Eden is a great sleeper. She has been since literally Day One, when she slept all the way through the night in the hospital nursery (and scared the crap out of me - I kept dreaming someone stole my baby). She started sleeping through the night regularly at two months old, and has been an angel since then...
until now.
I have no idea what is wrong with my child but over the last week the longest stretch she has slept has been from 10:30 pm to 6:00 am (and that was only once). I realize this is nearly 8 hours and is really great, but she usually sleeps from 8:30 to 7:00. And it's not just that she's not sleeping; she wakes up literally screaming. And she is inconsolable. Bryan and I are completely bewildered. There has to be something physical going on here. During the day she's pretty OK, but at night she completely loses it.
She's been congested off and on for a couple of months, but even if we clean her nose out really well right before bed, keep the room a little bit cool (and bundle her up), and crank the humidifier religiously, she wakes up unhappy. We've tried cleaning out her nose first thing when she wakes up (to no avail), rocking (which makes her scream louder), nursing (which she'll do, but usually scream all the way through it and after - she hasn't had nighttime feedings since I quit dream feeding), and bouncing. Bouncing works for a few seconds, and as soon as she relaxes she screams again. Usually after about an hour some combination of these things (or pure exhaustion) does the trick and she settles enough to be laid down, and she grunts and sobs her way to sleep again.
This is incredibly difficult, because it is so out of character for her. I have no idea what is going on. Is it just the congestion? Teething? Developmental milestone-ing? Growth spurt? All of the above??? All I know is my baby is very upset and I can't fix it. So I'm turning to the internets. (And her pediatrician - I put in a call this morning, and I may end up setting up an appointment for tomorrow).
Any of you veteran (or even not-so-veteran) moms have any ideas???
Dear Eva (12 Years)
1 year ago
5 comments:
It sounds like teething, does she have any yet? Have you tried tylenol, to see if it helps? Our pediatrician said the reason teething seems to bother them so much more at night is there are no other distractions so the pain builds as they sleep and they can wake up thinking only of how much their mouth hurts (poor little guys).
Our ped also said some teeth hurt more than others b/c it can depend on how the tooth is originally oriented and how much moving through the gum it has to do to get into position. So she may have gotten some teeth with no problem and these are really hurting. Of course go see your ped, but maybe try some pain medicine and see if it helps in the meantime.
Oh my dear friends. Sometimes I think it's harder on the parents than it is the babies. My thoughts are that she may be teething. Teething can cause a icky nose too. Maybe she's starting to dream and her dreams are startling her awake. Just keep loving on her. Let us know what the doc says.
I say teething, Noah went through that too, icky nose and all even a mild fever. and though he has yet to sleep through the night, during his teething period he was up every 3 hrs screaming! And now he has 2 teeth that cut through last week and is starting to go back to normal we wondered the same thing for awhile then our answer popped up (literally). with her congestion saline drops actively, we didnt and now we have horrible congestion in his eyes. Good luck I hope its goes quick for her! oh we also used teething tablets which our ped told us about just stay on top of it and it really works
I'm so sorry this is happening to you! It is so hard to know the reason (and there may not be one!) But I fourth the vote for teething. Tylenol, tylenol, tylenol. :)
Other thoughts - has there been a change in Eden's diet? Perhaps it's gas pain? (Mylicon works wonders.) Otherwise, I remember Charlie would not sleep every time he hit developmental milestones (sitting up, pulling up, talking, etc). I have no idea why, but he would wake up screaming every time he hit a big milestone. Thankfully, this passed after about a week.
Hang in there!
Thanks guys. You're awesome. And you're all correct. :)
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