Why does my toddler tantrum in her sleep?

[AllyRae]

As if her constant daytime tantrums weren't enough! My once easy-going baby is now the epitome of spirited toddler. She tends to tantrum, a lot. Add to it that she's never been a fantastic sleeper--I don't think she's slept through the night since she was like a week old. She has to nap in my lap every day or she's so restless that she only will sleep 5 or 6 minutes at a time (unless she's in the car...then she'll sleep 2 hours.) She.sucks.at.sleep. It's hard to imagine that this same child was the ultra-sleepy preterm baby that was only awake an hour a day for the first month.

She's now 18 1/2 months old and in the past couple weeks, she's been back to waking up several times a night. And she's not just waking up, but she's waking up in a full tantrum--screaming "MAMA MAMA NO MINE!!" over and over again and kicking really hard. (We co-sleep, and yesterday I woke up to getting kicked in the nose so hard, I was seeing stars). It's getting rather exhausting to deal with tantrums all day AND all night. And I can't figure out *why* she is tantruming at night...it's not like I'm taking anything away from her. LOL!!

So, does anyone have a clue as to why this little firecracker thinks she also needs to tantrum all night long? We don't CIO and I doubt it would even do much good. She's a pretty relentless tantrumer.

[One_Girl]

That sounds like night terrors. Your pediatrician can give you info on helping her through them. The first time my dd had one I brought her to the ER because I was sure she was very sick, she was crying unconsolably for a long time. They gave me information about night terrors and how to help children move past that stage. It really helped but I don't remember what all the info was. You can probably google night terrors and get the same info.

[newmamalizzy]

Night terrors was my first thought, too. I had them when I was a toddler, and my mom and sister say I looked like I was awake, but continued to scream and hit my mother.

[PGTlatte]

ITA with night terrors. Both our kids have had them. 4 yo still has them.

[StephandOwen]

I agree with night terrors. Owen had them when he was little (started just after his first birthday). The first time he did it was so freaky! He did it once, then finally stopped. Within an hour he was doing it again. At this point I freaked thinking something was seriously wrong with him so I took him to the ER.... he was asleep before we made it. Went back home and a few minutes later he started again. That was a long night. LOL! The next day I called the dr who said night terrors. With Owen he never got just one a night. If he had one I knew we were in for a long night. The good news? They outgrow them Owen had them from ages 1-3 then I don't think he's had any since then.

[AllyRae]

Oh goodness, I was so not ready for them to start young. I mean, Jocelyn always had them, but to me, she always had a "reason" (she has a lot of trauma issues). What on earth would she have night terrors about? Is she dreaming about people taking stuff away from her? She frequently wakes up yelling "NO, MINE!!!" and kicking the everliving crud out of me.

Last night, before she went to bed, I had a talk with her, telling her that she needs to get some sleep and she needs to have a calm sleep. Not sure if it worked or if she was just exhausted, but she only woke up 3 times last night, and none involved screaming bloody murder. (I'm kind of thinking she was just exhausted...but just in case, maybe I'll repeat the talk with her tonight. : )

[JessicaS]

Night terrors can be related to stress, lack of sleep, illness, a growth spurt..lots of things. My younger sister always had night terrors when she was going through growth spurts

[AllyRae]

Ok, that makes sense...she woke up with a cold this morning, and so maybe it was working up to her cold?

Wow, that is so weird...I don't think I've ever seen this happen with DS! Poor Mia...no wonder nothing really helped her when I tried calming her down during one of these.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by abimommy

Night terrors can be related to stress, lack of sleep, illness, a growth spurt..lots of things.

That's interesting.

DS never screamed anything (word-wise) during his, he just SCREAMED at the top of his lungs. Blood curdling screams til his face was purple. But, then again, he had language delays then and wasn't speaking at all so I would think it was weird if he was yelling actual words in his sleep. LOL!

And yup, nothing ever helped. I would just hold him until it was over. Dang, I'm glad those days are over now