easybabylife-logo

My 11 Month Old Wakes Up Screaming

by Anonymous

My daughter just turned 11 months. Lately she has been waking up in the middle of night SCREAMING. Even when I pick her up, she is still screaming. She has screamed so loud and hard that I have considered taking her to the hospital. She already takes pepcid, mylanta and motrin before bed, and she has been doing waking up for 6 months or so.

She has slept through the night without making a peep on many occasions, but wakes up more often than not. Since she has been doing this for so many months, we have tried to sleep train her and let her cry it out, which has worked, but then a few nights later or so, she is back to screaming. I wouldn't be so bothered by it if she just woke up and went back to sleep, but she even cries in my arms or in my bed. I've seen her fall asleep on me and wake up screaming.

She has a bedtime routine, and goes to sleep in her crib on her own, awake, each night. She also goes to sleep on her own for naps. I have taken her to the doctor about 8 times, convinced she had an ear infection after these types of nights and she never has anything wrong with her. She is already on a special formula (alimentum) although at 10 months she was switched to a sensitive similac formula to try to get her ready for milk. I would normally think it was a change in formula that is affecting her, but she acted this way on alimentum as well.

I truly believe there is something bothering her and I nor the doctors can figure it out. Any thoughts?

Thanks








Baby Help Line Response:

Hi mom!

You seem to be having a tough time! Two possible reasons that come to my mind are acid reflux and night terror. Has your daughter been checked for reflux? That could be a reason why she wakes up crying, i.e. if stomach acids are giving her heartburn. Usually babies tend to grow out of reflux at around 1 year old, but not all do. Try elevating the crib some 30 degrees to see it it helps. If it does, you should definitely discuss this possibility with a doctor.

While night terror usually occurs for babies older than 1 year, may be that could be something your daughter has. If your baby seems to still be asleep or at least doesn’t recognise you and is very hard to console, it could be night terror. One of our kids had that for a couple of months at around 1,5 years old. It is quite scary, but the child is not awake and doesn’t remember the episode in the morning.

If you think it might be night terror, don’t try to wake her up. Just be there for her, talk to her gently, snuggle her and wait for the terror to pass. If it comes on very regular times at night, you can try waking her up about 15 minutes before every night for a week to break the “habit”. This might make the terror go away.

A third possible reason could be some food allergy, if your baby seems to have tummy pain and is very gassy.

Those were a few ideas… But I’m not a doctor and as a MOM I think you’re doing the right thing by not giving up. Talk to another doctor for a second opinion!

I wish you good luck! (And if you find out what’s wrong, I’d love to hear from you!)

/Paula







The information provided on this site is not intended nor recommended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care professional regarding any medical condition or treatment. Nothing contained on this site is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.

Comments for
My 11 Month Old Wakes Up Screaming

Click here to add your own comments

Mar 25, 2008
Homeopathic colic tabs
by: Anonymous




I dont know why but I will say that our 11 month old suddenly started screaming like all out fierce which was unusual to say the least as he was always able to go to sleep easily.

Having ruled out everything else we opted to try Highlands colic tabs, these area miracle, you get them at food coops they are homepoathic, but we are not a family that usually uses homoeopathic remedies so this was different for us.

You don't touch the tab as it is small and they say it diminishes its potencey, you shake 2-3 on a small baby spoon and put some water over the tabs to help disolve them, then wait 15 mins and repeat , we get our son to lay down in his crib give him all his comfort iems and then let him cry for a few in 15 mins we come back and give him another round, we try not to pick him but just keep saying no its night night time, take some medicine, by the third round he passes out.

This has been the only thing to work for us, and we are finally getting some sleep again. I do not know what caused this sudden crying to begin with but I can tell you this really worked for us!!

Good Luck!

Jun 08, 2008
You sound just like us!
by: Linda

Wow, I thought I was reading about myself! This so sounds like our daughter who is 13 months old now and is STILL screaming all night long! She was put on Prevacid for silent reflux at a few months old but nothing has helped! I am so stressed out and afraid something is terribly wrong! if you ever find anything that works please email me at suedollz@hotmail.com!

Click here to add your own comments




Want More Baby Tips?

FREE Baby Care Ezine
Enter your E-mail Address

Enter your First Name

Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you
Have An Easy Baby Life!.
For more information about the ezine, click here.

NEW at Easy Baby Life!


We Recommend...






XML RSS
What is this?
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Add to Google



Google
 
| Home | Contact | Share this site | About us | Disclaimer | Privacy policy |

Copyright© 2006-2008. All rights reserved Easybabylife.com. Please review our disclaimer before using this site.