Toddler Wakes Regularly & Seems Uncomfortable

Good luck-my 5 year old daughter woke up around 5 am until she was about 3 or 4. Now she makes it until 630 or 7. Some children don't need that much sleep and just want to have breakfast early! Good luck.

I know you've got a bunch of responses but just wanted to be one more to say - I've been there, we didn't do the cry it out either and it was definitely her ears! When we went to the ENT and did get tubes put in her ears (which was not a big deal at all) everything got so much better! The biggest thing to think about is if they say he needs tubes, then you know that he is in pain trying to sleep so it really is the best thing to relieve his pain. Best of luck.

Try the ENT, Both of my sons had the same problem and after they put tubes in their ears things got a lot better.

V.

Have you tried slightly slanting his bed? My son had the reflux never the ear infections, but he too had a hard time digesting. We adjusted his bed my sliding a pillow under the mattress alittle just so he was alittle upright. Almost like we are when we lay on pillows at night. Just thought it would be an open suggestion.

L.

Is he hungry? I know they say that he should be able to sleep through the night and not be hungry by this age, but who knows maybe he is. That was the issue at our house. I now it's not much help but just an idea. Good luck.

He's uncomfortable because he's tired and wants to be asleep. He has a habit of waking every night at that time (and possibly others) and he doesn't want to be, but his little internal clock is working against him. Best bet is to minimize all stimulation to help him fall back to sleep faster. No lights no talking yadda yadda. Depending upon how he falls asleep, if he falls alseep on his own at bedtime, then leave him be and let him try to go back to sleep on his own. One mom told me the 15 minute test if they are awake for 15 minutes go in help them fall back to sleep. Otherwise they didn't really need anything.

If you are soothing him to sleep, start teaching him to fall asleep on his own so he can have that skill at 4am and let him use it. Our 2 1/2 year old also has always had night wakings that we're ingrained from the start due to reflux and once the reflux was outgrown she still had the waking habit. This was the best way to help her get her sleep.

You would actually take a child that small to the chiropractor? That seems a little strange to me I would take him to his pedi.

If he doesn't completely wake up and cry, just sort of fusses, I say don't do anything, and I think he will fall back to sleep, I don't think you are giving him a chance to do this for himself. If he actually cries like he is hurting, then you can try some of the things you say, but it sounds to me like he is in the habit of waking , like we get to be with work, and you jump up too quick.

Very similiar situation. I would advise ENT visit. My son had his tubes placed and that helped. Now, he is 2 and just started sleeping through the night occassionally. We just took him this week though to an allergist for nasal symptoms and bad eczema(already tried a pedi dermatologist). The allergist agreed that his symptoms are severe enough to be keeping him up or awakening him at night. So, we also had allergy testing. We are at the point of trying to figure out the best treatment for the advice we have received. You can also look into having a sleep study. Follow your gut, there is something bothering him...Good luck!

I agree with the moms that said stop cow milk. It is a heavy allergen and the root cause of most ear infections and intestinal issues in babies and children. Beside's goat milk (available in cans in the evap milk section at the grocery store, shake can really well and dilute 1:1 for whole milk or 2 parts filtered water to 1 part milk for 2%) you can use Rice Dream Rice Milk, avialable in most grocery stores. Always use the original Rice Dream because the other flavors are sweetened with cane sugar, another allergen. Shake the carton well due to the rice solids settle to the bottom. The Rice Dream tastes exactly like whole cow milk, but does not have the allergens. Your babies' ear infection problems should clear up within 7 days and be completely gone after 14 days. I would also stop the synthetic drugs, the side effects can create problems for your child long into adulthood. Good luck! (^_~)

My oldest didn't sleep well her first 2 years. She had multiple ear infections so she hurt a lot. Once the ear infections slowed down, she started sleeping more.

Definitely see the ENT. My youngest had tubes in her ears by age 8 months. Her speech and hearing differentiation was affected by then but didn't show up until kindergarten. One ear drum does not vibrate as well as the other, she had ongoing allergies. As a result, she was not able to hear well thru her earlier years. The ENT referred us to an allergist ( to treat the allergies and in turn get the constant fluid out of her ears so she could hear) and a speech therapist, who helped her not only with her speech but trained her to differenciate her sounds. The earlier you do this the better. She is an honor student in college but told me recently she stills has a hard time deciphering what a prof is saying in class.

