30mo always wakes up distressed/crying

[To-Fu]

My 30mo always wakes up distressed/crying/sensitive/hysterical. He wakes up from naps this way, and it's the same in the middle of the night or in the morning when he's well rested. There are a few times when he wakes up neutral/happy, but probably 98% of the time he's freaking out in distress. Doesn't matter if a parent is in the room smooshed right up next to him or not. For full disclosure, he also has a hard time falling asleep for naps and nighttime.

Does anyone else have a kid like this? Or does anyone have any ideas on causes/remedies? We share a family bed (including our 9-week-old new baby) and so it would be a little nicer if everyone didn't wake up in alarm several times a day. I'm also concerned that there's something wrong with my 30mo and hate to see him so distressed.

[To-Fu]

Bump?

[tankgirl73]

Has he always been like this or is it a recent thing?

DD has gone through various phases, where she would ALWAYS wake up in some kind of abject terror... and other phases where she would always wake up with a smile and a skip and a giggle. We just chalk it up to developmental shenanigans.

[WindyCityMom]

Mine is 30 months old as well. Does the same thing- so I'll be checking this out!

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

Has he always been like this or is it a recent thing?

DD has gone through various phases, where she would ALWAYS wake up in some kind of abject terror... and other phases where she would always wake up with a smile and a skip and a giggle. We just chalk it up to developmental shenanigans.

Nah, he's always done this. It must be a temperament thing, but we can't figure out the best way to deal with it to minimize upset (for him and everyone else).

[WindyCityMom]

Maybe he just doesn't like waking up? Maybe his pajamas are scratchy? Pillow lumpy? Back hurts from the mattress?

Is he a verbal kid.. would he be able to tell you if something out of the ordinary was wrong?

[ZeezMom]

My 29-month-old is like this also. A horrible sleeper from Day 1. I used to joke that he was like me, a grouch when waking up. But some days I would spend upwards of an hour calming him down from his post-sleep hysterics.

He's gotten better in the morning, but naps are still horrible. I dread every waking.

Here's to this phase passing.

[enigo]

When my son was that age he did the same thing. We co-sleep too and every morning that I wasn't up before him I'd nearly have a heart attack when he would freak out in my ear sending me straight up in bed.
Nap time too. He would wake up hysterically screaming as he came down the hallway.
When I read the OP, I thought "Hmmmm he hasn't done that in a while"...
He still will have nightmare maybe once a month or so and wake up screaming, but he doesn't do it when he wakes in the morning anymore.

He was the same way too. He was born screaming and is very difficult to get to sleep at night.