Sleeping in the Recliner

  On the day my baby turned a year old, something changed. E had been a pretty good sleeper. He has a bedtime routine and goes to sleep on his own. He would typically sleep through the night and wake maybe once for a bit of a drink and then go right back to bed. We liked this. Well, beginning the night of his birthday, he changed the game on us. He goes to sleep on his own, but wakes sometime between 12:30 and 3:00am. He acts like he is exhausted and wants to be asleep, but just can't get comfortable. He pitches a wild fit and only calms when we finally take him to the recliner and rock. Once we are holding him, he falls asleep almost immediately, but wallows and wakes off and on the rest of the night about every half hour. We are stumped. He doesn't have a fever. He doesn't act as if he feels bad and is perfectly normal during the day. Teething medicine didn't help. We thought perhaps it was growing pains, but Motrin didn't help. We tried different pajamas, different type of sheets, added a blanket, tried a night light, turned on the ceiling fan, and more. From 8pm until he wakes in the wee hours of the morning, he sleeps fine and everything is as normal. After he wakes that first time, the rest of the night is a circus. Since Thursday night, my husband and I have taken shifts with E and cat naps in the recliner. WHAT is going on?! If any of you have ANY advice, please share!