[chelsmm]

My 10 month old dd use to sleep for about 4-6 hours at a time at night, with one or 2 wakings to nurse. Well, a few days ago, this all ended...she now wakes every 1-2 hours! She became very difficult to get to sleep, crying, thrashing, pulling to standing, etc. And then, after all that effort to get her to sleep, she wakes up within 2 hours. And the cycle continues. I use to nurse her to sleep, but just these past few days, she nurses and then pops off wide awake. I try to switch sides, I try to put her back on, but she's finished nursing and won't continue. Last night she was blowing raspberries on my boob!

I eventually get her to sleep by bouncing her on the yoga ball while she's in the MT. We don't co-sleep, but I did last night because I was so tired of getting up. I had to take her to the spare room though, so we would have enough space, and so dh could sleep. He's just starting a new job and really needs his sleep, and I understand that. DD has been pulling to standing for a while now, but I wonder if she's going to walk soon. We haven't really started any new foods with her. She's does not seem to be in pain or teething. But, when she wakes in the night, she's really half asleep, but crying and squirming when I hold her. Sometimes she'll nurse, sometimes she won't and I have to hold her and rock her squirmy self until she falls asleep again. She also never use to wake up crying in the night. She'd wake up and babble and I'd go get her right away. Now, she wakes up sobbing her little heart out. It's so sad. I know this is long...I've gotten such good advise from here before, I was hoping that someone could help this time.
I've tried putting her down earlier, no luck. So then I let her stay up and play quietly until she seems more tired, again no luck. I'm also wondering if my supply is low and that's why she won't fall asleep nursing??

Thanks so much for reading this!

 

[*caitlinsmom*]

Oh my, I could have written your post. I feel so bad for you mama....

because I am right where you are. While I have no advice for you, I really hope someone else does... because I'm at the same place with my 10 month old and I really need help too!

 

[turtlewomyn]

What about teething? She could be popping off of nursing because it hurts. My 10.5 month old DD has been having problems with her molars off and on for months now. When they are bothering her she wakes more often, and usually crying (like she's in pain).

 

[*caitlinsmom*]

In our case I don't think it's teething. She just got her first tooth last month. I hate to give her motrin, especially when I'm not sure she needs it, but when I do it doesn't seem to make any difference, so I don't think it's teething. She also isn't exhibiting any other signs of teething.... drooling, ear pulling or otherwise cranky.
Please, anyone else have advice for me and the OP?

 

[mamabeth]

well...you're not gonna like it....

I have a 10 m.o. who is doing the same thing, and I remember this phase. DH and I just sort of roll our eyes at him and are trying to get through it, getting him to sleep however we can. This is a good age (IMO) to see if a dad/dp can put the baby to sleep, if you want. My dh sometimes walks ds if he doesn't want to nurse anymore (doing the pop-off thing). hope this makes sense....got to go!

 

[rzberrymom]

Lots of things cause increased nightwaking--teething, growth spurt, developmental milestone (learning to sit, stand, cruise, walk, talk), getting older and becoming more aware that they're alone in the dark, etc.

Quote:

I use to nurse her to sleep, but just these past few days, she nurses and then pops off wide awake. I try to switch sides, I try to put her back on, but she's finished nursing and won't continue.

This always happened with us when DD was hitting a developmental milestone, and all of a sudden she just wanted to be awake in the night. It will pass. When things were especially bad, one strategy we had was to have DH sleep in another room and then give me a break early in the morning--he'd get a good night sleep and then get up early with DD and let me sleep an extra hour or two. I always felt like I could get through the really bad nights that way.

 

[chelsmm]

thanks for the replies.

Josie- hugs to you too! I don't mind so much, since I don't have any other kids, I can take naps with my dd. She naps about an hour twice a day. And, I only work weekend night shift, so that's not a big deal. I hope you are able to nap a bit too!

Beth- It's good to hear this may just be a passing phase. I had dh put her to bed the other night, but I am worried that if we do this too much, my supply will dwindle. He gave her a bottle of bm. Also, she screamed just about the whole time he was rocking her. With me, she cried, but not quite as hard. So I felt really bad.

I guess it's maybe just that she's more aware of being alone, and/or that she's starting to stand. I guess it could be teeth, but I doubt it. She has 6 already, but no signs of more on the way. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks!