12 Mo Old Waking up Screaming

M.,

My son did this too and I took him to the Dr and he had an ear infection. A horrible one. He didn't really have any signs of having an ear infection either. He finally ended up with a slight fever and I just knew something wasn't right.

Another thing that can cause night waking is teething. He could be getting his one year molars. It is so hard to tell at that age because they can't exactly verbalize what is wrong. It could also be night terrors - just like someone else said or possibly seperation anxiety. I would take him to the Pediatrician. I hope it gets better soon. Good Luck!

Try turning on a radio for him it might help!!

I wouldn't think letting him cry would be the answer, since obviously something is wrong. Could he be having night terrors or nightmares? Has anything in your family changed recently? He's right about the age when imaginations start kicking in, which can cause some problems. Have you talked to the doctor about what is going on? It's so hard to tell with little ones. I would say keep holding him and loving him, but try to find out what is going on.

You can take him to a naturopathic dr. and have a NEAT test done on him, which will tell you what he is allergic to and will help you to fix his allergies. I don't think insurance will cover it, but I did it with my little one and it really helped. I went to Dr. Kail, but there are some less expensive dr.'s out there.

Good luck!!

Hi M.
I went through all this with my son he would cry until we held him then wake back up once we put him down he went through this until he was 2 and his problem was gas. He was extremely gasy try rubbing his back put him face down and rub his back and talk to your doctor about some gas medicine. Good Luck
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My doc always says that usually if they are waking up screaming, they need to have their ears checked for an ear infection. They can act fine during the day, but at night, when they lay down, it is more painful. Have you had his ears checked? Might be worth it. It's the only time my dd 5 and ds 3 wake up screaming...
Hugs!

I have three kids, boys 3&2 and a girl 8. None of them slept through the night until they were close to 2, but they all three suffered from night terrors, which is kind of like sleepwalking without the walking. It is some bad dream that they are not aware of and are still asleep if you wake them it makes it worse. My kids finally outgrew the proplem, although the little one still has terrors once inwhile. Ask your dr about this. I feel for your lack of sleep, I have only just started sleeping through the night in last 3 months or so. I am not the type to let them cry it out, it hurts my heart to hear that pain from one of my children. Ask your dr if this might be some sort of sleeping disorder, she would know the most if this might be a medical condition. At one point we had to put the baby in a portable crib in our room so he would not wake all the kids in the house until the baby started to sleep through the night. Keep in mind that this may cause other problems so try to keep as much distance between you and the crip, and put up some kind of "wall" to keep him knowing he is so close to mommy. Also if you are the only one going to him during the night to comfort him back to sleep, try having daddy do it, the baby will not expect the same treatment from him and daddy may be able to find a faster fix then you can. Good luck

Not to be stupid but is he falling out of bed?

sounds to me like he is teething. My almost 1 year old has been doing this. He had 7 teeth break all within a month. Some days he is fine and then he is in pain again. You know the pain cry so you just need to pinpoint the pain. When I give my guy pain reliever and swab his gums with oragel he goes back to sleep fine. Have you checked for new teeth breaking??

My daughter is 14mo old, when we moved into our new house 3+mo ago, she started screaming in the middle of the night. The first time it happened it scared me to death. She was completely limp, wouldn't open her eyes and screamed as if she were in pain. Luckily my mother in law was visiting and she was a nurse at Bethany Home Birthing Center, she said that there was nothing wrong with her, but that she wasn't awake. We have learned that the only thing that helps is her daddy's cell phone, the lights and ringtones wake her up and calm her down. Once she's calm, we offer her a bottle then we put her back to bed. We've gotten used to the night terrors, they don't happen as often anymore, so if this is what your son is going through, maybe it will let up soon. I know most people don't like to dose their kids if they don't think they need it, but if this is an every night occurrance maybe you should try a dose of tylenol before bed and see if that helps. If he seems to sleep longer before waking up screaming or he doesn't wake up screaming at all, the culprit may be growing pains. If it is affecting his daytime routine severely I would make a dr appt just to make sure you aren't missing something else. Good luck!

Everyone is giving excellent suggestions to try! My daughter also went through similar screaming fits during the night. They finally stopped!!! Another thing to try is a radio or CD player in the room. This has helped my daughter to sleep through the night on several occasions. We would either play a baby lullaby CD or an ocean cd. The thunderstorm cd woke her up! :)
Good luck!

Hi M.! He could be having growing pains. If you ask him what hurts, can he tell you? All three of our children's legs will ache especially at night when they are going through a growth spurt. Warm wet wash clothes laid across their shins help, along with some Motrin. I hope you can find the source of his discomfort, it can be so frustrating trying to figure it out! I wish you all the best!

Hi M., It sounds like "night terrors" to me. It is too vast of a subject to discuss here, but look it up in the pediatric child book, or on-line. It will give you a good idea of what they are. Neither reccomends a "cure" per-say, but I noticed that My son tends to get mild ones when he's been medicated. I gave him infant mortin while he was teehing and running a low temp, and I think he has a hard time sleeping on it. Just a thought. I still give him Motrin, but now I make sure it is well before bedtime and I schedule it out in 12 hour doses. I hope this helps.

Babies/Toddlers can have what they call 'night terrors'. It doesn't have to be anything in particular, it's just sometimes they do have their nightmares and they need the security of their parents love. Does he sleep in his own room? You can try putting him in bed with you for a night or two, and see if that will calm him. It did for our son.
Have you tried feeding him more? Sometimes if their tummies aren't full, then they will wake up hungry, or thirsty for milk.
Hope this helps you. :-) Take care.

He could still be teething, have you tried teething tablets? My daughter had a little stage of doing whay your son is doing but after a few nihts of us not going in there to pick her up she was fine..... She cried it out for 45 min one night and then was fine the next night....