could it be something I ate?

[flower16]

My 9.5 month old Dd wakes very frequently at night, yells out, and demands to breastfeed all night. I am wondering if the frequent waking could be something in my diet. She is happy go lucky all day and never seems to be in discomfort, but has nap and nightime sleep problems, but these did not start until she was 4 months old. No other signs of allergies except occasionally I see small amount of mucous in stool. I have been hesitant to do an elimination diet because I am a vegeterian and allergic to soy, so in order to do the elimination diet I would really have a hard time getting enough protein because you can only eat so many beans and that could bother her too. Also It is a lot to go through if that is not the reason she is waking alot. Does anyone have any insight on this matter?

[LadyCatherine185]

How often is she waking? Night waking at 9 months old is normal.

[flower16]

She is waking 5+ times, and will BF/non nutritive suck for 30-45 each time. This does not seem "normal" to me.

[tessie]

Originally Posted by flower16

She is waking 5+ times, and will BF/non nutritive suck for 30-45 each time. This does not seem "normal" to me.

Honestly, I don't think it's a common sleep pattern. At 9.5 months babies are capable of STTN, although not all do. but 5+ times a night for 30 to 40 mins is excessive waking in my opinion. The question is, what do you want to do about it? Are you willing to try some gentle sleep training methods? Or do you want to try and learn to live with it?

Even if it is diet related (and in the absence of other symptoms that's probably unlikely) she may well also have got into the habit of frequent waking.

[Chloe'sMama]

My dd started having super bad sleeping patterns at around 6 months and it didn't seem normal to me... crying, nursing, tossing and turning, etc. I tried eliminating different things and it ended up being a sensitivity to wheat. I have tried to keep it out of my diet since then, more than 6 months, and you can really tell when something with wheat sneaks into my food.

I would cruise on over to the Allergy forum in health and healing. Tons of info and lots of support from people who have dealt with this too.

I am also a vegetarian who avoids soy. I eliminated dairy and wheat at the same time. It was tough, but with support from the other moms on the allergy forum, it was a bit easier.

Sorry you are dealing with this.

Good luck and let me know if you need any other info.

[LadyCatherine185]

Do you cosleep?

At 9 months my DS was waking every hour. At 8 months it was every 15-30 minutes. Now at 12 months he wakes every 2-3 hours most nights. Maybe it isn't "normal" but it is normal for him to wake frequently.

So much is going on in their minds/bodies at that age. Could be teething pain, developmental milestones, etc.

FWIW, we went down the food allergy path, and after several elimination diets, his sleep patterns did not change.

I would work on trying to make the environment as sleep-condusive as possible. Black-out curtains, white noise, comfortable temperature etc. This has helped us tremendously. And having him in bed with me is the only way I feel somewhat rested, because he can latch on and we both fall back asleep.

not sleeping is so so so hard.

[moonlight mom]

It doesn't sound like a food allergy. I think you would see other symptoms.

[flower16]

She doesn't cry, she just wakes and wants to BF every 1.5 hours. and will cry if I do not let her. She is very happy during the day. Was your dd fussy during the day?

[flower16]

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[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by flower16

She doesn't cry, she just wakes and wants to BF every 1.5 hours. and will cry if I do not let her. She is very happy during the day. Was your dd fussy during the day?

If it was truly an allergy, you would see other symptoms. Rashes, constant stuffy nose, eczema, diaper rash, explosive/watery/green stools... and she probably would be fussy during the day as well.

Is she working on crawling/pulling up/walking? Have you recently started solids? Is she teething?

There are so many factors that affect sleep at this age.

[MountainMamaGC]

My DD STTN from 2 months to 8 months. At 8 months she would wake every 2 hours to nurse. We coslept so I put up with it until I was exhausted at 13 months. I nightweaned her and she now sleeps 6 hour stretches.

Its normal at that age to go through separation anxiety as they get more mobile. They will even wake to check if you are still around.

[darcytrue]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

So much is going on in their minds/bodies at that age. Could be teething pain, developmental milestones, etc.

I was going to suggest this as well. My second child had a lot of restless nights when she went through major milestones, cut teeth, had a stressful outing that day, etc. She would wake multiple times as well and I wasn't breastfeeding her.