Yes, DS' first 6 teeth coincided with the 8-10 month period (well, 8-11 months actually). It was hell. Then, I kid you not, that 6th tooth popped through and he slept happily with one wakeup for a feed. I went back to my own bed for a whole month (nearly) before we started the next lot of teeth.
The big problem is when there are underlying reasons for teh wakings - and some kids are just super sensitive to discomfort or developmental changes etc - then there really isn't much you can do if you can't address that particular problem. Ie, routines etc won't make any difference.
Hope the necklace helps!
The behaviour you are talking about (restless, won't stop squirming, comes to me for a cuddle, doesn't want a cuddle, whimpering in her sleep, waking up crying often) is exactly what DD does when she is in pain. Especially the whimpering/crying in her sleep, I really know something is up when I hear that. The things that have caused it so far have been teeth (when it went on for months) or a virus (only a few days). The other things that I had her checked for which were possibilities were ear infections and a UTI. I wouldn't think it would be a virus given that it has been going on for months, but it might be worth getting your GP to check for ear infections or a UTI or other similar things.
What is your gut feeling telling you might be the cause? My gut feeling when we were going through this was that it was teeth, and you know it turned out mothers instinct was correct. I understand what you are saying about wanting to be sure what is really causing the problem. Something that I did was put some teething gel on her gums when she was in pain. It did seem to make her feel better, and my theory was if teeth weren't the problem then making her gums numb wouldn't really do much for her IYKWIM.
Good luck, sleep deprivation is horrible. I hope the issue gets sorted soon.
I haven't read all of the replys yet, but what I did when I was desperate for sleep with my kids was to put a matteress on the floor against a wall in their room and go to sleep in there, but put them in their cot first and tried to go to bed early-ish (about 9 or 9.30), so if they had a good night and slept til midnight or whatever, then I would get a fairly good uninterrupted bit of sleep before having to worry about them getting up. And then I would put them ont he mattress with me between me and the wall.
Good luck. Sleep deprivation is seriously torturous. I feel for you.
Just wanted to second what Arcadia said. 7-10 months was awful for us, and we had a lot of what you described. I found DD would sleep particularly badly as she hit a developmental leap like learning to crawl. Poor love, it was like her body was making her keep practicing even when she was needing to rest and she'd be crawling and crying and looking frustrated and confused like 'I can't stop!!'. For us it settled down a lot at about 10 - 11 months and by 12 months we were back to 1 to 2 wake-ups - relative heaven!!! Good luck Hun, this too shall pass.
We have been going through similar issues for the last few months and DD is drooling an awful lot lately. Plus she has been sick a lot in that period. It is so hard to cope with though. Definitely go for the mattress on the floor. We have had the mattress on the floor for quite a while and makes it much safer. Even though DD still head butts the wall in her sleep it does not wake her
I tried the NCSS and it did not go so well for us. I think like one of the PP said, some babies respond this way to developmental changes. I am just riding it out with the belief that she will get better at sleeping longer herself. Last night I was only woken 4 times which was AMAZING.
No other advice to offer but I hope something works for you soon! The mattress on the floor in dd's room sounds like a good idea, means you'll be away from your room for a while but she'll get familiar with her room at the same time.
Hope she settles down soon for you and your necklace arrives super quick!
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