# 11 month old waking every 15-30 minutes



## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

No, I'm not exaggerating! DD hasn't been the greatest sleeper since about 6 months but it's getting crazy. She was waking once an hour up until she got a cold about 3 weeks ago and since then it's pretty much every 30 minutes then up to every 15 minutes from about 4am. Her cold has been gone for over a week. She cut 2 bottom molars during that time. Eep. Poor little thing. She is super happy and content during the day. Napping fairly well. Might be trying to walk soonish (in the next month maybe?).

The reason I'm asking for advice/suggestions is because she's not just waking up and nursing. She wakes up crying out and that seems to be what wakes her. Nothing except nursing will get her back to sleep...and it's usually only nursing for about 1 minute and she's back out. Even when she was waking every hour she wouldn't cry...just wiggle beside me (we bed share - have since birth) until I nurse her. Does teething really cause this much disruption for this long?! I know she has a lot of trouble with teething but this seems really, really extreme.

I'm not considering nightweaning at this point. We do have a crib in our room but she doesn't sleep longer than one sleep cycle in it (30-45 minutes). I don't even mind waking up that much except that I can't help think it's something more now than just regular comfort nursing. And yeah, I'm REALLY tired all the time. Luckily I'm still on mat. leave and have no other kiddos.

Should I look into allergies? If yes, how do they test food allergies on infants?


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## Knitting Mama (Jan 24, 2010)

It's possible that it could be other developmental stuff besides teeth too. Is she working on crawling or walking, etc?


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## McGucks (Nov 27, 2010)

I missed your post and basically just wrote the same thing! You've got it worse than I, though, because our baby does finally decide it's nighty night after 11 p.m or so. He does the same thing as what you said--about 80% of the time, nothing other than nursing for a very short period of time will get him back to sleep. Ditto on the bedshare and no plans to cut night nursing here either. Guess we'll see what we hear back! We looked into allergy testing also, but were told that unless symptoms were severe (which his aren't--just whopping congestion and runny nose, which we can take care of with saline spray and Benedryl when absolutely necessary), testing would be postponed until he was much older. Our fella has two top and two bottom teeth, by the way. This too shall pass this too shall pass, right?


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## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

She may be getting ready to walk. She's working on it for sure but I didn't think she was that close...maybe by her first birthday?? Sigh, I don't know. As I said, teething has always been a big issue for her....she has 10 already but didn't start until 6 months....so they've come in fast and furious. It just seems extreme for teething.

I hope it does pass, *caedanmomma*!! I'm sorry you're experiencing something similar. Most days I can handle it but I've had 3 nights with no more than 4-5 hours sleep in total...and even that is very disrupted.


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## flavorfull1 (Jun 7, 2009)

Yes and this is so frustrating! Not to mention exhausting! We had the up every 15-30 min with maybe one or two 45 min stretches from 3.5 months to 10.5 months.....seriously. I can count on one hand how many days I got one two hour stretch. It really seemed like he was learning so much so fast that he just couldn't sleep. He seems to figure out what he is learning in his sleep. He is very active, like crawling in the bed in his sleep. We co-sleep too and so it wasn't a huge deal to just roll over and nurse him for like two min and then he was back asleep. I did get sooooo tired though and really worried something was wrong, like did he have an ear infection, was the room to hot/cold, not enough space, blah blah blah. Then, magically, this week he has started sttn. I am not kidding. The things I changed: no caffeine (before I had one cup of weak tea in the morning), bamboo pajamas (kicky pants), and just a few things that were obvious night time routines (had been doing this for a month and a half). My opinion, it was just a developmental thing like sitting up, he had to just get to the place that he could sleep longer and before it just wasn't going to happen. So, hugs, and I hope it makes sense soon. I know how overwhelming or time consuming the trying to figure it out process can be.


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## Tattooed Hand (Mar 31, 2009)

I just wanted to chime in that DD spent all summer and fall teething/learning to crawl and walk. It sucked. She woke up every 30-120 minutes all night long for 5 months. And you know what, nothing helped. Once she figured out how to walk, things got better. She's cutting molars and some nights we give her ibuprophen, but some nights that doesn't do anything either. But still, these days I get at least a 4-6 hour stretch a night and the rest is in 1-3 hour bits. You're lucky she goes back to sleep. For a couple of months, she would be awake for up to an hour or two once or twice a night. Get as much sleep as you can, however you can and forgive yourself for not getting anything else done...some babies just are really affected by teething and milestones. My DD has allergies, but she's had them since day 1, so I would be surprised, unless something really drastic has changed and there are other symptoms besides sleep disruption (like bloody or mucusy poop, skin rashes, ezcema, etc) if it were due to allergies.

Hang in there, mama. It's SO hard to be sleep deprived.


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## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

It does help to hear I'm not the only one. I guess deep down I know it will get better but when you're sleep deprived it's so easy to get caught up in feeling SO desperate to find a reason or a solution. *sigh* Last night was the same, one 1.5 hour stretch and the rest 15-30 minutes. My DP gets up with DD so I can get an hour or two in the morning but it's the strangest thing...I also have insomnia when I try to sleep alone!! I've NEVER had insomnia (well, except towards the end of my pregnancy).

I hope I make it through the holidays without passing out on someone's christmas fruit cake or something.


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## Knitting Mama (Jan 24, 2010)

I am the same way with the insomnia. It's next to impossible for me to sleep without Cecilia there sleeping with me. The only time I can do it is if I am still asleep when my husband takes her out of the bed.


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## tanyalynn (Jun 5, 2005)

When my kids slept this badly, the cause was physical, not just developmental leaps, but it was things I should start problem-solving for. A few visits to our chiro were very helpful, we had food intolerances too and for quite a few babies, it seems like eliminating the foods they're intolerant of helped with sleep (didn't help much for us, but had other benefits).


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## carmen358 (Jul 5, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tanyalynn*
> 
> When my kids slept this badly, the cause was physical, not just developmental leaps, but it was things I should start problem-solving for. A few visits to our chiro were very helpful, we had food intolerances too and for quite a few babies, it seems like eliminating the foods they're intolerant of helped with sleep (didn't help much for us, but had other benefits).


We tried the chiro about a week ago. The chiro I've been going to for years (very gentle technique) actually has tons of experience working with babies. He made an adjustment around her digestive area and said she was doing great. He said that unless there was a serious problem or injury that she shouldn't need an more adjustments for a year or longer.

I toss around the idea of trying an elimination diet for myself and her...I did it early on because DD was gassy (no reflux though) but it didn't seem to really help.


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## BathrobeGoddess (Nov 19, 2001)

Mved to FBNP


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## Tmickle (Dec 10, 2010)

It is so comforting to hear that other people struggle with this issue. My son is 11 months old and never sleeps more than an hour or two in a stretch. The only way I can get him to nap is if I let him sleep on my lap. All night long, he wakes up and wants to nurse just a few minutes and goes back to sleep (sometimes!). It is exhausting and discouraging when it feels like everyone else's baby in the whole world has been sleeping through the night for months now. Of course, most of them are sleep training and I really don't want to do that. I read "The No-Cry Sleep Solution", but it just seems like so much work. I just keep hoping we'll get beyond this soon!


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