Is this accidental parenting?

[melaniemt]

My dd is 22mths and is very good when going to bed in the evenings, which she does at 7:00 pm.  Most times she goes without problems but we've had the odd night when she's been up 20 mins later but think this was due to illness or teething.  Anyway, the jist of our problem is that she usually stirs at 4:00 am exactly or like today at 5:00 am.  She stands at the bottom of her cot crying.  When I go in, she lies back down and I then proceed to cover her up and again and leave the room.  She normally then goes back down until anytime between 6:00-7:00 am (on a good day - she has been know to rise at 5!).  She does this without fail every night - is it accidental parenting?

Also, she always wakes up grumpy in the mornings and after her naps.  Nothing consoles her and she doesn't seem to know what she wants which often leads to tantrums - any ideas?

Mel

[anna and adam]

Yes, you are probably right, it is probably a case of accidental parenting, we all do it from time to time don't we? She got used to checking that you are still around at 4 in the morning and once she has seen you happily goes back to sleep...have you tried wake to sleep to break the habit of waking up fully at the same time every night? Does she scream or just chat? My ds is 22 months and spends ages talking to himself in his cot, I think there are just so many new milestones at this age, there are so many new skills to learn and so frustrating for them. He sometimes wakes up in a real bad mood, but if he agrees to sit on the potty for a wee he usually feels much better once he has remembered why he is so uncomfortable. When that doesn't work the last resort is to pop him infront of the tv for five minutes, just as a distraction from the screaming- always works, but possibly through accidental parenting!