C.,
You have received a lot of very good advice and some very misinformed comments in response to your querey.
It is normal for a young child to wake at least 1x/night. There can be a multitude of causes including the symptoms you have listed in addition to nightmares, very involved dreams during REM sleep, separation anxiety, etc. However, all of the symptoms that you are describing of your little one have one thing in common. All of these organs, including the immune system, are controlled and modulated by the nervous system. Although the medical route will help with symptoms, very rarely is the underlying cause looked for or treated. Here are my suggestions (I am a mother of 2, both born at home, never vaccinated, never on medication, rarely sick with anything, and I am PROUDLY a PEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTOR)
1. Address all dietary issues as suggested in previous responses. Add a probiotic to his diet as well as a good quality fish oil (we use Nordic Naturals for children - readily available at Sprouts, Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe)

2. Discontinue cow's milk as it is highly allergenic and mucous forming. If you still feel as though he needs milk you can try goat's milk)

3. See a pediatric chiropractor. The adjustments are very gentle and safe. Also, the soft tissues will be addressed and a good quality chiropractor will teach you how to massage his neck muscles in order to aid the sinuses and ears to drain. You can find more information on chiropractors in your area and research that gives the evidence behind spinal adjustments and childhood illnesses (ear infxns, colic, asthma, etc.) visit the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association and scroll down to Research and this will link you to a variety of scientific and medical journals. The link is www.icpa4kids.org.

If you want more information or have questions or concerns, please contact me via email at ____@____.com

Good luck,
Dr. N. Lederman

C.,

I strongly suggest you consider the following:

1. Food intolerances. Test through www.enterolab.com. Stool testing - very easy for baby. No doctor referral needed. Order test kit online, send in specimen, they email you the results. Gluten and dairy
(casein) are major culprits. Testing takes the guesswork out of the picture. Dr. Fine, owner/director of the lab, has research showing incidence at 1 in 3 for gluten and 1 in 2 for either gluten or dairy in the US population. MAJOR sign of a problem is recurrent ear infections.

2. Reconsider the ENT unless you have done you lab testing first. ENT's will want to do surgery for tubes. They won't likely look at underlying issues.

3. Your pedi should have referred you to a GI specialist, not ENT. This is consistent with modern medical model of treating symptoms, not underlying disease process. However, even the GI docs don't see hidden food intolerance issues. They test blood or skin scratch, which are both inferior to the stool test.

4. Stop all antibiotics if possible. They destroy normal gut flora and basically insure your son will never get better. Treatments are often worse than the cures. Ear infections can be treated with garlic oil (warm, not boil, olive oil in small pot, add several slices raw fresh garlic, pour into bottle, put a few drops in each ear several times per day.

5. Start a quality probiotic. See www.mercola.com for articles on the value of probiotics for healing your son's destroyed gut.

6. All the digestive distress and resluting symtpoms are likely making your little one very uncomfortable. Once you fix all that, he'll likely settle down.

7. Quality chirocpractic can help tremendously. This is not a silly avenue at all. However, if he is reacting poorly to the foods you are giving him (and most kids eat diets pretty high in processed gluten and dairy), doesn't it make sense to investigate that before committing to a lifetime of chriropractic visits? Just some "food for thought."

8. When kids cry there is usually a problem. Just because the docs can't identify the problem doesn't mean there isn't one. They are not trained in health, they are trained in disease. There is a difference. Take charge yourself, for you son's sake. He deserves it!!

Good luck!!

hi C.
as a mother who just went through all of this i really felt obligated to write you!!!! :) :) :)
i was NOT a fan of the cry it out method at all...in fact, i thought it was cruel and awful....mean...you name it. Finally after 5 MONTHS of being up every stinkin night for 2-3 hrs at a time...2-3x/night..thinking it was everything you named.....when in fact....it became HABIT for him to wake b/c we went in there every single time he cried. Finally, i gave up and did the cry it out...3 days later...FULL NIGHTS SLEEP EVERY NIGHT SINCE!! PRAISE THE LORD! :) :) :) The first night was AWFUL..i will warn you, 50 min of screaming/crying. 2nd night 15 min 3rd night 5 and then peace ever since! They need to learn to put themselves to sleep. If i can save you the trouble i went through...the sleepless nights, the stupid arguments with my husband b/c we were SO tired...i hope you find what works for you but this is worth a shot.....for someone who was DEAD AGAINST this method...ironically...it worked! :) feel free to ask me anything! :)
btw, my son was 11 months when this start..well almost 11 months and last for almost 6 months....its was awful so i feel your pain!!
S.

