Daughter crying in middle of the night (ideas, toddlers, parents) - Children, problems, school, daycare, behavior, age, teenagers, infants - City-Data Forum

usedtobeanyer · 08-05-2009, 06:32 AM

My 2 and a half year old has woke up crying every night in the middle of the night for the last week or two. My wife and I don't ever have to go in, she stops after a minute or two and goes back to sleep. We don't know why this is--she's always been a great sleeper. I will say that she's been giving us a very hard time lately overall with lots of fits/tantrums during the day and she seems to be not adapting very well to the arrival of her little brother (who is 9 months old).

Any idea of what this is all about? Oh, one other point--a couple of weeks ago she had what I think was her first experience with nightmares/night terrors--yikes, that was scary. Don't know if that is significant or not...

malamute · 08-05-2009, 06:38 AM

That's the age the nightmares often start. Their imaginations are kicking in and they can have vivid frightening dreams. Night terrors is something different. They appear to be awake and are screaming, they'll look right at you but seem to not recognize you, and those have something to do with a level of deep sleep they reach from being over-stimulated or over tired.

Roselvr · 08-05-2009, 07:14 AM

Have you guys watched any horror movies with her around, or has she seen pieces of scary things while flipping channels?

usedtobeanyer · 08-05-2009, 07:54 AM

No horror movies or scary things or anything, but she does have a very vivid imagination. I suppose it is just scary dreams. Makes me feel so bad but I guess there's nothing we can do?

Roselvr · 08-05-2009, 07:58 AM

Can you "talk" to her about it? Try to ask questions to see if she can tell you what's going on?

1phwalls · 08-05-2009, 08:55 AM

I have night terrors. If it is night terrors, she will not be able to tell you anything about the "dream", other than that she was scared of something.

Nightmares are very vivid and you can tell someone what happened - if it is right after teh it happens of course. If yuo wait till later she might not be able to remember.

hypocore · 08-05-2009, 10:38 AM

It could also be something as simple as a growth spurt. Their body aches when hit with one and it makes sleeping well hard to accomplish.

max's mama · 08-05-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usedtobeanyer

My 2 and a half year old has woke up crying every night in the middle of the night for the last week or two. My wife and I don't ever have to go in, she stops after a minute or two and goes back to sleep. We don't know why this is--she's always been a great sleeper. I will say that she's been giving us a very hard time lately overall with lots of fits/tantrums during the day and she seems to be not adapting very well to the arrival of her little brother (who is 9 months old).

Any idea of what this is all about? Oh, one other point--a couple of weeks ago she had what I think was her first experience with nightmares/night terrors--yikes, that was scary. Don't know if that is significant or not...

My son went through the same thing at about the same age. What my doctor said that it's called "night terrors", not to be confused with nightmares. Many toddlers go through this. Basically they wake up in the middle of the night and out of nowhere start hysterically crying, but with a blank stare, and when parents try to ask what's going on, they don't respond because they are not really awake. Then they go back to sleep like nothing happened and leaving their parents all stressed out.
This is a temporary thing and passes after some time. My son is now 4 and I don't even remember last time this happened.

usedtobeanyer · 08-05-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max's mama

My son went through the same thing at about the same age. What my doctor said that it's called "night terrors", not to be confused with nightmares. Many toddlers go through this. Basically they wake up in the middle of the night and out of nowhere start hysterically crying, but with a blank stare, and when parents try to ask what's going on, they don't respond because they are not really awake. Then they go back to sleep like nothing happened and leaving their parents all stressed out.
This is a temporary thing and passes after some time. My son is now 4 and I don't even remember last time this happened.

Thanks, this definitely isn't night terrors. As I mentioned, she had one of those recently and it was very different. This is a short crying spell, like a minute or two.

txgolfer130 · 08-05-2009, 06:37 PM

The short crying spell, actually sounds like a growth spurt type of thing. I would check for a new tooth coming in as well. Growth spurts can be signaled by increased/decreased appetite. Runny and particularly stinky stool. Tugging on the ear's for new teeth, especially if they are coming in close to the back of the mouth.

Also, temperature variations that occur during the night can become bothersome to the child, and cause a partial awakening, and thus you get the short crying from being disturbed.

Just a few ideas.