9 1/2 Month old waking up again after sleeping through the night?

Question

My 9 1/2 month old baby started waking up again after sleeping through the night for about 3 weeks. He is pulling up and walks around in his playpen holding on. I am wondering, is this another developmental milestone because it seems alot of people have this problem at this age. The problem with my baby is that he takes forever to go to sleep and when he does go down he wakes up about an hour later standing in his crib, crying for bloody murder. We left him a couple of times to see if he would get tired and just go back to sleep. (He knows how to get back down from standing). This did not work out, we had to hold him till he was in a deep sleep and then put him back in the crib. This could take any where from 1/2 hr to 1 hr. My question is will this go on for much more and do they turn into better sleepers when they turn 1 year old???

Answer 1

Has the weather changed? Is the baby teething? Has something changed at all - has he stsrted spending less time with main carer? All of these can contribute. My baby is the same. I am with you on hoping it passes in 2 1/2 months.

Answer 2

This is not uncommon at all. When my daughter was 8-9 1/5 months she was cutting 5 teeth and was up 4 times or so a night. Babies are usually cutting at this time and can't sleep as well because of the pain. If you feel comfortable with it you can give him some infant Tylenol but check with your doctor first for the dosage. Also when my daughter does wake up at night my husband and I do rock her back down to kind of sooth her misery some.

Answer 3

My son went throught this at 7 months of age. It passes give it time. Also if he is napping late in the day change his nap schedule so that he isnt napping past 5pm that way he is tired when it comes to bed. My sons dr told me its more of the "hey look what I can do" as opposed to a sleeping problem. However with my son he'd be up 1-1.5 sometimes 2 hrs then go back to sleep and ofcourse I was up with him.

Answer 4

Ahh, the yo-yoing sleep disorder. I remember this. It will come and go for a while. Right now, your baby is probably starting in on the seperation anxiety phase which will probably last to about 18 months. He needs to be assured that you will come back. During the day, try doing exercises where you leave the room for a few minutes (make sure he can't hurt himself) and then come back. It will reinforce the fact that you may leave his sight, but you'll always come back.

Answer 5

My dr says to allow the toddler cry for 10-quarter-hour then if he remains crying pass to envision on him yet do no longer p.c.. him up. only wisper and gently touch him to allow him comprehend your there. stay no longer that a million min and repeat this. do no longer activate lighting fixtures, sounds, or p.c.. him up. i comprehend you're able to think of it incredibly is mean although that is not any longer and in case you do no longer help him to learn now then he won't learn. have confidence me in this one! My first toddlers have been twins. they're now 3 and my daughter nevertheless many times wakes up interior the midst of the night because of the fact i did no longer help her at a youthful age. i might p.c.. her up , feed her, rock her, notwithstanding I had to do yet with my youngest (8 months) I did what my dr pronounced (see above) and he started dozing in the process the night (8-12 hours) at 4 months.

Answer 6

Does your child take naps during the day? When my kids started getting up in the night again, I cut out one of their daily naps. Within a few days, we were all sleeping soundly again. Good luck to you!

Answer 7

You can lead a horse to water....

Yes many babies wake more when they are learning a new milestone and no there isn't really anything you can do about it. Just keep trying new things and working with rather than against your child and hopefully you will get the best night's sleep possible.

But no nightwaking doesn't end at a year. Statistically most toddlers are still waking right up until 24 months *sorry*

http://kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html
Goodlin-Jones BL, et al. Night waking, sleep-wake organization, and self-soothing in the first year of life.
J Dev Behav Pediatr 2001 Aug;22(4):226-33

Abstract: Few objective data are available regarding infants' night waking behaviors and the development of self-soothing during the first year of life. This cross-sectional study examined 80 infants in one of four age groups (3, 6, 9, or 12 mo) for four nights by using videosomnography to code nighttime awakenings and parent-child interactions. A large degree of variability was observed in parents' putting the infant to bed awake or asleep and in responding to vocalizations after nighttime awakenings. Most infants woke during the night at all ages observed. Younger infants tended to require parental intervention at night to return to sleep, whereas older infants exhibited a greater proportion of self-soothing after nighttime awakenings. However, even in the 12-month-old group, 50% of infants typically required parental intervention to get back to sleep after waking. Results emphasize the individual and contextual factors that effect the development of self-soothing behavior during the first year of life.

Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.
The above study is the definitive work on sleeping habits of (Australian) children to 38 months. The researchers surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate, over a one week period. The parents had to report on their child's sleeping habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to their perceptions of their child's sleep behavior.

What did they find?

There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behavior.
Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a surprising 11% under 3 months of age don't have a daytime sleep every day.
Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child's sleep behavior.
Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.
Although this study did not address breastfeeding, it is relevant because a lack of understanding of "normal" sleep patterns can lead to supplementing, early solids, belief there is not enough milk, etc. The authors claim it also leads to misdiagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) and overuse of sedative medication. A worrying 31% of 25-38 month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to settle. 27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one month.

Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.
Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.
Abstract: A longitudinal study of the development of sleep patterns addressed the issue of continuity and change in night waking in the course of the first year. Mothers of 118 infants, who took part in a follow-up study of normal babies, completed a sleep questionnaire at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Regular night waking was a common characteristic throughout the first year:

Baby's age
% babies waking at night
3 months
46%
6 months
39%
9 months
58%
12 months
55%
The number of awakenings per night was a function of age. Following a decline in the number of interruptions from 3 to 6 months, an increase in night waking at age 9 months was recorded. Although the methodology does not lend itself to an objective validation of the changes in sleep-wake states, nor is it suitable for causal explanations, it is, nevertheless, important to note this profile. The increase in night waking towards the end of the first year coincides with significant socio-emotional advances which characterize this developmental stage.

Answer 8

Sounds to me like your baby needs more excercise and mental stimulation. That's what wears a kid out...not tv.