A.M.
Have you thought that maybe she is having a bad dream?! Night terrors? My son has been having night terrors since he was 10months old. It seems as if he was throughing a tantrum but he is still "sleep" and is throwing his body around, kicking, screaming, crying. He doesn't want to be held but at the same time he does. It's really weird. His eyes will be open but he is still dreaming his scary dream. I thought when they began that he was throwing a fit but then realized that is wasn't that. We have been struggling with this for a while now, he is 2.5 now. He doesn't have them as often (they started every night and then has been tapering off) but he still gets them. We will turn the lights on, tell him mommy and daddy are right here and will lay hands on him and pray for him. You almost have to let them cry it out. Its really scary and really hard for me as his mommy to watch him like that. Sometimes if its really bad we will put him in a warm bath and that helps ALOT!
Just a thought.. Good Luck