2 Year Old Waking up at Night

My Mom would tell me to give the kids a few graham crackers and milk. If the milk is warm, there is something in it that makes you sleepy.
With Joshua who cried forever we finally learned to have a routine. Granted after we found out he liked routines it all fell into place. I'd give him his bath, put him in pjs, sing him his baby songs he liked and cuddled him in his blanket. After he got too big for that we slowly changed the routine. The changes were like every three weeks. Eventually he got tired and crawled in on his own.
We didn't learn until he was 7 that he had autism, and that is why he liked the routine.
Good luck.

I don't believe in the cry it out thing. He needs you to feel safe. He's only 2.

I suggest you just bring him into bed with you and teach him to go to sleep. He has the whole rest of his 85 year life to take care of himself and self sooth.

Bringing him to bed with you will teach him that when he tells you that he needs you, you believe him. This teaches a child that his word is understood and believed and that his wants and needs are valid.

You'll get more rest too.

usually low blood sugar can casue night terrors. give him at least 7g of protein befor bed. Like a hard boiled egg or a piece of chicken or string cheese about 1/2 hour to hour befor bed. they say if it is low sugars it is usually around 2-3:30 am. Or a cup of cottage cheese. Let me know if you need more protein ideas. You hae to do it for at least a week religiously for it to stop the terrors and low sugar waking up cycle. Is he on any new allergy meds? Does he eat a lot of carbs and sugar durign the dy. Try to mix the carb with a protein. For example if he has apples to apples and peanut butter or apples and cheese if too yourg or allergies for PB etc. Try apples with lunch meat wrapped around. if he eats ritz cracker make sure there is cheese or a protein with it. My kids with the sugar issues do really well with Applegate farms organic hormone free ham or chicken meat. You can get it at Whole foods or Sunset foods or Trader Joes might even ave some.
Good luck.
I have sick twins who still at three years old drink formula though the night to get their nutrition so I am at 3 years of no sleep. It is putting a toll on my husband and our biodies but at this point we would rather do it then subject them to fedding tubes in their stomach for now. You can do this and you will for your litle boy! You are doing a great job!
J.

C.,
We went through a time when our son was about 3 or 4. He would come into our room and just stand by the bed. His eyes were wide open and he was shaking all over and sweaty. He never uttered a peep. We would ask him what was wrong. No change. We then took him to the bathroom. He would go tinkle and then took him back to bed and stayed with him just a short time and he went back to sleep and had no more problems that night. He had no apparent memory of this. It happened several times. We finally figured that he was having night terrors.
Many years later, he told us something. (I don't know if it was regarding those types of dream experiences or just regular bad dreams.) He said that he realized that if he was having a bad dream, that he was the one dreaming it and he was in control; therefore, he would take control and change what was happening so it wasn't scary anymore. Obviously, this is advanced cognitive ability for a 2 year old, as they are not usually aware of what is sleep and what is life, much less all the other factors involved, but possibly this will be helpful some time in the future.
Our daughters never experienced night terrors to our knowledge. I can assure you that today, our son is a normal, responsible family man. Best of luck to you as you try to work through this.

Check out the concept of night terrors and see if this may apply to your son. They are different than nightmares, so the way you deal with them is different. "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" has a section on this (I believe). You may be able to get it at your library and just read the section on night terrors. From the little I understand they aren't fully awake during them, and often they won't remember it in the morning. They say not to talk to them about it much the next day, or they can get scared to fall asleep. I don't remember that much, because it didn't apply to our situation, so I can't garentee these facts. You could google it to see if it's worth persuing.

Hi C.,

I just wanted to write to say that I feel like I may have your son's long lost twin over here at my house. My daughter who turned two in July has been doing this also. It isn't every night, just once or twice a week. She has never had sleep issues before and has been sleeping through the night since about 5-6 months old. Nothing has changed at home that could be causing this. She also goes from just calling my name to hysterical crying within minutes. My husband and I also just tryed to let her cry it out the last time it happened (Saturday) and it went on for hours. I figured well now that she has cryed it out, she will know she is not going to be gotten up by us and will sleep better. No such luck, last night we had a repeat peformance. She was dry, had eaten dinner well, went to bed right on time (8pm), but still kept waking up. The only thing I have come up with is maybe she is trying to cut her two year molars and they are causing discomfort. Otherwise I am just telling myself it is a phase. The other thing my husband and I are considering is moving her to a big girl bed since she still sleeps in her crib. She always asks to sleep in our bed, which we have never allowed and don't really want to start now. I know I haven't offered any real solutions, just wanted you to know that you aren't the only one. This to shall pass...

Mine kept doing the same thing. It could be he is getting in teeth or more likely he is going through a sleep transition. Does he nap during the day? If so, make sure that it is early enough in the day. That will interfere with night schedule. My first 2 both stopped taking naps at 2. My 3rd is still hanging on to his nap. He naps 1 1/2 hours. He's awake until 9. I'm hoping he'll lose his nap soon. The days when he did fall asleep late, we usually had a bad night. Also, first son hated his crib mattress, it was very uncomfortable. We bought him a twin bed. We left the bed on the floor, no frame, in case he fell out (he would have far to fall). He slept better. At least your son was telling you what was wrong before. Evaluate his nap schedule and keep asking what's wrong. Good luck.

