I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Hi,

I would appreciate any suggestions...I am at my wits end.

My DS is 5 months old. Two nights ago he woke up screaming 20 mins after we put him to bed. This then continued till 2am. (Up every half hour).

I was convinced its teething, hes been biting his hands and crying. There are NO other signs of anything wrong.


It started again last night...but we realized that he would cry...and after picking him up, would go back out...lay him down and he'd start screaming again.

He had been sleeping 12 hours straight before this, but I have to admit that I usually lay him down for bed after he's fallen asleep on me. Is he NOW realizing his surroundings and getting upset?? Do i start trying the CIO method??? I can't have many more nights like this. I am working from home and exhausted.

Message edited 2/15/2007 7:18:25 AM.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Have you tried tylenol? Teeth usually hurt more at night, and that may take the edge off so he can sleep.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Yes, i tried that...unfortunately it didn't make a difference at all. Its so odd. This wasn't a slow transition...he has been a wonderful sleeper since 10 weeks old and then this...its like he gets hysterical when he realizes he's in his crib. In the morning though he wakes up happy and can lay in it for a while before me getting him.

**I also tried anbesol...nope. did nothing. I wish something worked if it is teething, but something tells me its not..

Message edited 2/15/2007 7:22:55 AM.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

I am having the same exact problem. My son is 41/2 months and was sleeping through the night until two weeks ago and is getting up , crying, i pick him up, or put the pacificer and then this vicious cycle continues. i read "the secrets of the baby whisperer " and it helped me a lot. he is not self- soothing himself to sleep. he usually falls asleep on my hesband, which is very bad, and then we put him in his crib. now i am using the strategies from the book and it is hard. i go back to work tom. and cannot have these sleepless nights. i feel for you.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

It's also possible that he's hungry. We had a similar scenario with DD. She slept great for a while, then a few weeks ago, started waking often throughout the night. DW finally decided to try feeding her more cereal and formula very close to bedtime, and that has cut out about 90% of the mid-night waking.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

I would try the above suggestion and maybe feed him the 1st time he wakes.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

We had this happen too. I did the feeding thing and it did help. I only did it for a few nights though because I didn't want her to get used to eating during the night again. I fed her for a few nights and then weaned her off of it and she was fine. I think your son is too young for CIO at this point.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

I agree with maybe try feeding him, he might be going through a growth spurt.

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Thanks everyone

I am going to try to extra feeding. You know, I hadn't even thought he may be hungry but now it kind of makes sense...since the teething started he pushes away his bottle a lot during the day and hasn't been taking all that much formula. I started solids last month too so i thought that might be why.

Ahhhhh why can't babies vocalize whats wrong other than crying?? It would make our lives a lot easier

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Posted by maybebaby

Ahhhhh why can't babies vocalize whats wrong other than crying?? It would make our lives a lot easier

Re: I have had two very hard nights..could use some advice

Posted by GoldenRod

Posted by maybebaby

Ahhhhh why can't babies vocalize whats wrong other than crying?? It would make our lives a lot easier

And babies probably wonder "I keep telling mommy what's wrong, why won't she fix it? Doesn't she understand ANYTHING I tell her?"....