My 6 year old son goes through phases where he wakes me in the middle of the night every night for about 3-5 days in a row for various reasons. He most of the time complains about bad dreams. All I do is walk him back to his bed. Only rarely does he require comforting beyond that. He will then go about a week or so without waking me even once before the pattern starts over again. This all started 2 years ago after my second son finally started sleeping through the night at 6 months old. Any suggestions?
I wonder if something in his schedule is triggering it. You might keep good notes of what his day is like (more or less active, with who, times of your aprt time work schedule, what he eats, etc.). After 2-3 weeks you may see a pattern.
Hi J.,
My son is five. He does the exact same thing. I suspect around this age is when the nightmares get more vivid. I haven't yet figured out what causes these. I thought maybe too much sugar or some scary TV commercial he happened to see when I was watching TV with my husband. I think kids at this age start to become more aware of some of the scary things in this world. When my son has a nightmare, he asks for the TV to be put on and he falls right asleep. I'm not sure it is the best solution but it works for us.
You could maybe put a radio or a CD player in his room. Put it at a reasonable volume and either on a station that doesn't have questionable lyrics (I like the Christian stations, my husband prefers older country) or get a CD for him that is acceptable. Then either play it all night for him (or you can get the kind that shuts itself off) and maybe he'll sleep better. I did that for my stepdaughter and she almost never wakes up anymore. Of course she's 10 now and doesn't need it to sleep but she still has the radio!
My son does the same, except he wakes up screaming. Try walking him to the bathroom. We found that if we make sure he doesn't drink anything after 7:30 and he goes to the bathroom before bed, it doesn't happen. He never even remember's waking up. And like your son, he complain's of bad dreams when he is waking up. Hope you find an answer that works for you. It's never fun getting woke up in the middle of the night, no matter how short of a time it is.
This happens occasionally with my soon to be 4 yr old. My husband travels a lot, and I've noticed this tends to happens when he is home. I think she gets so excited that daddy is here, she wants to spend time with him - even if its in the middle of the night!
What I've tried to do (and had some success with) is to tell her at bedtime that I've called the sandman, and he is coming to bring special sleepy sand for her. I tell her a little story about the how the sandman is a tiny little man who is kind and loves children. He brings special sleepy sand to help keep bad dreams away. He is very shy and doesn't want the children to see him, so they have to be asleep before he arrives.
When she's had bad dream in the past or has dreamt of monster, we gave her a small spray bottle with "monster spray" (water) in it. We sprayed around her room to make sure no monsters could come near. It sits on her bedside table in case she needs it. She doesn't use it anymore, but likes for it to be there "just in case."
The sandman story (like the monster spray) seems to help get her back on track with sleeping thru the night. Does your son tend to wake in the middle of the night during certain changes in routine?
Another mother told me about a great book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. I think it is great.
My ten year old daughter experienced this at 5-6 years old. After a whole year of waking, she had her tonsils and adnoids out and from the day of the surgery she slept through the night. My third daughter who is six years old now is having the same problem. When she wakes us during the night, we ask her what's wrong and she tells us bad dreams. After putting her back in her bed and laying with her, I noticed she was snoring, then mouth breathing, then experiencing some sleep apnea (not every time, but now and again). She has very large tonsils and we made an appointment with our ENT. I have a feeling it may be the same as with daughter number one. Each child is different so the book as suggested earlier may be a good place to start. I so sympathize with you though. Our sleep is so important! Good luck.
