My Nine Month Old Wont Sleep Throughout the Night

okay... my daughter is 14 months old now... she was an early teether... im curious to know how many teeth does your daughter have?? my daughter did great thru the front teeth.. no complaints.... but her molars have been coming in since she was around nine months old... we didnt see teeth til she was about a year (two on one side... getting the last two out now)... molars take forever to come in... at her next appt ask the doctor to feel her gums and see if she is teething... is she drooling a lot during the day?? is she constantly chewing on stuff??? all signs of teething... try some tylenol after taking with your doctor... it helps my baby

My fist did the same thing.......

You may want to take her to the dr to make sure she doesn't have an ear infection or is sick because if you picked her up at 3:30 and she didn't fall alseep until 5:30 that's a long time for one to feel comforted if that is the issue. You may want to purchase a crib riser (Babies R Us or Baby Depot) which helps make breathing a little easier (since you can't use a pillow at this age it is a way to raise their heads a bit to help drain fluids etc.). Also make sure you have a humidifier set up in her room to ease her breathing/congestion also.

If she's not sick, she needs to learn how to fall back to sleep on her own. Start by checking in on her, maybe rubbing her back, putting her music on etc. the first night, next night just talk to her from beside her crib but don't touch her, the night after that move a little further away until by the end of the week you are outside of her room.

OR

go into her room and don't pick her up but just gently touch her telling her it's OK and then walk out of the room and return in 1 min and gradually increase the amt of time you spend out of the room (up to 10 mins). She'll be comforted to know you are still there and are just in the room.

I've tried both of these w/ my children and the first worked the best for us. 9-12 mths is tough but TRUST ME it is key to get them to sleep on their own now vs. later. Some of my friends brought their kids into their beds or slept in their rooms etc. because they gave up quickly at this age and are STILL trying to get them to go to sleep on their own (or out of their beds).

Be sure to put her into her bed while she is still AWAKE.... make bedtime special by starting a routine and be consistent w/ it.

HTH!

It sounds like it might be night terrors. My son went through this. Lots of kids do. If it is that, then there really isn't to much you can do about it. Just wait it out. This too shall pass.

Hi A., I understand it is frustrating! My daughter is 3 and still wakes up for comfort. Some babies are better sleepers. It is also normal for them to wake up from nightmares. If they have a busy day or something. I don't really know the answer to solving this problem, I know my dr rec ignoring my daughter when she woke. I however highly disagree w/ this and would not encourage you to do this, I feel if your child needs you, it is your job to be there. My dr. agreed w/ me but said that was really his best solution to end the waking. All I can say is to deal with it the way you are, and to just help her back to sleep when she wakes and eventually she will grow out of it. Is she waking for a bottle? If so, then that could be part of the problem, and maybe you should just give her water through the night, however I know I was still giving my daughter a bottle in the middle of the night because she was not a good eater w/ baby food. Although from the way you describe her when she wakes it sounds like she is having a bad dream. Any way, I know how you feel, it does get better. Babies are so unpredictable, they can do something for a month and all of a sudden change their whole routine. Good luck, I hope this helps, Amy

If you think its teeth than the Hyland's Teething Tablets worked very well for my son. He'd stop crying almost instantly. Try that out, teeth really hurt for a little baby. If it comes to be nightmares I would do exactly what you are doing and comfort, maybe even if she can still sit in the swing, let her hang out there. If its because she realizes she is by herself and misses you than I would come make my appearance and turn the music on with the mobile or something to distract her and I would have to be so quiet and sneak out, but he fell back to sleep. Good luck, I know these are our little babies!

Hi A.,

9 months old is early for nightmares, but I know when my daughter learned to pull up, she woke up and refused to go back to sleep, but couldn't get herself back down either, so she'd scream and was scared. I taught her how to fall gently and that solved some of it. Her other reason was teeth, and she's still doing that on and off

It could be teething, speak to her dr. and if everything else is ruled out then at least you know it will pass. I didnt like giving Tylenol to my little one all the time, so Orajel really worked. My little girl is 10 months old and we just went through all of what you are going through again.