One of my sons has recently started waking up from naps in a very, very bad mood. He wakes up screaming, crying, and kicking and is inconsolable. He went through this a month ago and I just relized is was when he had an ear infection. He currently has a cold and has been waking up throwing a fit the last few days. I'm wondering if this could be a symptom of an ear infection, or just a little boy who needs a longer nap!?!
My 2 1/2 is cranky too sometimes after naps... in his case it's usually that he woke up before he was ready to and is still tired. I will usually hold him for awhile until he finishes waking up or I'll lay down with him. Sometimes if I'm lucky he'll go back to sleep!
V.
Im sure you have checked if he had a fever. When my daughter is sick her fever will spike before bed and when she wakes up. She would wake up crying too. Maybe give him some motrin before the nap.
If my daughter is startled away by anything...like our dog barking, a door slamming, ear or tooth pain, (or me sneaking in the check on her) etc...she wakes up like a BEAR! I would second trying a bit of Motrin or Tylenol before the nap for a couple days and see if it helps.
Maybe also try a white noise machine or a CD on repeat mode to keep noises to a minimum outside the room.
I'll be reading the responses you get too!!!
I would double check on the ear infection. AND I would recommend taking him to an ENT instead of the pediatrician...here's why...my son used to be the same way...we didn't get an onslaught of ear infections (in fact only had 1 or 2) but by the time he was 3 we were seeing severe speech delays...I came to find out from a speech therapist that he thought Sean had fluid on his ears and probably couldn't hear half of what we were saying to him (or at least everything sounded like it was underwater). In addition, it would create a pressure on his eardrums AND affect is ability to chew (because that would put pressure in the same area) and thus cause pain.
I HAD NO IDEA!!! It completely slipped through the cracks with the pedictrician. ONLY an ENT can perform the hearing test needed to see if this may be the problem with your son. It is is, they will probably recommend tubes (which is an easy outpatient surgery) and you will see quite a difference.
I hope you have a simple problem that is easily remedied but I just wanted to tell you mine so you don't go through 3 years of heartache like I did. If you are in the KC area I highly recommend Dr. Pamela Nicklaus at Children's Mercy...she's awesome!
I would check about the ear infection if he had the same symptoms last time. Other wise my 2 1/2 y/o rarely takes naps, but when he does sometimes he wakes up crying & screaming. I go & try to comfort him, but he just wants to be left alone to calm down. Then he comes out & we cuddle for a while.
God Bless!
