My 22 month old has always been a great sleeper, goes right down at night in his crib with no problem (never sleeps in our bed). For the fourth night in a row now, he has been screaming when we put him in his crib. Hysterical screams. The first night, I figured something must be wrong and he slept with my husband and I. The second night, I snuggled him to sleep and then we moved him to his bed. Last night, my husband and I took turns going in there to comfort him, and finally my husband rubbed him head until he fell asleep. Tonight, the screaming has been going on for almost an hour! We've both gone in, rubbed his back, comforted him, nothing is working! We are really trying to comfort him without taking him out. He is tired (was at the pool all day today) had a nap but not too long (a little over an hour) had a big dinner and a nice warm bath, clean diaper, favorite stuffed animals and his binky. I even gave a proactive dose of baby tylenol in case his teeth are bothering him. Any suggestions? We are at our wits end!!!!
The only thing it reminds me of is right before my son needed to be moved out of his crib, as soon as i transitioned him to his 'toddler' bed, all was quiet with the world.. good luck
Tricia,
I don't have any advice for your sleep problem, but I sympathize. Its so terrible to hear your child scream that way. I also just wanted to say to be careful with the Tylenol. It can be very toxic to the liver. Maybe try some Camomile tea?
Good luck.
Hi Tricia,
He may be scared. You can try leaving a closet light or nightlight on. The first few nights I would stay with him for a moment once the lights are out so you can see how he handles the shadows. With our oldest he was nervous with the shadows, until we had him talk through what he saw. He seemed fine once he could explain to himself everything would be alright.
Does his bedtime need to be adjusted at all? It could be that he is going down just a little too soon. Try changing it by 15 - 20 minutes and seeing if that helps.
Best of luck!
Hi Tricia,
I totally sympathize as we're going through the same thing in our household right now with our 27 month old. As I started reading the other responses so far, I started thinking that his terrible sleeping started around the time that summer started and his routine changed (I'm a teacher during the year). I really do wonder if the change in routine combined with being so much busier during the days is affecting him more than I realized. I thought I was doing right giving him so many opportunities to do and see different things, but maybe it's too much. Have you had a recent change in your schedule or routing? Perhaps that could be contributing. I'm sure you're figuring this out as you go along, but be very wary of doing anything for him at night that you don't want him to assume he can get away with every night. On the first night my son cried at bed time, my husband snuggled with him in our bed for a little while, assuming something might be wrong. Now he asks (while crying) to snuggle in our bed every time we put him down- this is now over 2 weeks ago. We've resorted to just letting him cry. At nap time, he usually doesn't really cry anymore, gets a little weepy when I lay him down, but not too bad. At bed time he cries, generally for about 5-10 minutes. I wish you the best, and know that you're not alone! Good luck!
Flip his mattress over or elavate it a bit.
Nanc
Dear Tricia- There are a number of things this could be attributed to - first consider organic/body causes- digestion, etc. Next I would consider developmental changes happening as he matures towards age 2- a new sense of himself and a renewed separation anxiety is not uncommon. You might change the routine- the things you do as bedtime ritual and possibly the position of the crib in the room.
In addition, there are times like this when emotionally our children need more of us. Spend more time preparing for bed- being in the room once he is ready for bed before for longer periods- while in the room, fold laundry and put it away and other household tasks/tidy/dusting... that make the room a friendly place to be- while he plays on his own. Relax your own anxieties about this new and unusual behavior. Through observation you may discover at what point his anxiety begins and therein may solve the riddle.
A.
At all costs avoid drugs to hep with sleep.
My daughter has been doing the same thing for over a week. I need help with this too.
This may be way off the mark but have you thought about a toddler bed? We switched my son, who is almost 21 months about a month or so ago and he freaked out just like that recently when we stayed at my mom's and I tried to get him to sleep in a pack n play. It could be that he is feeling like he is too big for the crib or to independent or whatever. Just a thought. Good luck!
A.
Have you tried giving him some milk (bottle or cup) just before bed. Milk is very soothing and relaxing. Sit with him in his room while he drinks the milk holding him. When the milk is done he should be very sleepy, kiss him goodnight and lay him down in his bed, pat his back and then leave. I have twin boys and that's what I do, most of the time they fall asleep in my arms. They are never in my bed and they sleep through the night. Good luck.
maybe his ears are bothering him. my 21 month old is getting over swimmer's ear plus he's teething which always bothers his ears. is he grabbing at his ears at all? if so, maybe a trip to the dr to get it checked out might help. my son also was sop easy to put to bed and then all of a sudden he was not. did all that you and your husband are doing, sans the sleeping together, and nothing worked. we just all lived through it and now he goes into his crib and to sleep without a problem. i have a feeling that it might be just a phase.
good luck!
Just a question. Has he been at the pool all 4 days? I used to get terrible headaches ( migraines so bad I screamed for hours) when I was a child if I got too much sun. It seemed to be intensified if I was around a pool. Good luck.
try a night light, and going around the room showing him the shadows. I use the Aqua sounds
it has music , waves and lights.
Great because your child can turn it on himself, totally safe because its mounted to his crib,
Last thing, Make sure he has plenty to drink each day, gas pains and thirst can do horrible things to a kids bowels.
playiing ALL day s never good for a 22 month old, We do the play dates 2 day per week MAXIMUM, 2 days for house hold shopping ect. 2 days to REST and a family day. Remember he is still a baby, he needs MORE rest than you. half a days worth of activity is MORE than enough, anything more is really just over doing it.
Good luck
M
Um, is there a reason you won't take him out of his bed? I'm asking because it is more than normal and more than common that most people share their bed with their children. I am actually reading an article just this minute in Mothering magazine on it. I have shared my bed with my daughter (30 months) always, except for when she asks to sleep in her room, which is quite frequent. She is free to sleep in either her or Mama's bed and she feels such security in that she has not had any problems sleeping. Since it is so sudden, maybe something scared him and he's dreaming about it at night, but letting him stay next to you for a few nights to know Mommy and Daddy are right there will make him feel better and safer. I also learned a new trick recently too, right before he falls asleep and he's in that slight awake/sleep sort of hypnotic state you can tell him everything is alright, he doesn't need to be scared, etc. It is actually giving them a hypnotic suggestion to deal with something emotional. I imagine if it persists, it could be something physically upsetting him and then of course you should seek out your pediatrician.
Hope some of that helps. Good Luck. S.
