17 Month Old Screams Angrily at Night

Updated on October 23, 2009
W.T. asks from Madison, NJ
4 answers

Hi friends,
Our little guy has always woken around 11 PM, but usually just took a pat on the back or a nudge to the water sippy to get himself back to sleep, and would sleep from 6:45 PM to 6:30 AM. But that one waking has taken on a life of its own, and now we have an overtired boy and unhappy family.

Last night he slept from 7:00 to 10:30, but then he was awake, screaming, from 10:30-12:00, then woke at 5:30. He screamed (and screamed and screamed) from 5:30-6:15, dozing for 10 minutes somewhere in there.

He is healthy, though his nose runs (allergies? teething?). He is getting more and more personality (read: stubbornness) and I think his crying is purely protest; one time I picked him up and he immediately giggled and tried to play! I think he doesn't want to put himself back to sleep, but this cycle can't go on. His daytime naps have gotten shorter, as well; from usually 90-120 minutes down to 64 mintues today (after a full hour of screaming). He woke up in a rotten mood, though now with a snack he's smiling and happy.

If you're thinking of recommending the book "Healthy Sleep Habits" please give me a specific page number; finding anything specific in that book is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Add an arrogant author and a tired mama and it's not pretty!

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So What Happened?

I took him to the doctor jsut to be sure that he was physically healthy, so we let him cry it out. It took 11 minutes of crying (as opposed to over an hour when I kept going in to say "we're right here, time to sleep." His naps are back, too... a much happier household.

More Answers

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F.L.

answers from Albany on

I do not recommend taking any medication before you take him to see the doctor. My son was a stubborn baby too and now he's 4. When he was around your son's age, he sometimes woke up in the middle of the night and kicking on the bed angrily. He probably still wanted to sleep but he couldn't so that he was frustrating. I had to be very firm asking him to calm down before taking him up. If he continued to kick, I will leave the room. I also encourage him to tell me what had happened and why he's doing this. Once he calmed down, I would hold him for a couple minutes. After a few times, he learnt how to deal with the bad feeling. He then never woke up with the angry temper again.

Sometimes toddlers wake up in the middle of the night with angry temper because they do not feel well or they just had a bad dream. All we need to do is to help them to learn how to deal with it. Hope my experience would help.

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V.A.

answers from Miami on

I can imagine it is hard, but I am guessing it is teething and what I would recommend is some benedryl for children to calm him down. My daughters pediatrition recommended that when she didn't want to sleep and the same things were happening to you that happened to me. He said 7 nights of benedryl and that will help get them back in schedule and it worked. I thank him for that advice it worked and we all rested better ourselves....Good luck...

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B.P.

answers from New York on

He might be getting molars...they are the worst. Give him some pain medication before bed and see what happens. Give him a break, its hard being a baby sometimes!

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D.S.

answers from New York on

I would get him checked out from the pediatrician just to be on the safe side. My daughter did the same thing and ended up having an ear infection. She was happy as could be during the day but would wake all night long. If you said he has a runny nose it could have caused an ear infection as well. If he knows how to put himself to sleep then he shouldn't be waking screaming. It could also be teething. I would try some Tylenol before bed and then get him checked out by the doc. I am a believer in cry it out but I would have to make sure there was nothing else going on before I would do it. Good luck I hope you get some sleep soon.

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