Help, I'm desperate. My 7mth DD won't sleep

24 years ago

My daughter stopped sleeping through the night just after Christmas and I don't know what to do. She will fight going to sleep and within an hour is up screaming. We get her back down and she is up every 3-4 hrs plus she moans when she is asleep. She has started flipping around in her crib like a fish when she used to sleep so calmly in one place. I've tried letting her cry herself back to sleep but it doesn't seem to work. Since I'm usually the one who gets up my husband has been trying to calm her without feeding. Could this be teething? Result of the congestion she has? When she got her first 2 teeth we hardly noticed any change in her sleep patterns. We have tried changing her bedtime feeding to later but that hasn't helped. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm at my wits end. I don't function well on only 5 hrs of sleep. Thanks

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Comments (4)

Bugaboo
24 years ago
My DS did this at eight months when his two front teeth started to come in. There were many nights that I would be waking up every hour and a half to comfort him. Now that they are though he is better but still wakes some nights once or twice.
Have you tried giving some tylenol in the evening before bed?
Karla_NE
24 years ago
I know when my DD has congestion that she does not sleep well. She rolls around a lot and sometimes fusses in her sleep. Teeth can make them not sleep well too. Check her mouth with your finger and look in there to see if you can see any teeth coming in. If they are still below the surface but trying to break through, the gum gets thinner in that spot, almost clear, and you will gradually see the white of the tooth below the surface. Other signs of teething are lots of drooling, biting on everything, low grade fever.

If she is acting strange at all during the day, such as not eating as well or being fussy, you may want to get her checked out at the doctor to make sure she does not have an ear infection or something else. Ear infections are notorious for causing sleep problems because as soon as they lay down they feel a lot more pressure in their ears. Ear infections very commonly come with or after an upper respitory infection. You mentioned your DD has had congestion, so it is a thought. If her snot has been yellowish or greenish at all, she could have a sinus infection.

Keep us posted.
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amygdala
24 years ago
If you're in doubt, tape an 'episode' and show it to your doctor. Sleep disturbances can be caused by a lot of things. Flipping around, like a fish when asleep doesn't sound 'normal' and it does sound like it might be worth mentioning to your pediatrician.

Infantile spasms might cause that kind of thing. Characteristically, the baby would alternate between flexing and extending at the neck (so their head is kind of bobbing) or at the waist (so their whole body is kind of into it, back and forth just flexing and extending). That might look like 'flopping around like a fish' especially when the baby was tired, going into or coming out of sleep. This page has a good description.
http://www.epinet.org.au/info/infantile.html

if that's it, then be careful not to panic because of all the different causes some are very severe, and some a lot less so but the thing is to get medical treatment because seizure conditions need good management as soon as possible to avoid or minimize any significant developmental delay that could occur (if your baby had been normal until this symptom at 7 months, then odds are they don't have one of the more severe causes)
lcblcb
18 years ago
Hi - I know this is an old thread, and all the parents above are now sleeping soundly (hooray!) but in case anyone checks in and wants another sleep solution TONIGHT... My husband recorded some great white noise/ heartbeat/ ambient sounds that are working wonders with our 4 month old for nap and night sleep. You can download them as FREE mp3s at:
http://cantonbecker.com/music/white-noise-sleep-sounds
This is NOT an ad, just a friendly family -
Good luck to all sleepy parents.

Here is a link that might be useful: Download free white noise mp3s

Help, I'm desperate. My 7mth DD won't sleep

Comments (4)

Bugaboo

Karla_NE

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amygdala

lcblcb

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