About 3 months ago our daughter began waking up in the night sometimes screaming other times just your typical crying. We are completely at a loss for why this is happening. We have taken her to her pediatrician and she is perfectly healthy. Her teeth are in and her ears are clear. She appears to be perfectly healthy.
We have gone around her room trying to find anything that was lacking or anything that might be scaring her. Everything seems to be fine. The room temperature is very pleasant and we haven't added or changed anything from an earlier time when she slept fine. Her diet hasn't changed and neither has our bedtime routine.
Once she wakes up we have tried a variety of solutions to getting her back to sleep. We have rocked her in the dark, we have tried to calm her from the side of the crib, we have tried feeding her (desperate measures), we have even tried putting her into bed with us. What happens is that we just have to wait it out. Sometimes we'll get her to sleep and once we lay her down in her crib she jumps right up in a stupor and starts crying again. This normally goes on about 2-3 hours per night. We are so tired and are at our wits end. I just bought a diffuser for essential oils and am going to try diffusing lavender oil in her room. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Night terrors might be the case but they are really hard to substantiate. Besides, she seems to wake up at different times during the night too at different points in her sleep cycle. Ugh!!!
She naps okay during the day but still doesn't like to go down for a nap. We do have an air filter in the room for white noise and a ceiling fan.
We've been considering a toddler bed but wondered if that would just cause additional problems with her being able to get out of bed herself. That is a really good suggestion though. Thanks Heather. Maybe we'll go shopping for one this weekend.
I thought about a night light but I've read studies that say they aren't good for quality sleep so I'm hesitant. Besides, we open her door up at night and there is a night light in the bathroom right next to her room.
I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, encouragment and suggestions. We ordered a toddler bed online but we haven't received it yet. Meanwhile we have pretty much made the decision to let her cry (and cry and cry). We look in on her to make sure she is okay and then go back to bed. She has been waking up less and less and for shorter periods of time. We already feel like we are getting so much more sleep and are better equipped to handle things that come our way. Tough love baby! Since her room is just down the hall from our boys' room, we have temporarily moved them into another room so they don't get awakened by her in the night. They say they've been sleeping better now too. So basically the only thing we've done differently is not to get her up at all. We also try to be as sneaky as possible when checking on her so she doesn't see us. It was hard at first, but the results have been so amazing. I recommend this to everyone. By the way, our pediatrician said that since she is almost two that it didn't require a gradual thing so we skipped the visits and intervals some people do because she is old enough to handle it. So far, so good.
Thank you all again!
HI K., I have to agree with some of the other moms. Both my boys went through this in their 2nd year, my first son woke up for about 3 months (he was my best sleeper from day one) my second son went through it for about 6 months. Both boys eventually woke up less and then stopped. They were both about 2 1/2 when they started sleeping again. Hang in there, I think it is age related, and it will end sooner or later.
Is she still napping during the day? She may be getting too much sleep. Or if she isn't napping, she may be getting too little sleep. I have a friend going through the same thing with her little girl. Good luck.
My daughter did the same thing just before her second birthday after about a year of sleeping through the night. She would wake up one to three times a night and I know she was lacking sleep because she'd always fall asleep in the car (therefore I knew giving up naps was not the solution). Anyway, it got to the point that we would just go to her room and tell her to go back to sleep and she always did, but then she'd wake up at 5:30 am and would just not go back to sleep. It turns out that it must have just been a phase and after about three (long) months, she just stopped waking and even started sleeping later. I didn't actually even realize she's stopped waking up until one day it just dawned on me that I couldn't recall the last time it happened. I tried night lights but that just seemed to make it worse. I'm sorry to say that in my experience, it was just something we had to suffer through until it passed. But now she's back to going to bed at 8 pm, waking at 6:30 or 7 am and a two-hour nap during the day!
I hope, in your case, it ends soon or you can find a solution. Good luck!
K.
Hello K.! My daughter K., is also 2 years old. (She'll be 2 1/2 on the 19th!) For about her first 1 1/2 yrs of life, she never slept through the night. She started to when we lived in FL, and then we moved to UT! Our first mth here she wouldn't sleep at all. We moved into a house, and she started sleeping better, but still not through the night! We have a night light in her room, music playing, and our newest investment...a fan! She only gets up once a night, and that is totally ok w/ me!! She has always been a good sleeper as far as sleeping through noise, but I think the fan drains out the small stuff we may not think she is hearing. I don't know if this will work for you, but it might be worth a try!
