DD Wakes Up Screaming.. Every_Single_Time!

[TSomm]

Ok, I can't take it anymore.  12 mo DD wakes 2-3 times a night and each time she wails at the top of her lungs.  I'm sleeping right next to her so it's not like she's trying to call me from a different room.  It's driving me insane.  This has been going on for months now.  No matter what I do (give her boob right away, try to calm her down first, etc.), on each new waking she'll scream.  I mean this is within 3 seconds of opening her eyes.  She just sits up and SCREAMS!   Once I do nurse her she's completely calm and quiet and she'll nurse right back to sleep (95% of the time anyway).

I wouldn't mind the waking so much if she didn't make such a fuss.  What can I do?  She doesn't do this when she wakes from naps, only at night. 

I read some other threads on here and I don't think it's night terrors.  She is immediately consoled if I nurse her or hold her.

[milomama]

My son did this.  It seemed to last for months and I was investigating things like night terrors, but like you, it didn't seem to fit.  And then he stopped, and hasn't done it again.

We did do some dietary changes around here.  I've recently been diagnosed as celiac and my family is going gluten free with me.  Earlier we experimented with gluten free eating, and I definitely noticed way better sleeping...he went from being up every 1-2 hours (at about 17 months old) to sleeping 7-8 hours.  When I reintroduced gluten for my endoscopy, he went back to frequent night waking.  The screaming may have also stopped at that point.

Also, I wondered about teeth.  Seems we blame everything on teeth, but I imagine teething pain could wake you, screaming in pain.

[NEastMomma]

OMG, my DS did this for-everrrr!  It drove me nuts b/c it would scare the life out of me.  And I felt so sorry for my clearly hysterical babe.  I brought it up to my ped almost hoping he'd say Night Terrors so that there'd be a "reason," but he said he highly doubted it. 

Good news: DS outgrew this finally at... 16mos.  I'm so sorry to say it lasted that long, but for us that is how it worked out.  One day, it just stopped.  Now he will call out in a perfectly rational manner if in another room.  If in same bed, he just is a silly guy to wake us up.  Very cute now.

The only thing I can think of is that DS became more verbal and therefore could communicate his needs/wants easier?

Anyhow, I'm not much help.  Just wanted to say that I've been there and yep, it is so hard!  Hang in  there.  :)

[TSomm]

*sigh*

Well, thanks for your responses.  I was afraid it would be the classic "this too shall pass" words, but you're right, we'll get through it.

[RiverandJulie]

My 14 month DS has been doing this......well, for as long as I can remember.

I am about ready to schedule with a sleep clinic or a ped gastrointologist (sp?)

It sucked when it was 2-3 times at night, but since mid-January, he has been waking every 1-2 hours.  I am going crazy!  
I feel like there must be something really bothering him, so onto the next steps.  I will let you know if I get an answer.

[carmen358]

My almost 14 month old DD does this and has been for months as well. Only at night though...she also sleeps right beside me and it seems as soon as she wakes up she immediately sits up and screams. It's very odd because when she wakes up in the morning she doesn't do it....she is a happy smiley little thing. She does it every 1-2 hours all night long...this is an improvement in the last week as it used to be every 15-45 min! I also asked my doc and she suggested night terrors but she's definitely consolable once I lay her back down. I also wondered about gastro stuff but she has no other symptoms. I still wonder about allergies but again, no other symptoms. Hoping it will pass. I'm tired and the screaming is really shocking!

I guess I don't have any advice. But I hope it passes quickly for you!

[RiverandJulie]

 It's very odd because when she wakes up in the morning she doesn't do it....she is a happy smiley little thing. She does it every 1-2 hours all night long

Yes!  Same thing, generally a happy little boy in the AM and during the day. But at night, it is a different story!  I was thinking night terrors for a while, but now, he calms right down with a bottle.

What is really helping us is DH and I split shifts.  I take the first half of the night in bed with DS and he sleeps in the basement, then we switch.  Then we both get a good 4-5 hours of solid sleep.  It sucks that we dont get to spend the night together =, but worth it for awhile for our sanity.
But, DS drinks bottles, may not work if they only want to nurse.  

[abm79]

I think as Milomama pointed out, dietary issues can be key.  Even with only one symptom, it doesn't mean your DD isn't having some digestive issues.  My DD did a 180 in terms of sleeping, crying, etc. when I cut out dairy and it's been blissful ever since.  And the only symptoms were the screaming (though not reserved exclusively for at night in her case, but was definitely more so at night) - nothing else.  I would highly recommend trying to change your diet a bit to see if it helps.  And if not, then you can fall back on that old adage that this too shall pass...

[TSomm]

Well when she was a newborn I cut dairy out (from 6 weeks - 8 months).  It was definitely causing her issues and I reintroduced it slowly.  Perhaps I should try another spurt and see what happens.  If nothing else, it'll help my slow growing waistline.

[RiverandJulie]

We did cut lactose and it helped a lot, now he calms down with the bottle, as opposed to the lengthy screaming fits.  

I need to post about last night.  He went down around 6:30 and slept until 10:00 (awesome!) I thought....yes-this is it, 3 hour stretches again.

Then he woke up at 11:30......1:00.....drank a bottle each time.  At 1:45 he woke up again.  I resisted!  It was hard, he cried, we rocked, we talked, he calmed down, he cried. I brought him water in a sippy cup..he screamed and pushed it, I put water in a bottle, he drank a sip, then pushed it away.....cried. 

It was awful, I was losing it, but I knew DH was coming up at 2:30, and I knew that DS does not need to eat 4 times in 4 hours!!!

Then I let him play with an empty bottle and it's cap(one of his favorite things to do).  He calmed down.  Around 2:25 he started drifting off, then DH came in and took over. He got him to sleep at 3:00 (while I went into the basement and had a meltdown).  

Then DS slept from 3-6:30!