frequent wakings in 9 month old

[Anonymous]

Help! I’m at my wits end.My 9 month old wakes up so frequently that I can no longer hang on to my rope. She would go down around 9pm, and from there she’d wake up crying, or screaming and lately very angry, until around 6 am. The average number of waking is around 7-9 times a night. This has been going on since she was 4 month old! If I nurse her she would fall back to sleep in about 5-10 minutes, but then would wake up again from somewhere in between 30 minutes to 1 hour. She also wakes up frequently during naps, like every 15 minutes, and I have to either nurse her or tap her back to sleep.

Lately she wakes up more than usual. I understand she might be teething, and I give her infant motrin before bed. But it’s not helping. She’s also on prevacid (15mg at night) for reflux. I’ve ruled out every possible reasons for her wakings, but still can’t find out what’s wrong with her. Her pediatrician doesn’t know either:(

ANyone with same situation who can shred some lights on me? I haven’t had a straight 2 hours sleep since she was born. And any sleep I’ve had are so interruptive that I don’t get any rest from it. ANy help is greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

We had the same situation. For us, it was uncontrolled reflux. 15mg od prevacid is low for a baby her age, so perhaps she’s still not comfortable. we tried everything. I hate to say that it went on for well over a year. At some point I moved her to my bed and did co-sleeping, which was the only thing that kept me sane. She still woke up MANY MANY times a night. Then just before she turned 2 I think I moved her to a bed, still woke, about 3+ times a night. She started to sleep much more normally when she outgrew her reflux, which was closer to age 3.

I know that sounds depressing, but I think the key is getting the relux pain under control with good meds before bad habits can start.

[hellbennt]

any chance she’s getting ANY milk protein from somewhere?
as a hidden ingredient in something?

[Anonymous]

Lori,

It’s weird but I do think of you when dealing with my DD. At least you give me the comfort that I’m not the only one with no sleep for this long. It’s tough and to be honest, I don’t know if I can still be sane after 2 yrs of this.

We went to see a Pedi GI and he suggested reducing prevacid to 15mg once a day. But I didn’t listen and continue to give her 15 mg twice a day as prescribed by her pediatrician. So, I’m not sure if she’s willing to increase her dosage. I will ask. Her eating is getting a little better, although some days are just still horrible. She refuses solid still, and I’m sure it’s reflux related. I cosleep with her but still, it doesnt really make a difference in her wakings. It only help me rest a little more instead of walking to her crib. I know it sounds depressing but I really wish this time will pass soon..although I dont want her to grow up too fast. It’s so complicated:(

Laura,

I’m very careful with my diet. I dont think I’ve ate any thing with milk protein. I’m at a lost, I really don’t know what else I can do.

[Anonymous]

Kristie, I didn’t realize that she’s on 30mg a day. That’s a good dose, so makes me think like Laura that maybe it’s allergy/intolerance related. I’d also try to check her diet. The fact that she’s refusing solids at 9 months and still having bad feeding days means that something still isn’t right, even if it’s a feeding aversion. If she hasn’t started feeding therapy yet, that’s something that you might want to consider. About the co-sleeping, I know it’s not the answer, but like you said, at least you can get a bit of rest. The problem for us was that she woke because of the reflux, and then we went to her, and that became our pattern. I never felt that I could sleep train her at all because she was in pain, and so I went to her. So at some point, that was what we did. I couldn’t figure out when she needed me, and she screamed bloody murder and vomitted everywhere at the slightest cry on a nightly basis, so I just kept going to her. When she got older, and once she could talk especially, it became much easier, and even though she was a bad sleeper, we were able to work on things a bit more. For Hailey, things really started to turn around in general when she was about 20 months old. We found out that her ears were totally full of fluid and that she had a severe hearing loss as a result. Almost immediately after getting ear tubes, she actually started to enjoy eating a bit more, and moreover, wanted her bottle when she saw it (and this was a kid who HATED food/liquid up until then), so I’m not sure what swithed on for her.

When I started out with these forums Hailey was around 4 months old. There was someone on the boards who was still dealing with things at age 3, and my heart sank. I kept thinking that it would be us, and how would I deal with it, that I couldn’t cope for so long. BUT, we were really a strange case. Most people on this board, even people who had kids with feeding problems or non-sleepers, were past all this by a year. Some were dealing with it a bit longer, and a few for a longer time, but I tell you, that things do gradually get better and easier and that you forget that it ever was real.

