep books to help you feel secure. BUT you need to stop the pattern by not going in. Usually they'll cry for what seems like forever, but really about 30min and it will get less each night. They need to learn how to sooth themselves back to sleep just like we do when we roll over and adjust our pillows...

From my experience: I found that my baby's sleeping got altered when she started teething (also at 7mo old). We rarely got her up in the middle of the night (just let her get herself back to sleep) and she would stop making noise after a minute or 2. She did start waking up pretty early for her morning feeding, which took 2-3 months to overcome... by nothing we consciously did, rather she just grew out of it I suppose.
Now that she is 10 months, she just got 4 upper teeth in a row and she wakes up a lot; I think it just overwhelmed her body b/c she has had a growling tummy and diarrhea for a week and that is why she was waking up. (She seems to be better today, hooray!)

I'd bet that your baby girl's tooth is causing her some pain and you can get through it with some nurturing love (and maybe some Tylenol on occasion).

Hi M., I'm goingto give you the same advice i have given many many moms. If you stop getting up with them, they will eventually stop waking up, bad habits are created by allowing them up everytime they cry, they manipulate with their crying, and moms and daddyys alike fall for it evefytime. Our babies slept through the nightat 6nweks old, thatdidn't change when we srtated them on n jar food. J.