Grumpy When Wakes up from Nap

We also have a 26 month old who is a disaster post nap on many days. It seems to have helped recently that we switched him to a toddler bed. I wonder if his being in total control of getting up and leaving his room helps him make the transition.

Getting him to eat something has worked for us too. If he is out of it, he is really out of it. Some times I have struggled to get him to eat something, then as soon as he does, he is happy and ready to play. Other than that, we try to get him outside or engaged in an activity, or I just let him howl on the floor until he is ready to be soothed.

Sounds like his blood sugar is a bit low, which happens when you sleep for a long time.

Maybe offer some watered down juice and some fruit when he wakes up, or a little bowl of cereal?

I have 2 boys who had a similar issue. I found they were dehydrated when they woke up and if I gave them water or a popsicle as soon as they woke up, the better they were and the less time they needed me holding them(which they still needed for a little while).

Is he getting enough sleep during the night and during his nap time? Maybe he isn't getting the sleep he needs? Maybe it is his personality, I know as an adult it takes me about 1/2 in the mornings to be social, my husband says don't talk to her unless you want your head bit off - - - lol. I'm sure as he gets older, things may change. Best of luck.

T.

Try giving him some milk or juice, some cheese and crackers when he wakes up from his nap. Blood sugar may be a little low, hence the grumpiness.

Hi S.!

I am like your son.....not my boys!!!! I am STILL this way as an adult, which is why I try not to take naps....

It doesn't matter whether it's a short nap, or a long nap. If I nap, and wake up, I'm cranky until I "finish" waking up.

Your son may not outgrow this :o) Just "go with" what he needs. If he needs to be held, then simply hold him. He'll find a way to deal with himself when it's necessary.

:o) N.

My 28 month old is the same way...last week he came in in the morning screaming at me that he wanted an apple and the next he wanted birthday cake! There is no talking to him, or reasoning with him he just gets mad and yells "no like!" and cries. I have learned to just leave him alone. Screaming, crying and hitting are unacceptable so if he needs to do that he can do it in his room away from everyone else. After about 15-20 minutes he is back to himself and is just fine. It's starting to get less and less that he does this when he wakes up so it's getting better and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! My advice is leave him alone - don't let him get away with unacceptable behavior, but he needs to fully wake up and if he needs to be mad about waking up then he can do that by himself. And it will get better! Good Luck! I know just what you are dealing with!

S.,

My daughter is 2 1/2 and has been doing exactly what you described for the past 5 months. I don't have an answer for you, but my sympathy goes out to you! It is really tough! I either have to sit and wait it out or if I get really desparate I put on her favorite cartoon (Wonder Pets) and then everything is okay.

I am looking forward to seeing the reponse you get!

Thanks for asking the question!

D. and Layla

Have a set routine for when he wakes up - maybe a snack or read to him a favorite story. Be consistent and drop whatever you are doing. Good luck.

my 2-year-old doesnt seem to wake up until i give him a little snack or drink. good luck

Wow....so many similarities. My kids are spaced the same and my son who is 4+ has always been a grumpy monkey when he awakes. We had his tonsils out last month because of sleep apnea. He now sleeps through the night most nights and hardly ever gets up grumpy anymore. Next time you are at pediatrician ask them about the symptoms of sleep apnea and if your son has large adnoids and tonsils.

Goodluck.....we always joked until recently that no one would ever date our son past the first sleepover :)

T. C

mom of a beautiful 4 yr old son and spunky and fun 2.5 yr old daughter

I like the suggestions to give him a cup of whatever right away.

If that doesn't work, I found what works for my son is to allow him some time to wake up. You know he is going to be grumpy for 30 min. so don't get him out of his room until he's not grumpy. We've always kept a baby gate on our toddlers' rooms and I usually don't get them out until they are playing happily. What I've found is that they've often woken up too soon and can go back to sleep.

I agree with the mom who says she's still this way, though. I don't like to nap because I still wake up grumpy. Give me a little time to wake up and I feel better.

Best wishes!

I read Elizabeth Pantley's No-cry sleep solution, and one thing that was mentioned was kids who wake up grumpy. She suggested that the child may not be getting enough sleep either at night or for his nap. I don't know what his bedtime is, but maybe try getting him to bed earlier??? She also has a table for recommended amounts of sleep for different ages. Not sure it's relevant, but maybe something to consider.

Hi, My son is the exact same way. I usually pick him up and give him a little cuddle time; sometimes we read a few books. Then, I ask him to help me with dinner or his favorite, going outside to water the garden. After 30 min, he is usually back to his energetic self.

Crankiness after naps is hard! I feel for you...

