7 month old waking up all night

[mummycate]

My DD has been waking up several times a night. She screams out very loud and we can't just let her cry it out, as we won't sleep either. We have a one bedroom unit. We get up and pop her dummy in and stroke her hair and readjust blankets. She quietens down and we go back to sleep. Last night though, she did this 6 times. It makes me feel a bit foggy from broken sleep. We have classical music playing all night and its dark.

Would she like a night-light? Has she gotten a dummy habit? What can I do?

[Evie76]

cate.......... I am sorry I cannot help you. But my litte tyke - who has always been a world champion sleeper - has started doing exactly the same thing. Every hour on the hour. The Child Health Nurse told me it was separation anxiety and I tend to agree (6 1/2 months).I reckon he's just looking for us. He definitely isn't hungry.

Usually about 4am my husband and I have had it running the gauntlet to his room, so we just stick him between us. He immediately falls asleep and doesn't wake until 6:30. I may be starting a habit here, but we have to go to work, so if neither of us gets decent sleep work is seriously not going to be any fun.

This morning the last time he woke up was 2am and then he didn't wake up until 6am, so he spent the whole night in his bed. So evidently it's going to not be an every night thing - only the nights when we need to go to work the next day.

But, in short, our solution has been to stick him in the bed between us. Not a peep. But I get a dead leg and stuff from being in the same position all night so that he doesn't get squished or wake up with my movement. It's the lesser of two evils.

[mummycate]

I put her in bed with us at 5am, perhaps she wanted cuddles. Tonight I might try her in her cot and if she wakes, bring her to bed with us. She just started with a snuffle early this morning, perhaps that was why she's been waking.

[Emma1979]

my 5.5 month old DD was doing the EXACT same thing, only she was waking almost hourly... and it started when she was around 4 months and progressively got worse.... i tried everything, and for a while having her sleep with me worked, but then she was waking every time i moved so it was really becoming quite an issue...

6 days ago i got rid of the dummy cold turkey.... it was hard and i had the help of someone with years of experience with me the first day... i felt i had tried everything else and had to at least try getting rid of the dummy.... the first night she woke up maybe twice (previously may have been 10+), the second night once, and the third night once..... last night she slept thru!!!!!!!!!!! for the first time since she was about 3 months old....

for me i am 110% positive the dummy was the problem in our case.... maybe worth considering.....? i suspected it was the dummy for a while, as all i really had to do each time she was waking was pop the dummy back in and give a little shhhh and a stroke of the cheek and she would close her eyes..... so to me i kind of suspected the dummy was a problem... but i was so scared of getting rid of it because i was concerned with what the hec i would do everytime she woke in the night....!!!! but it wasn't such a problem..... she seems to have now learned to sleep alot better... fingers crossed it lasts and isnt a fluke!

[taralee]

Yup EXACT same thing here. I was going insane and couldnt work out what was going on.
she just outgrew it, really. and i guess she isnt as good a sleeper as she was, she is at least sleeping for 3 hours at a stretch now, which i am really happy with.
I found that if i put her in bed with us then she would sleep better - leading me to believe it was all about separation anxiety. I think you just have to go with it. you cant force them to sleep - just be there to help them through this phase.
i know thats not much comfort, but it will get better

[bellabub]

Sorry to crash the thread, but I am having this problem with DD. What time of day did you get rid of the dummy? I am a bit anxious about just going cold turkey...And have your bubs now become thumb suckers?

[Emma1979]

hi there... got rid of it for first sleep in the morning and never re-introduced it.... went cold turkey and also introduced a blankey/teddy bear thing for her to cuddle or play with.... it was hard work and not without tears but oh so worth it, as she (fingers crossed) is now sleeping through, or at worst waking maybe once or twice a night, having a grizzle then going back to sleep. with the dummy i was up almost hourly.... nope she is not sucking her thumb at all... during the day she sometimes sucks on a finger, but she was doing this even when we were using the dummy....

it has now been a week and honestly our life has changed so much it is unbelievable.... obviously may not be the answer for everyone but it seems it has been for us... it really was hard, but i had to try it as i was at my wits end, so i made the decision to try no dummy for two weeks no matter how hard it was, and then reassess if it made any difference.... it made a difference on the first night, so i honestly haven't looked back. sorry for hijack!! HTH someone.

ps i tried a few times to get rid of dummy and ended up caving in as she really cried and i thought she would never sleep, but she eventually did and although the first day was tough for her, she was still all smiles when she woke up and it has been the best thing for her as she is now getting a much better quality of sleep. overall she is a much happier baby, my partner has even commented on how she is in a better mood, due to her sleep being much better as she isn't always waking up.

[mummycate]

She sleeps half the time without it, so that's good. Last night she slept with us and slept all night. Only woke twice and settled within a few seconds. Sleeping with us again. This cold I want to keep an eye on. Also she gave it to me and my nose is all stuffed up. And sore damn throat. I'll live, no headaches so that's good. Hopefully I can wean her off the dummy. I wanted her to by 12 months anyway. Thanks for the help.

[bellabub]

Thanks Emma.
I am petrified of taking the dummy away because when she starts to get tired it really pacifies her and I can keep her up heaps longer during the day. I think I will give her to 5 months (she'll be 5 months old on the 20th) and see if things improve. Last night I had to replace her dummy 4 - 5times (and she settles in 5 seconds once I have)...but this broken sleep is KILLING me!!

[krisp]

My DS did this too. We went cold turkey no dummy when he was about 8 months old as he would wake anywhere from 5-10 times a night for it to be put back in his little mouth. It was hard work but worth it as I hate seeing children 3 and 4 with dummy's in their mouths. But he has never been a great night time sleeper, at 18 months old he has only just started sleeping through the night in the last 3 weeks or so. Good luck!

[Emma1979]

i know how you feel re: broken sleep... we had a bad night last night she was very upset with a sore tum.... hmmm i think i will give the pumpkin a miss for a few weeks think it may have upset her....

bellabub re: giving her the dummy to pacify her so she can stay up longer... 'they' say when they show tired signs this is when to put them to bed.... of course u gotta do what works best for your bubs... sometimes i find with our DD if she is up longer and super tired, she may take a longer nap, but this does not always work... sometimes it seems to be a sheer miracle that i have put her to bed at the exact perfect time and i get no cries or protests, she just goes to sleep.... im not sure whether this is a fluke, or me getting her to bed at her first tired signs... it doesn't always work.... might be worth trying to put her down before she gets too tired and needs the dummy... just a thought.

[Tyige]

My DD has gone through a couple of stages doing this. It's mainly when she has a cold or is teething. She'll wake up a couple times a night screaming, so I get her out of bed for around 5 mins and give her a cuddle then I put her back in bed and she's fine till she wakes a couple hours later. I hope you figure it out soon.

Ellie