DD has begun to refuse to settle for sleeps... At any time. She is absolutely exhausted but as soon as you put her in the cot she just screams and screams. The only thing that works is Panadol and even that isn't helping her sleep, it's just stopped her screaming.
I know she's at the age where separation anxiety sets in (she's 7 months) so I thought that might be it. But then yesterday arvo I found the sharp ridge of her first tooth poking through, so it could be that. But she's fine when she's sitting upright, just screams when lying down. Same during the day, but if she lays on the play mat she is fine.
I know it's not just protest cries. Yes, there is some element of that to it, but there is also pain. I don't know what though. I'm tending to think its a combo of separation anxiety and teething but TBH I have no clue and I'm coming to the end of my rope on no sleep!
FWIW, I know that there have been some nights when baby Liebling slept almost sat up, as it was too uncomfortable for him to lie down. That was around the teething/evil grandmother giving him "treat" solids he wasn't allowed/ill/needing Mamma constantly time as well.
if it's only for sleeping in her cot that she does this, do you think it could be that she likes white noise etc in the background? Often rooms are so quiet and very different to other living areas of the house and she might not like the change in room kwim? is sleeping her in a portacot during the day an option for her?
sounds like a combo of things.
teething and separation anxieties and some go through phases of not liking the cot.
I think a Dr check would ease you of any physical worries.
some white noise may help too.
dd has always had issues with the cot, she hated being stuck in there. so we have her cot sidecar to our bed and alittle lower then our bed, but for your young one the same height may be better.
we have a routine for sleep. every sleep. a book, a song then kiss and cuddle then in a firm voice I tell her its time to sleep, sweet dreams. and now she knows what's happening and what's expected. (dd is 15mth)
I hope you can find a solution.
teething can.be an awful time
Efjay: I thought ears too, but she doesn't have any other symptoms and she will happily lie down and play on the play mat during the day, buy lie her down in the cot day or night and she screams blue murder. Up until last week she was happy to go to sleep when put in her cot.
Trillian: Nothing has changed. She's been in her cot in her own room since very early on, about 2-3 months old.
Double trouble: no room in our bedroom to sidecar, otherwise I might try it for sure. We've also had a routine every night for months now. As of last week she still seems to realise it's bedtime and not argue, but then as soon as she's halfway lowered into the cot, she starts
She used to quite happily go to sleep at 7pm. In the last 2 nights she's taken 1.5-2 hrs to settle and the only thing that made her settle in the end was Panadol.
Just from personal experience, get her ears checked. DD would do the same, had no other symptoms but had a whopper of a double ear infection, so it had been brewing for a while. Good luck with solving it.
Id definitely head off to your GP to get checked. Then if it's nothing, at least you got her checked out iykwim?
It could be teeth, but if it's uncontrollable screaming and it's really out of character screaming/crying, id have to agree with the others who have suggested ear infections. Quite common for little ones.
I hope what ever is making her unsettled goes away soon. You must be so frustrated. :-(
Just a question though. Have you tried nurofen at all? It's actually an anti inflammatory and pain killer in one. I find it works better for teething and ear issues due to it's anti inflammatory properties.
Just to add teething apparently makes reflux a lot worse, so maybe that could be contributing regardless of meds.
My DD's reflux has definitely been worse with teething but she isn't taking medication full time.
With the reflux she may need her meds increased with her weight going up. The fact that she is ok sitting but then is in pain lying down points to the reflux pain to me.
But then how is she happy to lie down on the play mat?
CHNs thought from all the info I gave them that she's just resisting sleep and just to persist but they haven't heard her screaming! I just tried and I couldn't do it. But of course she's happy since I picked her up!
Isn't reflux supposed to ease off around 7-8 months, not get worse?
I'd get her checked out, just in case, yeah.
It could well be that she simple doesn't want to be alone. Even though she was happy to sleep like that before, doesn't mean she will always feel that way. Do you have a sling to help her get some sleep for now? Or car or stroller?
You're right. It must be reflux or an ear infection as she's fallen asleep upright in her pram with no effort from me. Can't get a doc's appointment until tomorrow though. I still don't understand the playmat thing though.
My DD is the same with the playmat thing. Also her reflux has gotten worse at 10 months. I've heard drs say it gets better by age one but then I've heard some mum's say it took their LO until 2.
Still might be an ear infection though, good thing to go to dr.
DD1 was a bit similar in that she woke up screaming several times a night every night for a couple months, and not just a bit upset, SCREAMING in pain and if you tried to lay her down in her cot asleep she would wake up and scream again. With her it was a teeth issue, but in your case I would think teeth and ears would be front runners. On the play mat thing....when I was going through this I discovered the role distraction plays. I think during the day when playing they are distracted they can kind of ignore their pain a bit, but at night (or other times in their cot) it just them and the pain and nothing else to get in the way. At night I could distract DD1 with a toy and she would stop screaming. More than once I sat up for 2+ hours playing something because even though it wasn't sleeping it wasn't screaming either So it could just be that she is distracted from the pain on her play mat.
Ears are fine, nothing there. He is allowing me to up the reflux meds for a bit to see if that helps cause he said it does get affected by teething.
There is also an element of separation anxiety, confirmed last night when, after trying to settle screaming in cot for 1hr and Panadol I took her onto my bed to see what would happen. Flat on her back she was and happy, trying to eat my pillow and giggling. Little so-and-so! Back to her bed, screaming again, though less. We decided to ignore as a last resort and she was asleep within 10-15 min.
Tonight I put her in bed, said goodnight etc, walked out. She protested about 5-10 min before falling asleep. But that was definitely NOT the screaming of the previous 3 nights, so I'm guessing the teething pain has eased. Phew (until the next one)!
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What is wrong with her? :(
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