12 month old waking at night

[funnyfarm]

Hi everyone

I am new to this forum and hope that there are other parents out there that can suggest a solution to this problem.

I have a 12 month old daughter who is generally a very good sleeper but seems to wake up in the early hours of the morning (around 2-3am) crying until I go and give her a quick cuddle. Then she will happily go back to sleep until 7am in the morning. It seems to be that she is waking after being asleep for about 8 hours.

She doesn't have trouble settling herself to sleep any other time as we sometimes hear her at night crying and then going back to sleep (finds her dummy).

I am starting to think that this is a habit at waking at this time every night, so we have decided to let her cry but she just keeps on crying (1/2 to 1 hour) until we go to her.

Has anyone else had this problem?????

Thanks again.

[Chickadee]

Yep. Night waking comes and goes with us. Chloe has generally slept really well at night. But she does go through periods of one or two weeks from time to time where the cry doesn't stop and she needs me to go in and comfort her. I can usually tell which just by the tone of the cry - when she's going to need me it has a "hysterical" or fear/panic tone to it almost from the start. I've never tried to wait those ones out, the longer I let it go the longer it takes to calm her back down.

Last night she woke up & cried, giving 5 yells. The last was on a downward trend, ended in a bit of a sob, and then she was back to sleep before I even moved, YAY! Last week she was waking at the same time and had that fear/panic tone & needing me to go in and hug and rock her. I have no idea why sometimes she goes through those periods. Sometimes I see new teeth afterwards, sometimes she has a cold coming on. Sometimes it seems to be when we've put her to bed late, so maybe she's so overtired that she doesn't sleep as well. Who knows? I just treat them as nightmares and know that they'll pass and she'll be back to normal soon.

[Rell]

Yes I had and at times still have this problem with my daughter now 3. Between the ages of 1 and 2 she would wake sometimes 3 times and I would need to go and give her a quick cuddle. It will pass but having said that I still occasionaly have to go in and give her a cuddle when she crys out. Like MarthaM says listen to the type of cry, you may notice a less intense cry that does not need your attention and she will fall back to sleep. Just ride it out it will get better.

[funnyfarm]

Thanks for you replies.

I have come to accept that if she wakes up at this time of night, just get up and give her a 2 minute cuddle and put her back to bed. This is a lot easier that listening to her grizzle and grumble for 1/2 hour.

Its nice to know that she is not the only one doing this.

Thanks again.

Janet
Mother to Briana Sage (12 months)

[kiara]

Hi Brianans mum,

I can't help you but I just wanted to let you know that my friend has a little girl who was 2 in April this year and she wakes 2-3 times a night still. I hope you find a solution for your problem

[redbaby]

Hi Guys,...

Maybe you can help me!? I have an 11 month old who is usually a good sleeper,.... 19:00 - 6:30 type thing,.. yet recently she has been waking around 24:00 and will not go back to sleep till 2:00! She talks to herself for a little while and then gets cranky if I do not go down to her,......crying and shouting! When I do go, it takes a good hour to put her back to sleep,...usually with a feed. How do I stop this? 2 hours in the middle of the night is a very long time!

[Chickadee]

I've woken up and heard Chloe talking a few times. Generally if she wakes and doesn't put herself back to sleep within a few minutes then she's not going to at all and will eventually start yelling/screaming for me. Sometimes getting to her before the screaming starts shortens the whole process dramatically. You might try going in to her sooner, before she starts yelling, and remind her that she's supposed to be sleeping and help her along in this by repeating all or part of your bedtime settling routine.

Also, bub's do go through growth spurts so maybe she is really hungry? I've been known to snack in the night if I wake up and can't get back to sleep :D Being awake somehow triggers my bodies metabolism to get going again, so maybe it's just that because she's awake for awhile she discovers she's hungry.

It's all sort of a trial and error basis really. If our kids ever figured out that we don't really know the answers we're in for some trouble!

[Studyingmumto3]

Hi
Maybe you can help me too. Both of my girls wake at least 3-4 times a night. They go down about 730 and wake up all hours and then fully awake at 630. I was working fulltime and so does my husband, by the end of the day we are both tired and cranky. I had to give up work so we could start to cope, but it still aint working. Any advice???

[Chickadee]

Yikes! Giving up work, it must be pretty bad! I don't think I could cope either and nearly every day tell myself how lucky I am that Chloe is a good sleeper.

What have you tried and how do you put them down at 7:30? It might be good for you to talk directly to someone that specialises in sleeping problems. Here in WA an organisation called Ngala is excellent. Maybe there's something in NSW as well?

The only quick thought that comes to mind is that if I put Chloe to bed late, when she's already too tired, she inevitably wakes more during the night. It's hard getting her to bed before 7:30 when we don't get home from work/day care before 6, but I know some nights she is ready by 7. I don't think it would completely solve the problem but maybe an earlier bedtime would help?

Also, if they're in the same room is one waking the other?