23 Month Old Awake at 4Am Talkin ... ?

Very normal! My son does this often. I think it's his imagination keeping him awake so he plays. He talks, and laughs to himself too.

Totally normal... she's discovered that she can say words that others understand and that she's heard other people say and she dreams about and it wakes up practicing her new skill. It's likely that she also rocked back and forth on all fours when she was learning to crawl, but she's not turned into a puppy :)

There's nothing for you to "do". Just let her talk as long as she's happy and let her go back to sleep on her own.

My son still talks in his sleep sometimes, at age 13. Has been doing it for as long as I can remember, pretty much. Comes and goes... seems like sometimes it is more frequent when he is overtired.

Are you sure your daughter is awake? If she is, then I'd guess she is just practicing her "new" verbal skills. No worries! :)

I think its normal!

They're learning a lot of words and phrases and actions at this age. My daughter (21 mos old) does this at times - not in the middle of the night, but we'd hear her speaking out words and phrases and humming as she goes to sleep, and sometimes in the morning, she'd wake up, but remain in the crib again reciting all words and phrases. Sometimes, I think she talks to her loveys.
So long as your daughter goes back to sleep herself, without crying, and if she wakes up just fine in the morning, I guess you don't have to do anything at all! Maybe just keep a sippy with water in it, next to her crib.

Might be hitting a milestone. As long as she isn't screaming/crying, leave her be and let her fall back to sleep on her own.

Shaire

This is very normal. Even adults wake up in the middle of the night. We don't talk out loud to ourselves but we do have an internal conversation as we wonder why we woke up and how to get back to sleep. We may go on to review the previous day or plan the upcoming day.

Your daughter is learning to talk. She's not likely able to talk to herself in her mind. Since her talk is calm, she's learning to soothe herself back to sleep. It's nothing to worry about.

Later: Sounds like you believe in spirits. IF so, don't you also know about friendly spirits. What would be wrong with your daughter talking with a friendly spirit?

I talk to my mother and others who've gone on ahead of me. I feel their spirit. I suggest that your daughter would not be quietly talking if she were in touch with an unfriendly spirit.

It seems pretty normal. They go through sleep stages and maybe she's just excited to start her day, wakes up early, entertains herself and goes back to sleep. And, if it is a spirit...is that really a problem? I mean obviously it's someone nice or someone that she knows if she's happy and not crying, so I wouldn't worry, although I find it more likely that she's just entertaining herself.

yep, many babies wake up and babble. As long as she is not crying or trying to climb out of the crib.. leave her alone, till you are ready to get her up.

A spirit? What?

Of course it's not a spirit or something. She's a 4 year old! She's waking up and instead of crying to make you come in, she's occupying herself. If she were an adult, she'd read a book. But she's a little girl and talking to herself is very normal.

Kids have imaginations. They use them, unlike a lot of adults. They make up wonderful stories and dream about all kinds of stuff.

Decide if this is better than fussing at her to get back to sleep. I would let it go totally in hopes that if you don't rock the boat, that she might get back on her regular sleep schedule.

Dawn

My 14 mo old does the same thing some nights, with the exception of he's not saying real words yet. It's completely normal, they are practicing a newly (or hopefully will be soon) skill of talking. What to do? Go back to sleep, and she will soon enough too!

Awwww, I remember when my babies used to do that...random "conversations" in the middle of the night. I didn't realize I missed it until I read this! Totally normal. Totally awesome when she goes back to sleep by herself.