Middle of the Night waking and Playtime

This reminds me of how lucky I was with my firsborn. She slept like a
log all night long since she was 8 weeks old and still does at 4 1/2.
Boy was I lucky with her!!

Eliana used to wake up at night and sit in her crib and stare into
space for 20 – 40 minutes and then just lay back down and go to sleep.

Myles wakes up almost every night, too. Most nights he rolls around and
babbles to himself and then goes back to sleep. Some nights I have to
go in and give him his nuk and tuck him back in, and he goes back to
sleep. (I guess that’s one advantage of a nuk).

From all I’ve read about infant sleep, night wakings are very common.
Most babies do not actually sleep all night long. They have shorter
sleep cycles than adults and they do wake up. The trick is to teach
them to go back to sleep on their own. Picking her up will probably
reinforce her night waking and she will get used that quickly and will
likely begin to demand it each time she wakes up.

Does she fall asleep alone when she first goes to bed?

If she’s been a good sleeper up until now and is used to falling asleep
alone, this phase will probably pass as long as you don’t reinforce it
by picking her up at night. If she screams I’d try comforting her in
bed; patting her, “saying shhh…shhh…, mommy’s here,” or sitting in
a chair near her bed until she falls back to sleep. Does she have a
lovey or favorite blanket? Sometimes a lovey/transitional object helps,
too.

Good luck and remember, sleep (or the lack thereof) is the number one
complaint of parents of infants. In many cultures it would be
considered a very tall order to expect an infant to sleep all night
alone in his or her bed. It can of course be done, but it takes time,
training, and persistance, and temporary setbacks are the norm for most
babies.

Good luck! If she’s been a good sleeper for that long I think this will
likely pass pretty quickly. My “good sleepers” have all had their
moments, but they always go back to sleeping well again.