I'm not sure I understand what the problem is. He sleeps from bedtime to 4am, then has a hard time going back to sleep? I think it's normal for a baby at his age to wake up at least once in the middle of the night, so you are doing really well with the bedtime to 4 or 6 am stretch. What time is he going to bed? Maybe as he is getting older he does not need as much sleep, and you could try putting him down a little later. So if he is waking at 6 it's just because he's had enough sleep, but you will want to shift his nightime forward a bit. At 14 months, he could be have some separation anxiety, especially if he has developed new skills such as walking. He may need to reconnect with you a bit. I think I would try just giving him a drink of water, holding or patting him a bit until he settles down - or is this sort of thing not working either?

I think that taking him to a pediatric chiropractor is a great idea. Our third baby was adjusted just a few days after he was born and he was the only one not to have any collicky symptoms whatsoever. Chiropractic can help with the ear problems, too.

I agree with many of the previous posts: Go see the ENT, also consult a chiropractor who sees lots of kids. I'm taking my 19 month old to a really good one in an attempt to get to the root of chronic nasal drainage. (I tried zyrtec and prevacid on the MD/PhD allergist's recommendation first, but it didn't do much good and I don't want him on long-term meds without exhausting all other alternatives.) Now my son and I get adjusted at the same time, and we are both feeling much better. The chiropractor is super gentle and her practice is about 30% kids. (Melissa Shelton) Food allergies may be the root cause. Eliminating cow milk is a great thing to try.

Another thing to check into is cranio-sacral massage therapy. My now almost 8 year old daughter has been a poor sleeper all her life. Cranio-sacral massage therapy made a HUGE difference in helping her sleep better. She sees Ken Piercy (www.kenpiercy.com) about every 3 months now to maintain her even keel and keep sleeping. This type of massage is also extremely gentle. I took my youngest for a massage at 4 days old just in case. I don't ever want to repeat the years of interrupted sleep I went through with my first!

Trust your gut. You know your child best, so don't be afraid to be a forceful advocate for his interests. Check out the options, learn about the various theories, then make your own decision about what is right for you and your child. Any health care provider should be perfectly willing to answer, "Why should we do this?" or "What happens if we don't do this?" or "What are the risks of this treatment?"

Good luck. Keep looking for the thing or combination of things that will help your child sleep better. You will all feel better for it!

S.
SAHM of 3: ages 8, 5 1/2, 19 months

My son had only silent symptoms of reflux. No throwing up or spitting up. He had a hard time burping. Would not sleep for more than about 20 minutes at night starting at 2 weeks. We had to hold him upright to sleep, and that was the only way. Occasionally he would make a gurgling noise that worried me, but he never aspirated

We went to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist in downtown Ft.Worth. We learned that acid reflux will cause stuffy noses, and problems with burping. I was breast feeding, and had eliminated ALL DAIRY at my doctor's instruction. We still had to give him medicine - liquid Zantac and liquid bethanacol. That did the trick! I don't know if this helps, but there does seem to be some similarities. Good luck!

PS-Ear infections are a very real issue for sleeping babies! Don't let that go....my sister's boys both had to have tubes in their ears and it was amazing how their infections stopped. What a blessing they were.

Our daughter is 12.5 months old and these patterns sound almost exactly like ours. We'll go stretches where she sleeps great, and stretches where she's not sleeping well. You explained it perfectly -- they seem "uncomfortable". We've done EVERYTHING that you're doing (teething tablets, raising one side of the bed, etc.) and like you, can never pin down what one thing actually works.

I have noticed, though, that she's more restless during the night during times of marked development. For example, it started when she was learning to roll over. Then I noticed it again as she was learning to crawl. And right now -- she's waking up restless again -- she's trying to stand/walk. I've read somewhere that they WILL wake up restless during the night during these times, and that some moms will even walk in to find their kids "practicing" their new skills in their sleep.

On the crying it out front, I'm just like you. If there's an underlying issue, why make them scream and not help them. However, we DO let her cry it out if we find that simply picking her up and rocking her stops the crying. That, to us, is a sign that she's "training us" to come pick her up and get some mommy time in the middle of the night. If picking her up and soothing her DOESN'T work, we tend to lean toward teething pain, earache, or some other discomfort.

Our pediatrician once told us, when we communicated the pattern to her, that she was pretty confident that our daughter had "trained us" and expected us to come in around 4 am for some cuddle time.

