Sleep Disturbances

Hi, D.. Sometimes after a big illness, which is a very, very distressing experience for a small child, that child will continue to have sleep disturbances. She was sick for almost 2 weeks; that's a big chunk of a baby's lifetime to feel miserable, so she may have some lasting effects. She might not be entirely well; maybe she is congested at night, and it wakes her up with the memory of having a hard time breathing and being generally miserable. It may take her a long time to get over it.

It sounds like what she has, though, are sleep terrors, which can start occurring at around 1 year of age. My son had them, too. Most toddlers get them at one time or another. This is the age when toddlers start on a new phase of understanding the world; they have lots more independence than they had before, and even though it feels delicious to them, it is also scary. They start having fears of getting lost, especially if they have had an episode of getting lost or separated from Mom or Dad. It's part of working through separation anxiety. I think her illness triggered this phase for her; she may have some anxiety about needing you and not being able to get help. It's hard to know what a toddler is thinking because they can't tell you.

Just understand that it's all about anxiety, and be patient with her. Her brain is trying to process an incredible amount of new information all the time, and she's also entering the stage of testing cause and effect, which will get more intense as she nears 18-24 months. This is a time when the child enters a new time of independence and skill mastery; again, delicious but scary for her. She may be a little over-stimulated during the day at this time, and that might force her to over-process the day's events in her dreams.

You can try various things to make sure her sleep environment is the most peaceful one possible. Either make sure the room is very dark and silent, or if that doesn't work, try soothing music and a very soft nightlight as she's falling asleep. Make sure she goes to sleep with a soothing object, and make sure she's not having night time colic. She could have teething issues, too, and you may not be aware of it. If she's close to 1 year, she may be about to sprout molars, and these are the toughest teeth ever. I think I would rather have root canal with no anesthetic than be a toddler sprouting molars; the poor dears are in such torment until it's over! Keep checking her temperature, as this is sometimes the only indication that she may be teething until her gums turn red from the pressure underneath. Remember that the molars start out under the jaw bone, and if they're having trouble getting through that, she'll have pain long before you see anything happenning to the gums.

No child will sleep through the night forever. As you probably already know, they all go through times when they do and don't. If this keeps up, though, and nothing at all seems to ease the problem somewhat, I would take her to the doctor regardless of when her well-baby visit is. Nothing is more important than each child's health.

I hope everything works out fine, and everyone sleeps peacefully.

Blessings,
Syl

Hi. Is your daughter eating alright? Has she ever had an ear infection? When my little ones are over their illness but still aren't sleeping well, I start looking for signs of ear infection. Also, she could be starting to have night tremors.

I think she has an ear infection which usually comes with a cold/sinus/sore throat, have her ears checked as soon as possible.

It is very common for good sleepers to start up like that around the 1 year mark. They are at the age where they have become more aware of what is going on around them and don't want to miss a thing. My "i sleep 10-13 hours a night" child started waking up 2-3 times per night yelling, standing in his crib. I would go in an put him back down, tell him it was night night. It didn't last long and he was back to normal.

Hey D......it sounds like she just has night terrors. There not asleep or even awake when it happens. So it is not like they are having bad dreams. It usually happens because the child was very exhausted when you put her down at night. My son is 3 and sometimes he still does that. There is nothing really to do except for making putting her to bed a process so she will rest better. I let Jordan play in his bath, til his little fingers get wrinkled. Then I rub him down in baby oil or baby lotion (the lavender scent is the best) then after I put his sleep clothes on I read to him, then rock him to sleep. He was breast fed until 18 months so naturally he loves to lay his head on my chest...LOL. Since night tremors happen on a subconcious level, the child is not aware whats going on, so trying to console them or even spanking them doesn't help...might make matters worse. I know its frustrating, but it always scares me when it happens and then I realize what happens and let it ride out.

The other thing is that she may have gotten used to you holding her at night since you did that for two weeks straight. Nothing wrong with letting her fall asleep on you and when she gets into a deep sleep then put her in her bed.

Thats the only advice I have because even though my Jordan has his own toddler bed...he wakes up during the night and climbs right into mine. Since he goes right back to sleep, I just let him stay there.

I hope this helps.

V. J

Hi D.,
My son is now 5 but at about 13 months he began waking us up with some blood curdling screams. I would run to his room but sometimes, by the time I arrived he would be fine. Other times I would stand over him patting him on the back, talking to him and he would just keep screaming until I shock him hard enough to wake him up, then he would quite down again. He was having night terrors. They started early with him and lasted, off and on, for about 18m. We would go through good stretches and then, bam, out of nowhere, they would start again and last for about a month. There is nothing you can do but ride them out and try to soothe the baby as best you can. They are harder on us than on them.

