Wide Awake & Talking to Herself (17mos)

[Jenifer]

Ok, this is odd ... 

My DD has woken up for the past 3 nights and just laid there talking to herself (I can tell she's not up and running around her crib - she's relaxed and talking).  Three nights ago it was from 1am - 3:30am .  Two nights ago it was from 12am - 1am.  Last night it was from 11pm - 12pm.  She does not call for us but just lays there talking to herself and then goes back to sleep.  I went in on the first night, thinking maybe she had pooped - but no, she just sat there with me, telling me about all the things in her room.

She has a HUGE vocabulary (about 250 words - yes, I wrote them down and counted  ) and what I'm hearing in the middle of the night is her telling "stories."  For instance, awhile ago I found a spider on her wall and I showed it to her, picked it up and put it in the toilet (I know, I know, I should have put it outside  ) - well, in the night I hear her saying "spider .. wall .. pick-up .. toilet .. all gone."   

The thing I find odd about this is that she's putting words or thoughts together rather than just laying there talking gibberish.

I remember when she was an infant there was a book I referred to called "The Wonder Weeks" where it talked about cognitive developments that disrupt sleep at specific times during their first year and I wonder if she's come upon a communication / verbal cognitive development time and this is what is going on in the middle of the night.  Isn't around 18 months typically a time when their vocabulary takes off? 

Am I onto something with this?  Has anyone else experienced this?  Should I be doing something in the night (ie: going in and telling her that its time to sleep)?   

Thanks for your help.

Mods - if this should be under the Sleeping For Toddlers, please move it.

[momofclaire]

Jenifer,
You are onto something.  It is very normal.  She has AMAZING vocabulary, by the way.  I would just wait it out.  If she doesn't call for you let her tell some stories and drift back to sleep.  It shouldn't last too long.
Myia

[brightside]

Could well be a word explosion developmental thing. I would be careful that she isn't getting overtired though if she is waking at night for that long. DS used to do this occasionally months ago before he could talk but he would gurgle away for about 2 hours. He used to do it when he was overtired-sometimes he would wake and cry and other times he would gurgle away. The chatting is much more pleasant to listen to though-lol.

[Layla]

Jenifer - just wanted to add that she might also be waking up from too much daytime sleep... so if her nap is 3hrs long then you might want to reduce it to see if that will help. Otherwise, I agree that it could be developmental & language related.