Advice please - Kailani waking at 3 am

liubride510

Kailani started sleeping 11 hours at night around 4 months old - she wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30. For some reason this last week she's been waking up at 3:00 playing in her crib for 30 minutes and then crying for someone to get her. Her diaper is not that full. I give her a bottle and sometimes she goes back to sleep and other times she fusses to play.

Anyone have ideas at to what is going on? I thought it could be because she might be cutting her top teeth but she's not waking up crying.

In addition, she's not going to bed at night very easily. She'll fall asleep on the bottle and as soon as we put her in her crib she wakes up crying. We pick her up she goes to sleep put her down and she wakes up crying. We did this four times last night until we finally decided to let her cry it out. She got so worked up after 5 minutes that she vomited (not spit-up) all over herself and crib....we had to change the sheets and give her sponge bath there was so much of it. I feel horrible. This is the third time she's vomited like this when we've let her cry instead of going in and picking her up.

Any suggestions or ideas as to what's going on. I asked her this morning what was going on and she just looked at me and smiled. I wish I had ESP.

lola808

I need advice too! This sounds like A for the past couple months. It started once he was mobile. I think he has trouble being still when he stirs and he ends up waking himself up. I also think he's more aware of being alone now and gets needy for a reassuring cuddle. His top teeth are coming in now, but thankfully that hasn't seemed to make things much worse.

He sleeps for about 12 hours, but never really slept straight through without stirring or needing a midnight feeding. Still, that was much better than now. We've gotten rid of the nighttime feedings, but he can't seem to soothe himself back to bed anymore (he'll just crawl around and pull up on the crib and cry there). This happens multiple times a night! And last night he even woke up and started playing at 2 am, which never happens. We've tried all sorts of sleep training things, but nothing's really helped yet.... I've sort of resigned myself to waiting it out!

inamra

You know, B has a bit of that going on and off too. I think it's mainly developmental milestones and separation anxiety (which lola808 mentioned), and maybe growth spurt. It may also be teething for you guys, but for us, I don't think B is gonna cut a tooth until closer to 1 yr cuz that's when MH got his first tooth (I got mine at 6 mo).

B will wake himself up sometimes cuz he's standing or sitting up in his sleep. So then, if I go in there and put him down, he'll go to bed generally. But I think he's going through a growth spurt now too because I had to nurse him last night and he's gulping as if he was starving, and even fussing for the second side and finishing up before he'd go back to sleep.

You also mentioned difficult going to sleep...which we're running into BIG time these days, especially with his naps, but also with nighttime (although I've cheated and resorted to nursing him to sleep, then gently transferring him to his crib--otherwise he stays up until midnight and that's way too late for his bedtime). For us, it's 100% separation anxiety--he cries because we generally leave him in his crib and he doesn't want to be left alone, so now we have to stay there with him and pat his back while he's falling asleep so he knows we're still there. Otherwise, he keeps lifting his head up to see if we're still there. And if he wakes up and we're not there, then he's bawling his eyes out.

I think since our LOs are around the same age, I think they're going through separation anxiety around his time, so that might be a possible reason?

liubride510

lola808:

but he can't seem to soothe himself back to bed anymore (he'll just crawl around and pull up on the crib and cry there).

This exactly!!!

MrsZiz

Well I'm totally jealous that she's been sleeping so good for so long. Bella didn't start STTN (12 hours) until 11-12 months old! She was sleeping 5 hours before that but would wake up to eat until 11 months old.... 

Anyhow, that said, is Kailani doing more than normal? Crawling, cruising, something new, feeding herself, etc. Sometimes when kids hit milestones (small or large) they tend to wake themselves up to "test drive" their new skill. When she wakes up at 3, what happens if you just leave her there and don't feed or change her? Bella usually wakes up every morning at 5-530 and talks to herself for about 30 mins then falls fast asleep again until about 7-730... Bella used to cry so hard she'd turn blue in the lips, no joke. It scared the $hit out of me! But she also learned that if she'd cry that hard, that I would do something (aka pick her up) right away, so she was training me! Stinker!

Do you have things in her crib to play with? Around 11 months Bella attached to a little stuffed pig and kept it for about 2 months until she attached to a BIG stuffed bunny that had been sitting in a chair in her room since before she was born. The bunny is almost the same height as her! Anyhow, we let her sleep with the pig and a soft crocheted blanket (plenty of holes in case she wrapped up in it). She started sleeping MUCH better after that. Now she will NOT take a nap or go to sleep without the bunny and the blanket. Does Kailani have a lovey like that? We tried putting toys in her crib during Bella's wakeful stages but instead of her playing and going back to sleep, she would play for over an hour before she wanted human interaction so we quickly figured out toys in her crib were a big no no. But each kid is different! Now when she wakes up, she cuddles and talks to her bunny...  

redshoegirl

Could be milestones like the other ladies mentioned, or teething, or, if she always wants a bottle, maybe she needs more solids during the day (it's always a big cue to me that the boys need their serving sizes increased if they start night waking - but that's just my kids and I dunno for anyone else).

You could try a toy like Sarah suggested - if she can entertain herself, it might help? On the other hand, she might find it too stimulating...we tried this with Will and Dash a few times and they simply couldn't get to sleep with toys in their cribs - they need a boring environment to sleep (especially Will - we even had to take the ceiling mobile down from above his crib because otherwise he'd lay there and chat to it even though he was exhausted). 

liubride510

I know we're extremely lucky Kai has been sleeping 11 hour stretches for four months and because of it we've become spoiled.That said ... we've had stuffies in her crib since she was 5 months old. They are at all four corners of her crib so she can feel them at night...we've always had to keep the room dark...if a night light is on she def won't go back to sleep.  She plays with them sometimesand will fall back asleep but not lately. She started crawling weeks ago but has become way more active...pulling up, she never really sits still and plays anymore.

Hmmm maybe I'll try increasing her portions at meal times and see if that helps. Maybe its a combination of everything all at once...teething, seperation anxiety, mobility plus having guests in the house for two weeks. I didn't mention that my parents were here for the holidays. So I'll continue to do what we're doing and increase meals, maybe add one of her crocheted blankets to her crib and just ride it out and hope it just a phase.

Thanks so much for all your advice and similar stories.

KShiz

liubride510:

Hmmm maybe I'll try increasing her portions at meal times and see if that helps. Maybe its a combination of everything all at once...teething, seperation anxiety, mobility plus having guests in the house for two weeks.

 I think this is a good idea. We were spoiled too, E's been a rockstar sleeper since 2.5 months.

mrspresley

my guess is the same as the other ladies'....teething, milestones, etc or possibly that she isn't getting enough solids during the day.... if it's teething/milestones then unfortunately you'll just have to ride it out   i hope she gets back to STTN again soon!