If nothing else, I hope it's helpful to know that you're not alone out there!

I would have him tested for food allergies. Their might be somehting that is bothering him and keeping him from resting properly. Also, 79% of recurrent ear infections are due to food allergies. Just an FYI.

Hello I would follow your pedi's advice and see the ent. We fought ear infections for months with my son and finally the month he turned two they out tubes in his ears. He was a new child, less fussy, slept better, chronic runny nose stopped and he began talking and outting words together. It was an amazing turn around for us. Good Luck

PLEASE go get the books The Vaccone Book by Dr. Sears and "WHat you doctor may not tell you about vaccines" by Stephanie Cave. I am NOT anti vaccine but what your saying, vaccine can have an affect on your baby. Be informed and read read read. You can also try a chiropractor and try a homeopath too. That is a great idea. Because the docs are going to want to give your baby meds. There is a more natural way to help with what you are going through

Before i took him to all these doctors. I would think it would make more sense to first rule out if it is a habit! Maybe you can't find a solution because there isn't a problem. One of the best things you can teach a child is how to self sooth so that they can fall asleep on their own.

Are you sure he's not overtired? When mine are overtired, they don't sleep as well at night. Are his naps good quality (around 2-3 hours) during the day?

I would also agree with a previous post. Pull him off of cow's milk. He's probably allergic if he's getting ear infections.

You can also try mangosteen juice for reflux. I've heard that works wonders, and its all natural.

We just recently put our 7 month old on Singulair (granules that go in his food) for allergies. He was waking up at all hours and had a really stuffed up nose. During the day he seemed fine but laying down for a long period of time made it hard for him to breathe and he would wake and be fussy. This may be what your little boy is suffering from. It's worth checking out. Our pediatrician said if we didn't see an improvement within a week to stop giving it to him.

My 11 month old is just now heading in for tubes that may help with some of our similar issues. But the latest thing I tried was bath before bed. I know that sounds simple, but I never thought of it -- we always did them as play-time during the day. I noticed immediately that she slept better. I don't know if it's the relaxation factor or if the water being poored on her face clears her sinuses better so she can sleep, but it works like a charm. No more waking up at night. I just kick myself for not trying it before!
We do a bottle at 7-ish, then play for 30 min, bath for 5-10 min (just long enough to get clean), dry-off, lotion up, brush what little hair she has, jammies on, sing 1-3 songs and she goes down without any complaints, still awake, but drifts off in 3-4 minutes and does not wake up until 8am-ish if not disturbed (by our puppies barking! or mommy getting ready for work). Hope this helps. Hang in there!

If he has problems with his nose you should run a cool mist vaporizer in his room all the time. My kids and I all have allergies and it makes a world of difference. Also, if you haven't, put something under his mattress or get a back rest and have him sleep propped up.

You might if it is between 4-6, also try putting him to bed later or cutting out a nap. If he is hungry, water would help so keep a sippy cup where he can reach it if he wakes during the night.

Take him to the doctor, I know that we don't want to do the tubes unless it is absolutely necessary but for most people the problems just stop immediately when they are put in so the suffering every night seems much worse. At least rule it out and go from there.

C.,

Because he's had so many ear infections, taking him off cow's milk will be a good start that you can do at home. Switch to goat's milk which is less allergenic. Seeing a chiro is also a fantastic idea. Be sure to find one that has a family practice and used to seeing children. I would be glad to make you a recommendation depending on where you live or you can call my office at ###-###-####. I see many children in my practice and ear infections are one of the many things I see on a daily basis. Sleeping issues are usually a common and easily taken care of thru chiropractic adjustments. Also, 95% of all ear infections are NOT caused by bacteria, but are viral in nature and antibiotics will just make each subsequent ear infection and/or symptoms worse. If your pedi is not doing a culture, then they are just giving your child a useless prescription. The guidelines now shown thru the American Academy of Pediatrics says that it's best to watch and wait with an ear infection due to that very fact. Call my office or email me directly at ____@____.com Hope this helps!

Totally go see an ENT! My son woke up regularly until 15 months when we had his ears checked. They said the pressure in his ears was at the maximum behind the ear drums, and it makes it worse when they lie down. And this was when he was well, so I can't imagine it when he was sick! This also makes his hearing muffled, which slowed his speech. He had had several ear infections in that time-frame too. So we got the ear tubes, and he has been perfect ever since. I wish we had gotten them soooner so he would have been more comfortable and gotten more rest! Please take him in just to check! H.