Advice/tips on Toddler Waking in the Middle of the Night

Hi,
I have a 17 month old son who was waking up in the middle of the night around 13-14 months when his molars were coming in. I started giving him motrin before bed for a week or so on his Dr's recommendation along with some orajel. That helped us. It was at the point that he would start to cry when he saw the orajel because he wanted it! It took a while for his molars to cut through but it seemed like the pain was on and off. Good luck. :)

OMG, Hi E., we've been having the same problem. Our Daughter is 17 mths. and she's been suffering real bad from her molars coming in. She's also been waking around the same time almost every night. Some nights she goes back, others screams for a long time. I'm really bad, I go and get her and we go onto the couch. She's just getting over a weird virus with really high temps and now has chest congestion so I get nervous when she cries so hard and then starts to cough. Sucker, I know. I usually give her a dose of Tylentol before she goes to bed, maybe if I give her another does when she wakes up that will help. But that still causes a bad habit for us. I know I should just let her cry but... Have you tried Motrin? We did and she was loopy, never again. Baby Orajel worked good for her too. Good luck to both of us. : )

Hi E., I would consider you one of the lucky ones. I would just let this run its course. Her brain is growing, and a lot of babies wake in the night, although most of them do not just play by themselves and then go back to sleep. My daughter was waking in the middle of the night untill she was almost 3. So honestly I would just give it time and it should pass. For the most part she seems to be a good sleeper, and I would be happy with that.

Our son did the same thing when his molars came in at 13 months...we had to take him for a drive in the middle of the night to get him to go back down. It doesn't last that long depending on how many teeth are coming in (he had all 4 at once). He did the same thing when he was about 19 months and we'd get up with him, but then he;d do that 2-3 times a night, finally we just let him cry himslef to sleep...it was HORRIBLE, but he hasn't done it since. GOOD LUCK!

K.

My son started doing waking for a couple of hours in the middle of the night at 18 months. It lasted about a month. We never did find out what was wrong (we thought it was molars, too).
Good Luck!

it could be her molars.. or it could be a stage.. try cutting back her nap a little and see if that works.. maybe only let her nap for an hour and see how it goes. if you keep letting her be, maybe she'll get bored and just put herself back to sleep..

I had the same problem with my daughter at the same age. The night waking lasted about 2 months, she was up from 2-4am EVERY night and would not put herself back to sleep. I would get up and let her play until she finally crashed out on the floor and I'd put her back to bed. I talked to my pediatrician who didn't have a whole lot to offer for suggestions only that it will pass or let her cry it out. I finally started having an active play session after her bath and put her to bed a half-hour later than normal. She's now back to sleeping through the night from 8:30-6:30ish which works for our schedule. I don't know if that helps other than to let you know you aren't alone. Best of luck!

Hi E.,

I had the same problem with my 2 year old son. He was a good baby who slept all night, but as soon as he became 18 or 19 months old, he started getting up in the middle of the night and climb out of his crib and after putting him back to bed I would also have a hard time waking him up in the morning. This went on till he was 2 and moved him into his own bed now rather than the crib and he sleeps all night. I think it might just be a stage that some children go through because I can rememeber being so tired in the day from him being up at night. Hopefully this is just a stage that your daughter is going through also and at two it will all end and you and your husband will be able to sleep through the night again.

Good Luck

D.