7 month old, wakes up in middle of the night and will cry and scream for...

[fresnofranky]

...2 hours straight before re sleeping? 7 month old, was never colicky, was on a great sleep schedule, used to sleep 10-12 hours every night there until about 2 weeks ago. we never had to give her a midnight bottle or anything. now all of the sudden she'll wake up, we'll rock her, we'll sort of hold her in her crib while we sit next to it. and she'll just lay there and scream. she's rolling around now so if we don't go in there she'll roll around and get off her back and continue to scream. she's not teething yet. we tried the bottle last night, she ate 3 ounces and then went right back to screaming. we tried letter her cry it out a few nights ago as advice from a close friend, it lasted over an hour before we eventually went back in to help her sleep. the only thing that got her to stop last night was letting her sit up on the floor and do some tummy time. but we can't do that every night between 12-2am. the next morning she'll wake up delightful as ever acting like nothing happened, and the rest of the day she'll be playful. until the night again.

what do we do?

[m1020us]

In my expreiences as a dad, we have had our kids waking in the middle of the night with Night Terrors, teething(if they are drooling and want to chew on everything, then they are teething), gas bubble....

Esteefyou,
I agree about the cry it out method, we have used it with both of my children and it has worked wonders.....cry it out method also builds on the child's independance as well as learning to soothe on their own.....the only problem here is that we only used the cry it out method when putting the child to sleep (drop in crib and run)....after they have been sleeping for a few hours and wake up, usually there is something wrong.....and many parents make tha mistake that the child is hungry and give them a bottle.....that is not why they wake up.

[Mamamia]

My Son Used To Do This Too!!
At The Same Time Every Night And It Appeared He Was Awake But He Was Actually Still Asleep.. Night Terrors They Are Called.....two Hours On The Nose These Would Last... We Just Carried Him Until He Cried Himself To Sleep

[esteefyou]

Some people would say letting the child cry it out is "child abuse" but honestly, the infant will usually fall asleep from exhaustion. It teaches them to soothe themselves which helps when they are older. If there is no problem you can find, try putting your daughter in an area where you can't hear her, and letting her tire herself out. It might be hard at first, because you feel like you are abandoning her, but I promise it's ok.

Edit: Ah sorry, I missed that explanation in the middle! I guess you could try again but I'm not sure. I hope you find a solution.

[LC]

I agree with the crying it out method, but think that there should definitely be a time limit on it. If you look things like this up in some of the pregnancy websites it will explain the times for the ages. But for a 7 month old baby.....it should not be more than 5 min. Babies sleep habits often change. More often than not they go back to what they were. Try to comfort her as much as you can, holding your child is never a bad thing because it shows them that they have support and will ultimately lead to a stronger more confident person in the end. Give her the formula or milk, wrap her all snug in a blanket and make sure you check her diaper. Check to make sure that she isn't just cold or something. Once you have made sure that absolutely nothing could be wrong is when you would want to do the cry it out method, but you let her cry and then come back after a little.....re-check things...then try it again. Don't just let a baby cry for hours at a time. If a baby keeps crying it means there is something wrong. That is their way of telling you that something is up. You could also try giving her a bath every night and possibly use the bath time baby soap and lotion. Do it right before bed because baths help to relax them and the lotion and soap have that scent that can help them sleep. Good luck!

[alicialions]

The crying it out method workds...and it doesn't hurt them...it is good for their lungs to cry and leaving them to cry themselves to sleep will teach them to comfort themselves. One hour, one night is not trying it...what you have to do is leave her ...as many hours as it takes...2 to 5 nights of it and she'll be sleeping fine.

[amunet]

There may be something physically wrong. Maybe a sleep disorder, or something that only seems to bother her at night. Take her to see the doctor and he should be able to test for a few things.

It honestly sounds like a medical problem to me. It doesn't sound like your doing anything wrong, so don't get discouraged.

[LoriC]

She may be having bad dreams. I know it sounds funny but it's true........Maybe something has scared her.....Humming to her may help too..........It's just a thought........My son is 11 and still wants to sleep in my room on the love seat.............He doesn't though......lol

[celticepiskie]

She's getting separation anxiety.

But seriously, letting your child cry until they fall unconscious due to exhaustion???

Even the most pro CIO er I've ever met says 15 mins MAX.

If she's crying that hard, she's not doing it for fun, does it look like fun for her?

Maybe she wants to sleep on her stomach, or maybe she wants a hug.

My daughter has done this for a few nights. 4 to be exact.
We go in, reassure her, hold her, and put her back.

She's just realising that you're not there, and she's scared.
Once she's reassured that you will go back to her, she'll be fine.

My daughter only woke once last night, for 5 mins.

But seriously, you cannot leave them to scream themselves unconscious, for an hour, that's just wrong.

[royalbird]

Actually, all of the sleep experts I've ever read have said that at night, there is no time limit on letting them cry it out. Around 7 months, many babies who've been sleeping all night begin to wake again because they crave your company. If you feed her and she doesn't go right back to sleep, then the issue is simply that she wants to see you. You are right to let her cry. It is hard, that's why my baby is 11 months and I still go to her at night because I can't stand the crying. I know I'm crippling her, but I don't want her wake up her brothers either.

The only other possibility is that she may have an ear infection or constipation, or something of that nature. Rarely does a baby ever do this due to teething, so I doubt that's it. And you say she's not teething, but teething is not always evident--my daughter acted cranky for weeks and I could never tell that she was getting teeth (with her brothers, it was very clear that teeth were coming in--swollen and red gums, excessive drooling, etc.) and then one day, she opened her mouth to take a bite of baby food, and I saw two teeth on the bottom poking through.

You should get the sleep book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. Very helpful. I'm still struggling with my 11-month-old but honestly, even my 2yo, 4yo and 5yo have occasional nights where they just can't or won't sleep. Welcome to parenthood.

EDIT: Night terrors usually don't begin until after the child is 2. It's very rare for a child as young as 7 months to have night terrors, and night terrors are obviously night terrors because the child never truly wakes up. I really don't think your baby has night terrors. My children have all had them, and what you described is not night terrors.