DD 2.5 waking up every hour and crying a lot

[Shannie77]

I posted a while ago but didn't get any responses. I am at the end of my rope here and I just don't know what to do.

DD has been waking up at night almost every hour. By waking up I mean stirring and needing me to quickly nurse her so she doesn't fully wake up. Then once or twice a night she will fully wake up and sit up and very quickly start getting really mad that it is still sleeping time. She will have HUGE tantrums, and won't accept any hugs from me. My husband can sometimes hold her and chill her out, but he sleeps in another room ATM and will often hold out coming.

I have been thinking she is getting her final set of molars... since AUGUST! I think that might be part of it, but I don't think it is all of it. We have been doing a really good bedtime routine and she goes down no problem. It is just the waking up and having tantrums. It has been a couple of weeks with the tantrums (before that we were letting her go downstairs with us as we were all really sick and couldn't deal). I am pregnant and just can't take it!!

I am getting so angry with her at night. I honestly wished last night I could just lock her in a room and leave her there so I could sleep.

Has anyone been through anything like this? I keep thinking she will eventually get it that having the tantrum isn't going to get her anywhere... but she keeps having them. During the day she is happy and lovely.

A couple other points:

• My milk is almost gone (for a month now) and she gets frustrated at night
• She often says she is hungry at night - but I give her a big bowl of oatmeal before bed
• She gets angry and makes me take off her pjs, then she won't get under the covers... and then I feel her and she is freezing.

Any advice, thoughts, book recommendations etc. would be hugely appreciated!

[77sugaree]

Is she throwing a fit because she wants to get up and play or maybe because she is not getting enough milk when she tries to nurse? I had to nightwean DS1 when I got pregnant with DS2 and there were lots of tears from both of us.

Then we went through the phase where he would wake up screaming and run out of the room. That stopped when we quit giving him cow's milk (dairy gives him bad gas).

Then he would wake up and throw a fit because he wanted to watch T.V. I finally gave in (I was about 7 months along at this point and so over all of these night wakings) and we put a little T.V. in the bedroom and put a baby gate on the door so he couldn't escape and let him watch Curious George until he fell back to sleep.

So, I don't know if any of this will help but I totally understand about being pregnant and having a child who wakes so often. And for what it's worth, DS2 is a GREAT sleeper

[pacificbliss]

My DS went through this at two. I am a fairly active sleeper, so is DS, and I thought there was a possibility that we were waking each other up. We moved him into his own bed and he slept soundly through the night. of course this was just our one case so i am not saying you should move her. It was what DS needed. It led to night weaning. He's was so busy and not that into nursing during the day so it led to weaning. There were no tears from him but I was shocked that all of the sudden he was out of the bed and weaned in one week. I wasn't ready.

[Shannie77]

Night Terrors?

Thank you so much for responding. Last night as DD thrashed and screamed I was crying and feeling like no one understood. The past 2 nights she has woken up twice. Both times she suddenly starts crying and then gets hysterical. Anything you do makes it worse. After doing some research I am starting to think she is having night terrors. Tonight I am going to try to not touch her or say anything once it starts and see what happens.

I am wondering if these have been triggered because she was sick and wasn't getting enough sleep and got sleep deprived, and now we are in a cycle where she is having these night terrors and isn't getting enough sleep which isn't helping the situation?

We have a queen with a twin pushed up against it. I think I will try to put DD in the twin tonight - which my husband usually sleeps in. I notice that they often start when she touches me.

I also read they can be triggered from overheating and she has been insisting on sleeping naked and with no covers... I wonder if on some level she can sense she needs to avoid getting too hot.

Thanks again!!

[pife]

If you think it might be the molars coming in have you tried a pain reliever just before bed? I wish I had more insight! My one twin sometimes wakes up and ends up having a major tantrum and then takes 2hrs to get back to sleep - we have no idea what it is all about either.

[Therese's Mommy]

Have you considered food allergies? My dd#2 woke hourly until I figured out her food allergies. Now she STTN, which I seriously never ever thought was possible.