Crying upon waking - normal?

[NanoMama]

My dd (19 months) will generally cry for a few minutes upon waking from naps, and from any other post-sleep situation (mornings and night-time wakes). We co-sleep so I am in bed with her for morning and most night wakings. She does settle down fairly fast once breasts are made available... I don't think she is hungry as she eats really well and snacks/breast feeds regularly through the day.

I'm just wondering if other toddlers do this? Is it a transition from sleep to wake thing? Is there anything people have found to help this. I just wish for her that she could have a more peaceful start to a new day and post-nap time.

thanks for any thoughts!

[frontierpsych]

My toddler does this too, he is 18 months. I think it is a normal toddler thing, and they usually outgrow it by preschool age.

[foodymama]

Same here. My 21 mo. DD does the same thing. I wish she could wake up happy, it breaks my heart when she wakes up crying.

[jeliphish]

totally normal stage of development.

[mamadelbosque]

DS is happy as a clam when he wakes up in the morning, but cranky and whiny for the first 15-60 minutes after waking up from a nap. So, I call normal

[summerforever1977]

Same here. I feel like I am walking on eggshells when my DS (26m) wakes from his naps. It can last a few minutes to an hour. He is a good morning waker, but still wakes a few times a night crying and I soothe him back to sleep; very annoying at night, but whaddya gonna do???

[Summersquash]

DD does this too. I have to be SUPER calm and quiet and allow her to really slowly wake up, sit up, look around, examine my belly button, nurse, etc., etc., etc. If we move too quickly (such as, if I were to get out of the bed and use the bathroom before she's ready for me to get up) then we're looking at major upset.

[AllyRae]

My 14 month old does the same thing. If I nurse (let her comfort suck) her right after she wakes up while we're still laying down, she doesn't cry when she's done. I guess she just likes a slow transition to the day. :

[lolar2]

In some cases it can mean they didn't get enough sleep. If you try for an earlier bedtime for a week or so, that might help-- if it doesn't help, you know it's not that!

[PeachBaby]

for my ds, i discovered when he was 3 months old that he was having food sensitivity reactions. so when I started working to find out what foods he was reacting to -- and that was a rollercoaster, uphill-downhill, experience -- all his symptoms, including waking up crying until I nursed him, would reflect whether we were doing good on our diet or not. amazing (!!!!) correlation. not an easy or fun path to take, but if it makes ds feel soooo much better and healthy, i am going to do it for him.

[boatswainwife]

my 19 month old does this too, usually when he is still a little groggy.

[Bokonon]

My 4.5 year old still does this sometimes! Most of the time, he'll call "Mommy!" or "Daddy! I want to get up now!", but occasionally if he's still partly asleep, he'll cry a little.

[physmom]

DD does this when she needs to pee but doesn't want to wake up yet. Have you tried putting her on the potty when she does this?

Teething pain also causes this or if she's really hungry but it's mostly when she has to pee.

[honey-lilac]

My son woke up like this every morning (at 4 am, no less!) until he was about 18-20 months old. Now he rarely if ever does, only if he's taking a nap in the car and we stop and he wakes up earlier than he wants to. My daughter never cries on waking up, she is crazy happy when she wakes up and starts squealing in delight and takes off running immediately. So I guess it varies from kiddo to kiddo - nothing to worry about unless you suspect a food allergy or peeing issue, like pp's mentioned. If those aren't it, well, it's probably just a phase.

[4Jet]

yup- DD does the same. Only rarely does she wake without some sort of fussing. She's 2.5- it's always been that way

[Aufilia]

My 4-year-old still does it once in awhile, too. Usually when she's really, really groggy. I think it's just because she's awake but not REALLY awake, you know? Disoriented. Usually we just cuddle for a bit, maybe 10 minutes, and then she's fine.

[kirstenb]

DS1 is almost 3 and he still does it at times, usually if he hasn't been getting quite enough sleep.