Help! 17 month old 3am screams!

[stephck]

Here is our situation:

DD goes to bed between 8-9pm in her own bed. She frequently wakes up within an hour of falling asleep but generally goes back to bed if I lay next to her. Sometimes she's up 3-4 times before 10pm. Wakes up again at midnite and we bring her to our bed, where she quickly falls asleep. Wakes up at 3am and screams for an hour despite pats cuddles gentle singing etc. We mostly night-weaned a la Gordon 2 months ago (Before that she nursed all night and I was up way too often). She is allowed to start nursing at 4 (it was 5, but I couldn't handle 2 hours of screaming). After a year and a half DH and I are in desperate need of at least 6 consecutive hours. Thoughts??

I'm working fulltime and still enjoy my snuggle nursing (although I wish it was 5-6...not 4)

[Jend1002]

I am sorry - I don't have any helpful advice. I know that can be annoying when you are coming here for help but sometimes I appreciate hearing that I am not the only one. I just wanted to tell you that I practically could have written almost exactly what you wrote. We are looking for solutions too!

[just_lily]

My DD woke up having temper fits at around the same age. At the time she was in her crib pretty much full time (we still brought her into bed with us halfway through the night at times, but she always started the night in her crib). There was really no rhyme or reason to it, but I think she woke up, was angry and overtired, and just lost it.

Sometimes I would be able to calm her down before it escalated by asking her before I did anything - do you want me to pick you up, do you want a hug, do you want mommy to tuck you back in, do you need your bum changed, do you want some milk, etc. etc. She was still pre-verbal, but would nod or shake her head. If I just picked her up, for example, without asking she would lose it and would go into full-on temper fit for about an hour.

Just what you want to be dealing with at 3am, no?

It wasn't fun, but the good news is that it lasted for about a month, and then just went away. Hopefully it will just go away for you too!

[AKA_PI]

I am going through the same thing! Thank goodness I'm not alone. I'm still struggling to get sleep with my 18 month old.

[AmyKT]

Could she be having a night terror at the same time each night? If so, do you think she's getting overheated? That always seems to be what brings on DDs night terrors.