My 8 month old has always been a great sleeper. Unless shes going through a growth spurt or milestone she usually sleeps 9 - 11 hours at a stretch at night! Even when she wakes at night do to a growth spurt, etc., she goes RIGHT back to sleep after a middle of the night feeding... At least she USED to... For the past 2 nights, she's Ben waking up 2-4 times throughout the night crying; I feed her and it satisfies her, but then she will NOT go back to sleep. She wants to play and tries to sit up... Whether it's a growth spurt, teething, or something else, why wouldn't she be able to go back to sleep after she eats or gets medicine for the pain??? I keep it dark and quiet when I feed her in the middle of the night, and she's already successful at crawling and now standing ... What could it be that's keeping her from getting back to sleep?
When babies learn new skills, they sometimes like to practice them in the middle of the night (don't know why ...). You mention that she tries to sit up - is that a new skill for her? Good news is, it passes ... until she learns another new skill, such as crawling, standing, walking, climbing ...
When you get up with her don't turn on any lights, keep it dark, dont do a lot of talking. Maybe hum something soothing as you change her, feed her, etc. If it stays dark and quiet you might be able to rock her back to sleep quickly. The more stimulation you give her the more awake she will become. And, I agree that it is just another phase of baby/motherhood that you are going thru. Nothing stays the same for very long, ever.
I would guess it is her increased mobility and her increased awareness that you are there and her wanting you. My daughter did the same thing at this age as did the infant I do daycare for. If it was a growth spurt it shouldn't last longer than a couple of days I believe so you can rule that out soon--if you keep feeding her at night when she doesn't really need it she'll expect it anyway. If the teething meds don't work--that is probably not it. Sometimes it can be multiple things at once--which can make it especially tricky. Most important is to decide a course of action and then be consistent in following through--especially at this age. If you try to let her CIO--not just let her fuss but full out scream and then the next night give in immediately it will make things way worse. I'm not a CIO advocate but that is for you to decide not me . I preferred a middle course --Baby Whisperer where you go in and put her back down to lay quietly with little interaction but you were still there if she cried --you just were not holding her for long. Check it out on the web for the specifics--since she has been a consistent sleeper until now it shouldn't be long to get her back on track..until the next time something is amiss but such is motherhood:)
one of the hardest things for young mothers is that we think we know our babies, but babies change quickly and frequently. a 'good sleeper' or a 'good eater' or a baby who isn't clingy can whip that around literally overnight.
it's just a different phase. a frustrating one, granted.
i'm right there with the advice to keep your night visits to her as short as possible, as dark as possible, and very very quiet. if she's playing quietly, leave her alone. you can't make anyone sleep. she'll figure out soon enough that nighttime is sleep time, but NO one sleeps well every single night. make sure you don't allow nighttime to turn into mom-and-play time, and hold onto your hat for the next switcheroo that's coming down the pike!
khairete
S.
Lots of babies do this when they learn to pull up on the crib, sometimes they can get up but they actually cant get back down!! Maybe she's not used to getting from a sitting to laying down position, try to get her to practice during the day if that's hard for her (model it it will be a fun game, lay down sit up lay down sit up! Don't feed her unless you're sure she's hungry just keep laying her back down
With the weather changing, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to put the thermostat on at night...maybe its something like that with y'all too? Is it warmer or cooler in the house now that it was before? Or are you dressing her different than you did previously? Sometimes it's the simplest things that we overlook. Good luck figuring it out!