When my son was two he woke up several times a night. He was never terrified just wanted to check that we were still there. I have hear of children suffering from night terrors and I have also heard that children can begin having dreams scary or happy at around this age. It sounds like you are doing what I would do. Make sure you turn on a night light or maybe his closet light at night. Maybe try to put him to bed 10-15 earlier.

Good Luck

Im so sorry for you. My daughter did the same thing at that age i had just switched her to a big girl bed and she sounded the same way. She loved her bed but WOULD NOT GO TO SLEEP! Then i tried something different. I put on some soothing music (baby einsteins mozart)on and sat quietly next to her bed, i didnt look at her, touch her or talk to her (after i told her goodnight and gave her a hug and kiss of course)i just sat there and sure enough she fell asleep within 5 min. She still falls asleep to her "baby music" but she no longer needs me to sit with her just a quick hug, kiss and i love you and she alright for the night. I have realized now that i have to switch up the cds once and while though because she has them memorized and sometimes i catch her in there humming herself to sleep. Hope this helps a little. Good luck im sure you will find something that works for you.

Sounds like night-terrors. My daughter had only 1-2 instances of this but a friend's son had many, many. Your description sounds just like hers. This is a common thing I believe; do you have any developmental books? You can look this up and they'll give info/advice. Also call your pedo Dr. I understand it's like nightmares, they don't wake up and you should probably just make sure they don't hurt themselves. I think you're supposed to keep them in bed because they're not really awake during this. My recollection is that he'll grow out of it. Good Luck

I agree with the general concesus: sounds like night terros or cutting molars. It's good if you can determine which one. In my expereince, cutting molars may also be accompanied by congestion/runny nose and/or greenish stool. Night terrors are random, unsettling and have no consitent solution.
We have experienced both in our house with our older two children (now 5 & 7). I'm waiting on the night terrors to start with our now 2.5 year old. maybe I'll get lucky.
Anyway, if it is molars, we found chamomille to be a great solution. you can do this in one of 2 forms - 1/2 a cup of Chamomille tea warmed to the temperature of a baby bottle. let him sip it in the evening before brushing his teeth. this will help him sleep better through the night. Or you can just give it to him when he wakes up to go back to sleep. the second form is a homeopathic tablet that will dislove in his mouth. I like the brand Hylands and you would want to purchase a bottle of Chamollia 30x. give him 1 tablet every hour until he calms down and goes back to sleep. If he's a big boy you may need to increase it to 2 tablets.
For night terrors, there's not much to be done. Sometimes the Chamomillia treatment works, sometimes soothing music is the trick, other times there is no solution but to ride it out with your child. In those cases my husband or I (who ever has a later morning start, will remove the child from the room with the other kids and take him or her to the living room couch. We keep the lights off, no tv or anything and just sleep with the child on the couch. This allows us to preseve our bed as ours but also allows us to be present and comfort a child who has no more idea of what is happening to them than we do.

One final thought, with baby #2 on the way, your child could be exhibiting some anxiety about the impending change. I know it's early in your pregnancy but you may need to start talking about what is going on with him. A great book we used was "baby on the way" by Dr. William Sears. If you are already talking with im about it, you may need to back off or shift the conversation a bit. Our oldest girl, then about 18 months old, began her first round of night terrors during my first trimester with our second child. We didn't make the connection for a while because we hadn't mentioned it to her yet. But in retrospect, we realized our anxiety about miscarrage in the 1st trimester was being felt and acted out by her. When we passed the point of fear, relaxed and began telling people, starting with her, the terrors stopped.
Best of luck.
ABOUT US: Married 11 years, 3 children ages 7, 5 and 2.5.

Hi C.-
I read your post and have to say I agree. When my daughter was two, I believe she was having night terrors. My doctor said it is common at this age. My daughter has always been a very good sleeper and she never gets out of her bed. However, on occasion she would wake up hyseterical throwing herself around and hitting the air. It was unsettling to watch and hard to calm her down. She is three and a half now and this has not happened since she turned three. I am sure this too will pass. Hang in there!

we went through this. we made sure we had all the bases covered. i went in twice. then when we calmed him down we said "we aren't coming back until the morning". it was hard not answering the wining (we have a camera so i knew he wasn't hurt). but after the 3rd night or so it stopped. he cries for you because it works ; )

Make sure you have a night light in his room to eliminate the confusion of the surroundings and where he is. Leave a couple of soft toys in the bed with him so he can amuse himself and let him know mommy needs to sleep; he's to play with his toys. Don't make the mistake of bringing him to bed with you. they catch on to quickly. Good luck

sounds like night terrors. it certainly could be a phase, 2 can be tough mentally and physically, but i think you're doing the right tyhing by going in instead of letting him cry when he's hysterical. it'll pass, but it sounds like he needs you until it does.

We had that happen with our youngest. It was what they call night terrors. They seem coherent, they cry and then in some cases get hysterical. Not sure what causes it, but I found that at times touching or picking her up made it worse. Sometimes she would talk and just not make sense. It seemed to be a phase, and happened more when over-tired or over-stimulated during the day. I am not saying don't stroke his back or hold him because sometimes you have to, but continie to reassure him, give him all he needs and unfortunately, you just have to ride it out. It did become less often for our daughter. It is hard when you are losing the sleep, but hang in there.