I remember wishing that it would all pass, and feeling that I’d been robbed of what was supposed to be a special time. But sometimes you get a raw deal.

If you’re sure that you’re careful with your diet and not sure what else to do, I’d try feeding therapy, and then go on to more testing, like an endoscopy with biopsies. That can also offer some insight into the situation.

Hang in there and try to find some time for yourself. I know how exhausting it can be! And don’t listen to people who blame you for her not sleeping- I remember people saying that hailey was just spoiled, or that I just needed to let her cry it out. Those people didn’t get it. HUGS!

[Anonymous]

s&h’s mum wrote: Kristie, I didn’t realize that she’s on 30mg a day.  That’s a good dose, so makes me think like Laura that maybe it’s allergy/intolerance related.  I’d also try to check her diet.  The fact that she’s refusing solids at 9 months and still having bad feeding days means that something still isn’t right, even if it’s a feeding aversion.  If she hasn’t started feeding therapy yet, that’s something that you might want to consider.  About the co-sleeping, I know it’s not the answer, but like you said, at least you can get a bit of rest.   The problem for us was that she woke because of the reflux, and then we went to her, and that became our pattern.  I never felt that I could sleep train her at all because she was in pain, and so I went to her.  So at some point, that was what we did.  I couldn’t figure out when she needed me, and she screamed bloody murder and vomitted everywhere at the slightest cry on a nightly basis, so I just kept going to her.  When she got older, and once she could talk especially, it became much easier, and even though she was a bad sleeper, we were able to work on things a bit more.  For Hailey, things really started to turn around in general when she was about 20 months old.  We found out that her ears were totally full of fluid and that she  had a severe hearing loss as a result.  Almost immediately after getting ear tubes, she actually started to enjoy eating a bit more, and moreover, wanted her bottle when she saw it (and this was a kid who HATED food/liquid up until then), so I’m not sure what swithed on for her.  

When I started out with these forums Hailey was around 4 months old.  There was someone on the boards who was still dealing with things at age 3, and my heart sank.  I kept thinking that it would be us, and how would I deal with it, that I couldn’t cope for so long.  BUT, we were really a strange case.  Most people on this board, even people who had kids with feeding problems or non-sleepers, were past all this by a year.  Some were dealing with it a bit longer, and a few for a longer time, but I tell you, that things do gradually get better and easier and that you forget that it ever was real.  

I remember wishing that it would all pass, and feeling that I’d been robbed of what was supposed to be a special time.  But sometimes you get a raw deal.  

If you’re sure that you’re careful with your diet and not sure what else to do, I’d try feeding therapy, and then go on to more testing, like an endoscopy with biopsies.   That can also offer some insight into the situation.

Hang in there and try to find some time for yourself.  I know how exhausting it can be!  And don’t listen to people who blame you for her not sleeping- I remember people saying that hailey was just spoiled, or that I just needed to let her cry it out.  Those people didn’t get it.  HUGS!

Lori,

My situation with sleep training is exactly like yours. It’s like reading my own story. And yes, I hate it when people say “your daughter is spoiled, you need to do the CIO method”. What do they know the sorrows we’re going through and they sound as if it’s easy as a piece of cake.

Anyway, our 9 month check up is in 2 weeks, and this time I’m going to a different pediatrician. I will talk to him about her refusing solid still. Hopefully he can recommend something helpful.

Thank you for your support all these times. I know was not easy for you and I do not wish that upon anyone. I know it’s going to be a tough ride, but like you said, sometimes we just get a raw deal.

[Anonymous]

Chiming in a bit late. I rocked my son to sleep for naps and bedtime until he was 16 months old. He took a middle of the night bottle until he was 10 months old. People thought I was crazy. I did what worked until it didn’t work… he did however wake up pretty much until I stopped rocking him to sleep. I didn’t however stop rocking him to sleep until we were off meds and I knew he wasn’t in pain. I just couldn’t stand to hear him cry… but the night I got fed up with him “playing” while I tried to get him to sleep and I put him in his crib, he didn’t make a peep… took 2hrs to fall asleep.. but no crying which made me “have” to continue it. I remember keeping a journal at one point with how many times he woke up at night and it was upwards of 15-20 times sometimes… sleep is so precious and when we don’t have that everything gets magnified due to lack of sleep. hang in there!

[Author]

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