I wish I had a magic solution for you. Unfortunately, it is probably just a phase. Sometimes after an illness, particularly a drawn out one that caused a lot of sleep disruptions, it takes them a while to get back into their good sleep habits/routine. Also, she might be exhibiting some separation anxiety. Does she have a special sleep "lovey"? That might help her to be comforted if she wakes, without her screaming for you. If you suspect it is that, be sure to play lots of "where's the baby?" games with her (where you cover her head with a cloth and then yank it off and say "THERE she is!") and practice leaving the room and coming back games.

It's okay to go in and check on her and soothe her, but be boring. Don't do anything to encourage her being awake (no positive reinforcement like rocking her, bottles, etc). That's okay if she's ill, but she's not anymore, right? Check on her, maybe rub her back, and tell her that she's okay. Remind her it's still sleep-time. She might possibly be beginning to develop her imagination and may have started having some dreams. I think it's a little early for that, but it could be.

There is always the consideration that she may have an ear infection. Sometimes night waking is the only symptom (without a lighted scope to look into their ears) you'll notice. But most likely, she is just readjusting to her sleep schedule and she needs a little help to get there. She got used to calling out for you and you rescuing her, mom! She'll be back to "normal" soon.

Hang in there!

Hi D.,
This sounds to me like a "night terror". The kids don't really wake up yet they seem awake. Screaming, crying, etc. is typical as it is a fearful state. They often don't respond to the parent as they are not really awake (conscious) and you should not try to awaken her but let her cry it out just like you are doing. Typically they fall back asleep on their own. Often parental interaction like soothing, hugging further upsets the child and makes things worse. Keep her safe as she can move around but won't be listening to you. It could be a leftover symptom (it can follow a traumatic event) from being sick or might just be a new developmental phase that happens to coincide with her illness. I had 2 kids go through this and it is scary until you understand what is happening and that it is normal. They grow out of it! My thoughts are with you....

My husband is a neurologist and has completed his sleep fellowship. I should be asking him what he thinks because I am not the doctor, but I'll give my mommy opinion for now.... your pediatrician might suggest sleep apnea. Your daughter's tonsils might be enlarged from the infection and causing her to suddenly have a hard time breathing. She might be waking up and gasping for air and this could scare her. My son had his adenoids and tonsils removed because of sleep apnea. Have you noticed if she snores at night and have you noticed this some time before getting sick? After my son got sick and before his adenoid/tonsil removal, he snored and would suddenly stop breathing and gasp for air periodically through the night. After getting sick, he had so much trouble breathing at night. Your pediatritian might suggest seeing an ENT. They will ask you questions and based on your observations sometimes a sleep study is not needed. In my son's case he had all of the evidence he needed without one. If you have any reservations than you might want to consider having a study done so that you know for sure. I hope it is something much more minor. For my son, he did very well. The ENT said that he had so much yellow junk in his tonsils and that we made the right choice. Looking in the back of her throat, can you see her tonsils enlarged. Her airway might look pretty small. This might help you to identify her problem and if you are not sure you can have your pediatrician check too.
Sincerely,
C.

Was she taking any atibiotics? My daughter starting having similar cryin episodes at night when she was about 1 as well. Come to find out she had a yeast infection. There were no visible signs for the first 3-4 weeks of her waking up and screaming like she was frightened or in pain. My doctor said to feed her plain yogurt mixed in unsweetened applesauce, put her on some probiotics (which counters any yeast), keep her off sugars for a bit (even natural sugars like fruit) and use vagisil.

Antibiotics can cause yeast infections so that could be what's going on. Hope she feels better!

I have an idea: milk!
has she started drinking milk and eating a lot of dairy products?
this can lead to night-wakings!
try cutting out ALL milk products (NOT LACTOSE, as this is milk SUGAR, but milk PROTEIN)for two weeks. Check ingredients and don't even give 'hidden' milk as in whey, rhennet, casin, etc.
Google 'milk protein names' to find a complete list.
what will she drink? there are 'other' milks such as: rice, oat & even potato (you can find these at whole foods) milks. you'll need to add some 'good fats' to her diet, too such as olive oil, flax seed oil & avocado oil...it's 'just' 2 weeks...see if sleep improves!
if it does, you can then try adding back in milk protein as an INGREDIENT (like try some cheddar bunnies or something)and see what happens to her sleep. if sleep goes downhill again, then cut out the 'hidden' milk protein again...if it IS milk protein, then this is an issue you can work with!

Have you considered night terrors? For her most recent illness,did she see dr.s? and did they do more tests that might have hurt? Or maybe she is dreaming of the dr.s and now she is having stranger issues? ,Just a thought? I would keep picking her up til it passes too! all the best, Kelly

sounds like night terrors - very common. my pediatrician describes it this way: if it looks like she is looking through you and doesn't really see you, she is not even awake. i went through this several months ago. it is very scary but only lasted a short time. i could not console my baby no matter what i did. finally they just fall back asleep (even though they were never really awake to begin with).