My 2 yr old daughter is usually a great sleeper. She will put herself to bed, always willing to take her nap.....she has always been a good sleeper, even as a baby. About 2 weeks ago she started waking up in the middle of the night (usually 4 to 6 times a night). She is crying and upset, and is usually calling my name. Sometimes she is upset, sometimes she is trembling and sobbing and just hugs my neck. She will usually go right back to sleep after I cuddle with her for a minute or two. I am guessing she is having nightmares. But I don't know what to do? She doesn't seem upset the next morning, and has been fine with her naps. I am just so exhausted I don't know what to do. I work full time and have a busy schedule. I really need my sleep, and I am at my wits end. Any tips that will help my daughter and ME a better nights sleep will be much appericated.
E.
To answer one question: Yes I was a sleep walker as a kid (until about 14) and I still talk in my sleep.
I will check to see if it is her teeth, and I am pretty sure it is not an ear infection. She has had bouts of night terrors when she was younger, but they usually don't go on this long. I talked with the doctor last night after I sobbed for an hour out of shear exhaustion (I work to much to nap....so I was getting strechted thin). He seems to think that he sleep pattern has been distrupted, so he told me to give her a low dose of benadryl to help her stay asleep. So we did it last night. she woke up once but it was early in the night, and she was sleepy and was able to soothe herself back to sleep. We will do this for a few nights and hope she will be back on schedule.
But I will still check to see if she has any molars coming in just to be sure. Thanks for all of the help. My caretaker seems to think that the nightmares are from us working on the potty training. We have been working really hard lately, and maybe she is stressed out from it. I am hoping this stage will pass. I will keep you all updated.
Although this is probably not what you want to hear, there is really nothing you can do. I know it hard, and I know you're exhausted, but this is just a phase. My Katelin went through the same thing. I promise it'll be over before you know it!!!
My daughter has gone through periods similar to what you are describing. They are usually short lived. Could she have an ear infection? My daughter has trouble sleeping at night if she has one. Also, I highly recommend a sound spa that you can set to white noise. That will help block out noises that could wake her up at night. It helps my daughter a lot. Like suggested she could be outgrowing her nap. Good luck!
My son is 2 yrs old and was doing the same thing. He was crying so hard and it was like he was scared of something. It would last from a couple minutes to an hour or so. So I did some research and I think he had what they call night terror. If you go to Google and punch that in it will take u to some links about it. I did not know what to do. They say it can be caused by stress. I had just put my son in a toddler bed and that is when it all started. It was not fun at my house at bed time and once in a while after an hour or so of trying to get him to stay in bed I would give him a spanking (no I do not beat my child) well after I found out about the night terror I put him back in to a crib and he has not had an episode since. So my point being if you have changed anything in his regular routine or if he gets punished b4 bed time that might have something to do with it. Good Luck
My son is four years old and went through this phase. Is anyone in your family a sleep talker or walker. I am when stressed or overly tired and I learned about two years ago that so is my son. He Sleep walks when he has had a bad day or is too hot in bed. I put extra fans in his room and htat helped him sleep better. You might also limit the amount of t.v. that you child is viewing sometimes there are things that make the imaginatio run wild. Limit outings for awhile so there is not over stimulation and other than that I can just wish you luck. I worked twelve hour days when my son went was going through this and I was exausted! You may try taking her to the doctor and make sure that she doesn't have an ear infection. They can make them not sleep cause it hurts to lay down. Good luck hope this helped!
My daughter started having night terrors out of nowhere at about 2 and 1/2. She didn't really wake up, she'd just be crying hysterically in her sleep. It never helped her for me to do anything... I would and up waking her up if I tried to comfort her and she'd be disoriented and more upset and harder to get back to sleep. So I just left her alone. I think she was almost 3 by the time it tapered off... She didn't do this every night either, it happened a couple of times a week.
I was wondering if maybe her molars were starting to come in. My daughter's molars came in very early and during that time she was doing the same thing at night. My daughter is also a very good sleeper, so I knew something was up. I finally figured it out after talking to another mother and gave her a bit of tylenol before she went to sleep and that worked. You may feel around in her mouth and see if that is what is bothering her.
hi,E.--
i have a 7 month old, and a few months ago i went to st. luke's sleep clinic about her sleeping through the night. i met with a nurse there (for like 2 hours), and went through my daughter's sleeping patterns. after the appt, the nurse gave me a very detailed schedule to follow to help her sleep through the night. it only costs a copay, and i highly recommend it. she sees children up to 7 (i think). her name is nancy birkinmeier, and the number is ###-###-####. you have to call and they will send you some info. i had to document every time my daughter slept and where for 2 weeks, and then i went to the appt. it is well worth the time and effort!! good luck and let me know if you have any questions!
She may have had some bad dreams but oftentimes once sleep has been disrupted for several days it is hard to correct because the body's system gets used to that waking schedule. I would recommend that the first time she wakes you give her the lowest dose of benadryl for her weight and see if that will get her through the other wakings. If it works do that for a few nights (at least as many nights as the waking, preferably 2x as long). Then, depending on what time that first waking is from the tie she goes to sleep you might just let her try to put herself back to sleep. Is she in a crib? If so, this may be what you need to do to break the cycle. I went through this and a lot more when my daughter came home at 10 mos via adoption...she was up every hour on the hour for 8 weeks.
Good luck!!
L.
For my son it was nightmares & a book or short video that was familiar & only had a positive note to it was the solution. After a certain age books & video's with problem solving & or advenutures that had to be worked through started causing nightmares even though they were long time favorites. When he is getting tired anything new that has these elements is overwhelming to him, however when he is well rested & it is early in the day he can conquer any story no matter how scary or troubling.
If it is nightmares, ask her the next morning very casually what she dreamt about or you could have her draw a picture of what she is dreaming about. It may be something in her room that she is thinking about when she goes to sleep and it turns from being a good thing in the room to being the bad thing in her dreams. For instance, a friend of mine's son had a dinosaur picture in his room. It ended up being the last thing he saw before he went to bed and ended up being the cause of his nightmares. On the other hand, she MAY be ready to do away with or shorten her naps. This may help her sleep through the night too. Good luck! :) S.
It sounds like she is having nightmares. I saw on channel six news yesterday with Dr. Dailey that sometimes you pediatrician can give you some tips on dealing with it. I would call them. Good luck.
It might be as simple as she is missing you and the middle of the night is the time she can be reassured you are there for her. It sounds like you work a lot and she might be reacting to that.
I bring my daughter to bed with me when she wakes up frequently. She is reassured by my presence, and when she does need a cuddle or a backrub, I don't have to wake all the way up to give it to her. This may not be the best solution for you, but it helps in our house.
Is there anything you can think of that could be causing the nightmares?
I don't have any suggestions but I can tell you that my 2 year old is doing the same thing. He wakes up and cries and is sitting up in bed but goes back to sleep easily. He is usually up 1-2 times per night (rather than 4-6!!). He did this about 9 months ago also. That time it lasted for about 2-3 months then went away. This started up again about a month ago (he just turned 2). We have had 2 consecutive nights with no wake ups so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
My lil guy went through this. Night terrors are a pain. Screaming at the their lungs and there is really nothing you can do about it. they grow out of it. I know its tough but it will get better.