Also you said you put her down in her crib? K. went into a toddler bed so easily. She actually got mad the first night we bought it because we didn't put it together and let her sleep in it right then. After the next day the crib came out, bed went in! I think it makes them feel less enclosed. And one good thing, she won't even get out of bed until we come and get her!! :)
Good luck!!!!
When my son was 11 months old my husband and I put him in a toddler bed to get the crib ready for his baby sister. He adjusted to it rather well. Then when he was a little older than your daughter he started doing the samething. I thought that he was having bad dreams, but it always took forever for him to fall asleep. Then one day we decided to see if moving him to a twin size bed would help, and he has been sleeping peacufully ever since. His peaditrician said that our theory that he may have just mentally outgrown his toddler bed is a possibility. Your daughter may just be ready to graduate from crib to toddler bed.
Also my 13 month old daughter who wants to be so much like her big brother is now sleeping in a twin bed. In 1 week she went from crib, toddler bed, to her twin size bed. I feel that if you feel that its time for a toddler bed for your daughter then you are more than likely right.
I hope that you are able to find what works best for you on getting her back to sleeping through the night.
K. -- I would highly suggest reading the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. My pediatrician recommended it to us and it has changed the way my entire family sleeps!!!! It is amazing.
K.
I am sure that this is the response that you are not going to want to hear but it is something that she will grow out of. My daughter went through the exact same thing. She would be screaming, kicking, and sometimes wouldnt let us comfort her. We didnt know what was happening. We tried everything you have and it didnt work. This went on for probably a good month and then it just stopped. I have talked to a lot of other moms that said their kids did it too. Unfortunately I think that it is just night terrors and she will outgrow them. I feel your tiredness! Been there! Good luck to you.
A.
I have always had a night light in my little girl's room and she sleeps great. We had recently moved and until I unpacked her night light she would have a similar problem. She gets scared in the dark. I do beleive she sleeps better if she can see things in her room if she wakes up. It doesn't hurt to try. Good luck.
Our little girl that turns 2 on the 30th of this month does the same thing. She is in a toddler bed and gets up and either climbs into our bed or gets books to look at until she falls asleep again. I had a concern myself on what to do, but it does look like it is age related. My daughter does take about a 2 hr nap in the middle of the day. Naps are much easier to put her down for then bed time though. Good luck to you.
We went through this with our son several months ago. We never really figured out what it was for sure. Didn't seem like night terrors since he was truly awake. He has agonized through every tooth so we think it may have been the start of molars. Anyway, some suggestions: Try layering doses of motrin/tylenol if you think it could be growing pains. Hylands makes all natural calming tablets in addition to teething tablets. If you can't find Hylands at the grocery store, try a health food store. There are other brands out there too. Finally, we have a white noise machine in our son's room that seems to calm him. Ours is made be Homedics and costs about $30. Hope you figure something out. That was an awful stage... and then it just stopped as suddenly as it began.
Nicole went through that for a long time, came to find out that the milk she was drinking was causing gas pains. But, your lucky that she is still in a crib. My suggestion, ignore her for a little while, see if she will go back to sleep. Obviously, not if she is screaming. But, if she wakes and is just wimpering or crying, try to not go into her room for a little while. I would also suggest a very dim little light or night light, you could place it somewhere in the room where it doesnt shine all over but at least give her some light. My daughter likes her light on, it is a very small lamp on her dresser and it seems to help her not freak out when she wakes up in the pitch dark.
Good luck.
This is based on nothing, but my own experience so take it with a grain of salt. I have a 4 year old son who is a pretty good sleeper most of the time and has been most of his life. Since you have already checked for physical and emotional problems I recommend making as little of her getting up as possible. Don't let her sleep in your bed, don't rock her and don't feed her. Check on her, make sure she isn't in pain/trouble, let her know you love her and then let her cry. Every time we have done something special for our son when he whines or cries in the middle of the night - like lay down with him, let him into our bed, etc. I can guarantee he will be up again the next night, and the next and the next. It takes quite a few nights of not making his wake up pleasant in any way for him to quit trying.
Good luck.
