9 month sleep regression? Long

KCKappa

I hear there's a 9 month sleep regression - and boy do we seem to be in it! Has anyone else gone through this? When did it get better? I'd be so grateful to hear anyone's experiences. Here's our sitch:

DD has never been a great sleeper, but from 5 months to 8 months she nursed to sleep easily and slept in her crib from 7 to 7ish with 2-3 wakings each night, during which she always nursed back to sleep within 10-15 minutes each time. Worked for me! The couple of nights she woke more frequently or wouldn't go back to sleep easily with nursing, it turned out she had ear infections. 

Her latest ear infection was in early December when she was 8 months old and took 21 days of different antibiotics to clear up, which meant 21 nights of horrific sleep. We're talking up every 45 minutes, won't go back to sleep with nursing, rocking, walking, bedsharing, etc. She was sick, so we expected that. We were also traveling for the holidays part of that time, so we expected her sleep to suffer a bit while we were staying with family. For about a week, we spent part of each night bedsharing just so everyone could get some kind of rest. But finally the ear infection cleared up and the travels were over a few weeks ago.

For the first week home it looked like she was getting back into her old routine now that she was back in her own crib and waking less and less each night. I think we had a night that she woke just twice!... and then it all fell apart again. We're back to waking every 45 minutes, won't stay asleep when you lay her down, etc. I can't figure out why, other than just to blame her age I guess? We even thought the ear infection might have come back and took her to the dr., but she pronounced DD perfectly healthy. 

I'm sure DD got used to sleeping with us... but then why did she sleep fine in her crib for the first week home? And why won't she sleep even if we do try to bedshare all night? Ugh. I'm so tired. And worried I'm screwing up her ability to sleep by not sleep-training like every other momma I know IRL. But this too shall pass, right?

jcsumm0

Do you think she's teething?  DD's sleep was all jacked up this week.  Last night I gave her Hyland's teething tablets before bed and her tooth *just* started to come through and she only woke once last night.  The previous night she woke 6 or 7 times.

Also, I've found DD's sleep is really easily messed up when she's cold, so we do a space heater in her room.  Her dr actually recommended it and it is cool to the touch, shuts off if it is knocked over.  We got it at Target.

Hope you find something that works soon!

KCKappa

It's possible she's teething, but she already has all four top incisors and all four bottom incisors - so I was under the impression the next ones (whether it's the eye teeth or first year molars) might not come in for a few more months. Either way, I've tried giving her baby ibuprofen before bed just in case and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

We do keep her room pretty warm (around 70ish) and it hasn't been any colder than usual, so I don't think that's the cause, but maybe we'll try upping the thermostat a few degrees tonight just to see.

WildcatPrincess

9 months was awful for us, she was up a couple times a night for a couple hours each time. I think it was a combo of the wonder week and the growth spurt, but it was insane. By 10 months she was back to her one normal waking and at a year started STTN, so it is possible it's a phase that will pass