10 month old waking at night and crying

[Briggsy]

Hi, our 10 month old Iris has suddenly started waking 1-2 times during the night and crying. At first we tried to ignore this, but it was then also waking the kids, so we have to give in and get up to her. Until recently she had been fine sleeping in her own bed, in a gated laundry near our bedroom and she has no problem going to bed when we do. On a bad night it can take 30 minutes for her to settle back down and stop crying, but we have had a little success with putting her blanket over her again the last few nights. The laundry has a doggy door, so she's free to come and go and doesn't seem to be a toilet issue and she goes for 2 walks a day.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

I would suggest giving her lots of play time to get all her energy out and get tired from playing right before bed.
Does she have a stuffed toy that she can’t tear to sleep with?
What’s her feeding schedule? When my Frenchie was a pup he would sometimes wake up wanting some food or a snack.
What is feeding schedule?
What do you feed?

Keep me posted!

 

[Briggsy]

Hi Rusty's Owner,

Thanks for the reply.

Getting all of her energy out is a constant battle, as she'd happily play for 3-4 hours a day! The breeder did let us know that her mum will run around all day long and not slow down.

She has a few toys in her bed with her at night, but none of them would worry her if they weren't there.

She generally has breakfast between 7-7:30 after a walk and then dinner between 6-7 with a walk either before or after. She has dried food, kangaroo, a sardine and greek yoghurt for breakfast and then a mince and vegetable mix for dinner, but treats when we do reward based activities.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Rusty was like that off an on with waking up in middle of the night if he didn’t burn off all his energy before bed. I ended up playing with him around 7pm if we went to bed around 9 or 10 but the thing that also helped other than that was to not let him sleep after 7 pm so he wouldn’t ruin his sleep and be up all night. That really worked then we also gave him a snack 1 he before bed so would go to bed very tired and not get hungry in the middle of the night.
Rusty is almost 3 years now so all this was when he was a pup. He definitely liked having a toy to curl up with and sleep with even though his bed is next to my bed. But all those helped, we still have to give him a snack before bed other wise he vomits foam in the morning before breakfast due to empty stomach, so he still gets breakfast, dinner and the snack before bed.

Your pup might be waking up in the middle of the night crying cause he is hungry maybe? I know this is common with Frenchies, you can try maybe breakfast, dinner a bit earlier, and the small snack before bed after all his energy is burned off from playing.

Maybe try not to let him sleep a few hours before bed when he can be playing to tire himself out more so he sleeps better.

These all helped Rusty when he was a pup.
I know it can be frustrating when they wake up in the middle of the night when your trying to sleep.

Hope he starts sleeping better thru the night!

Keep me updated😊

 

[Cbrugs]

My female bulldog used to be fine sleeping by herself downstairs and then one day she wasn’t having it. So I kicked my male bulldog out of bed so he’s downstairs with her and she’s fine.

Can you try putting a shirt Rolf yours with her so she has your scent nearby?

 

[2bullymama]

As Citty suggested… give her a dirty t-shirt with your scent on it, they may help.

 

[Briggsy]

We started giving her a small bed time snack like Rusty's Owner suggested, just a handful of dry food and that seems to have done the trick, as she's slept passed 6am each of the last 4 days and i even had to wake her for our usual 6:30am today. Hopefully this continues and than you all for the suggestions.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

We started giving her a small bed time snack like Rusty's Owner suggested, just a handful of dry food and that seems to have done the trick, as she's slept passed 6am each of the last 4 days and i even had to wake her for our usual 6:30am today. Hopefully this continues and than you all for the suggestions.

That’s awesome I’m glad it helped her sleep thru the night! Hope she continues to sleep thru the night with the snack before bed! Keep us updated😊