Help with Tantrums & Night Terrors

Read a very calming story to her "every" night efore she goes to bed. When she wakes up with the terrors, her breathing is also out of control. Try to get her to breath in and out with you. Have her watch you and copy you. Take long breaths which will force her to control her breathing. If you can get her to do this...it will calm her down after only a few minutes. She will start to yawn and then get tired and want to sleep again.
Sounds like someting is bothering her during the day that seems to be cropping up at night. Make sure she feels safe during the day and well cared for. Keeping with a regular routine and scheduled feeding and bedtimes always help.
I'd also check with a doctor if things don't get any better with her being thirsty all the time. Some children do require more liquids during the day than others. It might be OK.

does she use a night light ? she may be scared of the dark, but you should also try the bath and bed time shampoo by jonhson it works great they get sleep and sleep mostly through the whole night i used it a few times on my 1 year old and it worked great and if this doesnt work you should try taking her to the doctor she may have something small wrong with her or bothering her good luck and i hope everything gets better

Sounds like you have 2 things going on - tantrums (which are addressed by ignoring them or separating her from what she wants) and possible night terrors (which are not addressed with any rationality at all because the child really isn't conscious). If she's violent because she's in the middle of a night terror, you can only restrain her. If she's violent because she's kicking your husband away so she can be with you (possibly a response to you working at night?), then it's a behavior problem. If she is refusing to go back to bed in her own room and she's insisting on going to your bed, then she's awake and trying to control the situation. Which she is doing because she is getting her way. There are a lot of tricks about the monster things - there's no such thing, or they go away when there's a night light, or I've seen people with an empty spray bottle they label "Monster Spray" and the kid or parent "sprays" air around the bed, under it, the hall, the closet, etc. so there are no monsters. It depends if she's really afraid or if she's manipulating you to get attention. I would stop picking her up at night - just soothe her for a couple of minutes by rubbing her back, and then leave. She's got to get some sleep, and so do you. Use the same words every time (maybe sing-songing them a little if that works) - "It's night time, it's time for sleep, everybody sleeps now" or whatever you choose.

The dark urine is not normal. If there's no blood in it, it's probably not an infection. But urine should be pretty clear. She is definitely dehydrated and you need to give her fluids in any form you can - water, soups, fruits with high water content (watermelon, pears), popsicles, etc. Does she poop regularly and is it fairly soft? It should be - if she's irregular and/or the poops are hard, that's another sign of insufficient fluids. If she's thirsty all the time, that's a huge clue. Increase her fluids for a week and if there is no change, she needs to be seen by a doctor. Insatiable thirst can be a sign of something serious (e.g. diabetes) if it doesn't reverse itself through your efforts.

Good luck.

I've always felt that 3 is way worse then 2. She is just gearing up for turning 3. The tantrums are worse. Just ignore them. Make sure she is in a safe area and let her scream and kick and through herself on the floor.
Not much you can do about a night terror although if we can get our youngest to the potty when he has them he will pee and calm down.
If she always seems hungry she might not be drinking enough during the day especially if her urine is dark. Up her fluids.

I think that you have a combination of symptoms that could be nothing, but could certainly be something. At least something that you want an expert opinion on. Do you mean you see an "alternative" pediatrician, or she doesn't regularly go to the doctor? If it's the latter, you really should take her in to a doctor for a check up. If you aren't going for health insurance reasons, call your town or local hospital and see if they have a clinic. You also should be able to get insurance for your kids through the state. Consistency of care is really important for young kids because they change so much at this age, it's hard to tell what's normal development and what's problematic if the doctor only sees them once. Good luck.

Hi D.,

Your daughter's nightmares (and night terrors?) and tantrums may be caused by gluten sensitivity and or wheat allergy, or other food allergy/intolerance.

My son suffered from nightmares numerous times per night and night terrors when he was ill. I suffered from tantrums. We both greatly improved after removing foods to which we had allergens/intolerances. We had/have many other symptoms that improved too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-y...

An exerpt: Gluten Sensitivity: One Cause, Many Diseases

A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 "diseases" that can be caused by eating gluten. (iv) These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, (v) and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, (vii) schizophrenia, (viii) dementia, (ix) migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). (x) It has also been linked to autism.(ix)

Good luck,
: ) Maureen