NG will not sleep through the night. She just screams and screams and cries and cries about every hour on the hour. This is a relatively new development although also a recurring one. She had been sleeping through the night so soundly and so long that she'd soak through her diaper by morning.
Last night, I was totally in the "let's ignore her and see if she settles down" mode but no, she kept screaming and crying. So after a few quick pacifier pop-ins, I finally lifted her out of her crib and rocked her, but she was already looking around for her bottle. Am I starving my child or is this yet another growth spurt that seems to be used to explain every odd behavior? With all her growth spurts, one would think she'd be 6 foot 7 by now.
So I fed her a bottle, and she just sucked down 5 oz in seconds like it was a mere drop. Then I rocked her some more and put her back down in her crib. And she rolled over, sat up and screamed and screamed.
Then G. came in and announced that NG needed a diaper change. I told him he could do it because I didn't want to battle her corkscrew turns and screams when I tried to hold her down so she wouldn't roll off her diaper and pee everywhere. He proceeded to change her. And she proceeded to do her skillfull corkscrew turn and pee all over the bottom blanket on her crib so we had to change that.
She also peed all over her jammies (I use "jammies" loosely since we still let her sleep in her clothes because jammies are such a pain in the butt). I changed her into dry clothes and handed her to G. He put her down and voila! Quiet baby. Finally. At 4:30am.
We're hoping this is a sign of intelligence because we're running out of ideas and find comfort somehow in thinking our baby is a genius. We, on the other hand, are once again sleep deprived.
It's possible that her higher level of activity due to increased mobility has pushed up her calorie needs dramatically. Could you add some high-protein, high calorie solid food to her diet? It would be ideal if she could feed some of it to herself because spoon feeding is so slow and it can make you feel a little crazy when you realize how many hours a day you are spending feeding a baby. I can't make specific suggestions because I'm not sure what kind of diet restrictions you are following with her but almost anything that you think is OK for her to eat can be reduced to crumbs or mush by hand or in a grinder or with a grater. If her weight relative to her height is a little low, she will need to eat a lot for a couple of weeks to catch up. When her weight is right and her intake is matching her exertion level and she's not feeling so hungry, she should go back to sleeping all night. At least, that was our experience. Good luck!
Posted by: Cathy | March 26, 2007 at 01:13 PM
I have been sleep deprived for the past 9 months. My daughter has never slept through the night consistently.
Not that it helps, but periodically my baby will also wake up at ungodly hours and stay wake screaming. Within a few days, she goes back to waking once or twice per night.
I hope things improve quickly.
Posted by: christy | March 26, 2007 at 03:41 PM
Just found the following on a hospital Web site:
"When they are around 9 months old, some babies begin waking up again at night. They may be practicing standing or they may realize that they can call for their parents. If your baby begins to wake up at night, do not start any habits now that you don't want to continue for months. Just talk to your baby quietly and remind him or her that it is nighttime. Do not feed, pick up, hold or rock your baby, unless you are ready to continue the routine for the next few months."
Oh oh...
Posted by: aliza at babyfruit | March 26, 2007 at 08:34 PM
Remember the above advice with the substitution of, when your child becomes afraid of the dark do not let them beginning sleeping with you unless you are ready to continue this practice. Remember to have G build a "monster trapper" to rid NG's room of scarry things in the night.
Also at her age now she will wake up more often when she is wet, uncomfortable or just plain bored. Their sleep pattern is starting to change. So it is very, very important that you have her nighttime pattern consistent and bedtime is the same time each night. BBB - bath, book, bed. Carrying this through the toddler years so they know what to expect and their is no fight when preschool and kindergarten starts.
Posted by: Kat | March 27, 2007 at 03:51 AM
Sounds like the 8-9 month developmental spurt (as read on Ask Moxie). I am so sorry this is so miserable for you! Babies are hard. Right now I'm exhausted due to my baby's first tooth coming in. She's crying and fussing all the time. I am sympathetic, but dear god, the crying.
Diaper changes at our house are also pretty difficult right now. And there's lots of peeing on the changing table. Ugh.
It'll get better eventually!
Posted by: Eva | March 27, 2007 at 05:24 AM
We are going through the exact same thing over at The Unachievable Double Lines. Both my twins are waking up on the hour all night long - and guess what - we are picking them up, changing their diapers - doing everything they say not to. I would love to see one of the hospital experts listen to their child wail at 3 am every night and not do anything to try and get them back to sleep! If it is any consolation - you are not alone!!
Posted by: caroline | March 27, 2007 at 11:44 AM
Crying babies in the middle of the night can push you over the edge. I feel for you. Two thoughts... Definitely consider teething. We used Humpreys Teething Tabs, which are homopathic and miraculous. Also you might try swaddling. My daughter liked to be wrapped up when she was little and then didn't want it and then around nine months it really relaxed her again. For late night crying we would do the "burrito wrap" in a flannel baby blanket, give her the teething tabs plus a bottle and I would kick back in our recliner and hold her and we would be able to both go back to sleep. I hope out of all the comments some combination will help out.
Posted by: Mo VanWalleghan | March 27, 2007 at 01:36 PM
Wow, it's good to hear I'm not the only one! My daughter is 11 months, and has been doing that same thing for about 2 months now. Why do they think 4am is a great time to wake up screaming and then HAVE to be held in order to fall back asleep??? Marissa has been sleeping in the crook of my arm in our bed waaaay too much, but hey, I need my sleep!
Posted by: Stacy | March 27, 2007 at 01:47 PM
Good news or bad news? AJ screamed for the month of December and I thought I would lose my mind. Then finally 2 teeth popped through (because all baby inflictions apparently are caused by teething!!!) but honestly once they came through he went right back to sleep. We use CAMILIA, another homeopathic teething remedy, which in fact we use for most calming instances now. I love camilia. I think it is magic. I hope Noa sleeps for you, but just know that there really is a return to sleep before too long - but I do recall living through it was hell.
Posted by: Jodi | March 28, 2007 at 03:11 AM
At 9 months Maddie went through the same thing. This is an age where they go through a growth spurt (could be why NG's hungry), reach developmental milestones and show more and more separation anxiety, plus there's also teething! Oh man. Poor kiddos. For the teething we also use Camillia (homeopathic drops made by Boiron) and there's also the Hylands teething tables which have the same components as Camillia. On super bad days we do have to give her Motrin or Tylenol. Hang in there. For us this phase only lasted about 3 weeks and she's back to sleeping through the night (we do have a fussy day here and there, but the majority of the time it's all good!).
Posted by: kat | March 28, 2007 at 05:48 PM