Waking up SCREAMING! Please help!!!

[a_astorga]

Hi,

My 11 month old boy is in general a good sleeper, not great, but OK. He naps well twice a day.

However, for the last 2 months or so, he goes to bed OK by himself, doesn't need help falling asleep. But then after 30, 45 mins or even 1.5- 2 hours he wakes up screaming like he has nightmares.

In the past sometimes he would wake up like this cause he pooed so I had to change him and put him back to sleep.  This happened not so often , but it did happen from time to time. So everytime he wakes up at night I always think it might be poo. But he stopped pooing and keeps waking up.

So he wakes up and I go upstairs to get him and even when I have him he keeps screaming like he's out of it, it takes a while to calm him down. I have to leave the room and show him the windown or a light switch and then when he's calm I just humm to him to keep him calm. Then he starts getting sleepy and sucks his thumb or just rests his head on my chest. This process takes from 15-20 mins. Then when I see he has his eyes closed I put him down in his crib and he'll fall back asleep . Sometimes I'm not even sure if he already fell back asleep on my chest. I just leave the room quickly. Sometimes he can wake up up to 3 times!! BTW his room is pitch black.

So why is he doing this? What causes this? What am I doing wrong??

I thought he would outgrow it but he hasn't. It's been months where I just put him to sleep and he doesn't wake up.

Thanks for reading!!

[Kimberly®]

If the room is completly dark this may be the problem. Your DS may in fact be having night terrors, and be afread of the dark. Babies, like adults oftern enter a lighter sleep time when they are actually more awake then asleep.
Have you tired to put a night light into his room at all? This may help. Especially if you are able to have him g to sleep on his own.
Some babies for whatever reason seem to have the night terrors. The best I could tell you is to keep comforting him. When he finally calms down lay him down while he's still awake, pat his back and continue to humm to him and make him feel safe. I would recomend that once he is settled you leave the room, if he cries then go and repeat the process.
HTH

[Samismum]

hello

my son used to do this aswell when i put the blackout blinds up,,,,he would always fall asleep by self and wake after 45mins to 1 hr,,,i started to leave a nightlight on and turn it out when i went to bed and he stopped within a  few days

my ds also wakes up screaming when he is too hot.

Hope that helps.

[Mom2X&F&V]

I have a niece also 11 months old and another of 13 months ando both did the same. They were hungry. They put up their calories during day and give more proteins as dinner and they stopped doing so. That were just my family, I am not sure if that may be it it is just what they did and how they handle it. Hope it helps. I now nothing about nightmares so young, sorry.

[a_astorga]

Hi,

Thanks for all your suggestions. I know he is not hungry since he just ate and his room doesn't get hot since I leave the fan on all night for white noise.

I tried the night light and when I put him down he wouldn't settle himself. After a while I turned the night light off and he went to sleep w/o waking up. However he still wakes up from 1-3 times . The thing about the night light is why is he not afraid when he goes to sleep on his own? Sometimes he just babbles and babbles on his own. And on a cloudy afternoon his room turns pitch black as well and he never cries out like that. He can babble in the dark for over an hour!!

So could it really be night terrors? And why only at night?

Thanks

[pdb]

Boy does that sound familiar!  We have had the same problem only for us it started at 9 months.  If it's night terrors, it has nothing to do with the night light because children don't have any recollection of night terrors.  Nightmares on the other hand are scary for them, but when I asked my pediatrician about that, he told me typically children this young don't have nightmares.  (Although how do they know that?  Do they survey a bunch of one year olds??? :? ) 

Anyway, the night light was not the issue for us either because we have always had one in my dd's room.  We have had phases where she'll go to sleep without a problem then wake up like you described and other phases where it has taken up to two hours of screaming before she'll go down, but then she's down for the night. 

I don't have any good solutions for you.  I can just say that after a month or so she quit doing that.  Then we started having night wakings where she would actually seem to be awake, but would settle and go right back to sleep if I held her for a minute.  Last week she finally slept through the night again for 5 days straight but the past two nights she's been up a couple of times.  She's got a cold and has started back at the sitter's since my Winter Break is over so I'm attributing it to that.

Sorry I don't have any good solution for you.  I just wanted to let you know you are not alone.  Let me know if you figure it out.  I'll send you good sleep vibes.

[Kimberly®]

night terrors = nightmares

Some children for what ever reason are pron to them. If thats what happening the bet thing you can do is be there for your LO. It is possible for infant to get them as well. Just be there and hold your child, comfort them the best you can. If it persist the only thing I could suggest is that you talk to your DR. I'm not sure if the can do anything for you, but maybe they can help.

[Kimberly®]

I'm going to move your post to  "sleeping for toddler " in the hopes that someone there with an older child may have experience with this and can help you.

[{{{Angela}}}]

I just wanted to add this happened to us starting at around 11 months too.  I'm still not sure what the real reason was - maybe night terrors, separation anxiety, teething...  Xavier would wake up screaming and screaming and not stop even when I picked him up.  I ended up sleeping in his room on a cot in case it was separation anxiety, but it didn't really help and just made things uncomfortable for me.  He would wake up anywhere from 3-5 times a night, sometimes not settling for 2 hours!  He would also not go to sleep on his own, so I would do PU/PD (in his case, only the PD part because he was standing up) for hours!  After about a month, things seemed to settle down.  We didn't rush in at the first cry anymore, and let him try to settle himself down more (sometimes letting him cry for a maximum of 30-45 seconds to see if he really needed us).  I guess it's just a phase some babies go through, but it does end!!  Hang in there!!

[a_astorga]

Thanks!!

[Ellies_mom]

I have been reading posts for days on end trying to see if anyone else has/had the same problems as all of you mentioned with your LO`s. My DD is soon to be 17 months old and wakes up screaming and crying 1-3 times a night without fail. Its exhausting and we have tried everything. Initially we thought teething, too hot, too cold, separation anxiety, then maybe hunger (her appetite has diminished somewhat), we honestly dont know what else to think other than nightmares/nightterrors. We have never let her cry but dont run into her room either because often she will just cry out in her sleep. Our DD has always woken up in the night, rarely has she gone a full night. Its soo hard to see them crying at night knowing full well sleep is what their bodies need. Some nights its mommy she wants, other nights it daddy, I often wonder where we went wrong?! I`m soo relieved to know we arent alone in this. Can anyone whos been through this tell us how long it can last? I work full time and cannot function for days/weeks on end on 3 hours of sleep a night.
As always, thanks for all the great advise/support!

[Wilsmon]

Our ds is only 11 mos but I have a few questions.  What is your dd bedtime and wake up time?  I couldn't tell from your post but how long does it take to get her back to sleep?  Does she use a pacifier or have a lovey?