I dont think this is the case with your son but here is something to consider. My friend has a daugher (oldest of 3, about 5yo) who was VERY hard to wake up, as she'd be grumpy, uncooperative, and VERY whiny. (With 2 younger boys, she had her hands full!) Her daughter was diagnosed with something like... hypersensitivity (not sure exactly... slightly OCD, but not that. )

Between that diagnosis and her daughter's temperament, she learned to do things like this .. drop everything and give her a GOOD back rub, body massage, good strong hugs, etc. She needed the physical stimulation and the attention during her slow-wake up time. IF she did not take that 20 mins or so of full hands-on attention to her daughter, she would pay for it with 2-3 hours of dealing with screaming, whining, meanness to the younger brothers, etc.

I share this because I hope that you can learn to adjust and figure out how to give your son whatever it is he needs. Most likely some touch, soft soothing words, a soft easy pace as he transistions to fully-awake daytime activities...

(I am a slow waker too, I HATE it when my husband flips the lights on and expects me to jump out of bed and be up & at 'em right away! I NEED my snooze alarm 5 days out of 7!)

Hello,

I know this issue very well, beause so is my son, who's turning 3 this month as well as myself, who's 44. My father, who's now 86 used to be like this, but now is sleeps a lot during the day and has his own rhythm. I need time to wake fully up, but my son wakes up in the morning really fine. Despite my grumpyness when I wake up I enjoy naps and feel the need of it every so often. My son is also much pleasant to be around after a good nap- which means not too long, not too short, but sound asleep.
As people here already said, drinking and eating before any interaction is also quite important, because of the blood sugar level, that has probably dropped. I've heard it's maybe a slight hormonal inbalance from the thyroid, but I haven't looked further.
I see patience as a key for so many struggles in life; but I don't always have it...
Good luck!

My daughter is the same way and pretty much always has been. I find getting her directly into an activity like helping me cook, getting the mail, or going outside to play helps alot. We are lucky she is finally growing out of her nap so I don't have to face "the grump" on a daily basis.

Hi S.

I get e-mails like yours often from families.
I explain to parents that some children are "slow" to wake up, and this particular idiosyncrasy is a function of their temperament. One of the things that parents can do is to help them to wake up slowly, even if it means building in a slower nap waking transition. It can look a little like this:
(1)Upon awakening from nap, open up the shades in his room first, to help his body start to get used to more light, and start to wake up more gradually
(2)Leave in crib for a little bit longer then you normally would leave him to help him to feel like his has some control over the waking up
(3)Short period of comforting or holding up awakening
(4)If possible, avoiding loud noises, new faces, fast starts when awakening from naps
(5)Offer a snack, fave food of his liking that is healthy, and will get his blood sugar up, as well as a beverage, even a protein shake, or smoothie to help his blood sugar to come up. I can't say enough about how growing children need to eat every few hours during the day, so three solid meals and 2 snacks per day. Some children (and this can run in families) do have a dip in their blood sugar when napping, so upon waking up, are low blood sugar and irritable, but will often refuse food because they are irritable. It may help to give him a snack before he goes down for a nap, and see if this helps him.

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding my comments.
Warmly,
A.
A. Millette, PhDc MFTt PCD/CD(DONA) CMT
PhD candidate Santa Barbara Graduate Institute
Marriage & Family Therapist trainee Child Therapy Institute of Marin
Postpartum & Birth Doula (DONA certified)
PO Box 824 Fairfax, CA 94978
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My toddler was the same way as your son, but has gotten a lot better. She'll be 3 in August. She used to have crying sessions that could drag on for 2 hours. Strong arming her into clothes and getting her outside helped quite often. Oftentimes, she was half dressed and we were just walking up and down our own street (my backyard at the time sucked). Giving her space helped, too. I used to try so hard to get her to snap out of it, but not too much worked. Once I stopped trying to distract her, I noticed the episodes got shorter. I just braced myself daily for an episode of tantrums. But, she grew out of it around 2-1/2. She's now pretty cheery when she wakes up from naps and life is so much better. I hope that happens for you, too. Sorry, I was short on advice, but you're not alone in having to go through this.

Also, like you I have a younger child, so holding wasn't an option. Makes it hard, but you'll get through it. I'd end up holding both at the same time. Still do as the green-eyed monster is still hanging out in my house.

Hi,

I am a mother of 3 and my now 3 1/2 year was like this (and still is sometimes). He used to be a wreck when he woke and insist that I hold him (when he was about 2-2 1/2) for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. It was frustrating. Eventually he would sit on his own for a very long time and we would all leave him alone until he snapped out of it. Now he has pretty much grown out of that, except every once in a while he will sit for about 15 minutes by himself, although rare. Now he usually jumps out of bed happy. I think it is a stage and your child will definately grow out of it.

I would make sure he's getting enough rest at night. I think for his age, he should be getting at least 13-14 hours total - night time (11-12 hrs) and nap time(2 hrs). Here's an article by pampers regarding the amount of sleep needed:

http://www.pampers.com/en_US/learning/page/tpc_article_de...

Hopefully this article helps. Good luck!