Why My near 4 Years Old Cries Almost Every Night in the Middle of Her Sleep?

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These are likely night terrors and something you don't need to see a psychologist about. It's a phase that will go away. Do a Google search and you should find a ton of information about them.

My daughter does this, often. She's 5 now, but has had night terrors and sleep walking episodes her entire life. If she doesn't remember it the next day, and doesn't seem 'there' when you go in, she's probably still sleeping. Worst thing you can do is try to wake her. Just gently lay her down, tuck her in, quietly say 'I love you', and walk out, whether she's still crying or not. There's really nothing that can be done except wait for her to grow out of these episodes.

My daughter last night, actually, woke up calling 'mama! mama!' which scared me to DEATH because she has never actually called for me, so I thought maybe her or her sister was getting sick. I went in and said 'Madison! What's the matter baby!'... she mumbled something and touched her fingers together 3 times (which I've learned is her body's way of 'grounding' itself when she's having a night terror or sleep walking episode, so I knew she was out of it)... I said 'Baby, go back to sleep' and layed her down. She momentarily protested and said 'I'm putting my things away, I have to put them away' (OMG WHAT?!)... I kissed her, turned off the light, closed the door, and didn't hear a peep for the rest of the night. She had no recollection of it this morning.

It creeps me out because it's progressed from the crying stage (like your sweetie) into verbal noncense babble, but our doctor promises that she will eventually outgrow it!! I hope your daughter is at the end pf this phase, for YOUR sanity :) Best wishes!

From your limited description, 2 very different possibilities come to mind...
1. night terrors - this he will outgrow, and although it is upsetting to witness this distress in your kid, it is much more upsetting to the parent than the kid himself. usually they don't have any recollection of it when they wake up.
2. pinworms - they crawl out of the rectum at night to lay their eggs around the anus. Try checking the kids butt hole with a flashlight around midnight, or put a piece of tape over his butt hole at bedtime and check it in the morning when you remove it. Pinworms look like little approx 1/4 - 1 inch white threads. If pinworms are found, he will need to be treated, actually, the whole family should be txed, ASAP!
There are several other less serious possiblities too, like a full bladder or getting too cold or too hot. Hope this helps.

My 3 yr old son does this and has done this for the longest time and the dr told me it was night terrors. there is really nothing you can do for them my dr told us he will grow out them when he gets older. best of luck momma!!!

My nephew and my oldest son both had this, for my nephew it was night terrors and for my son it was growing pains. What we did was buy linen spray that smelt like lavender and sprayed there sheets very lightly with it and lavender is known to help relax people. Try it and see if it works. Good Luck!

The WHY question doesn't work with 4-year-olds.
A better question would be "What happened?"
I'm guessing she is having bad/scary dreams.
Why are you against the pediatrician's suggestion . . .
especially if this may be the way to resolve the situation.
About "perfect kid" during the day . . . .
her fears/anxiety MAY (maybe) be about having to be perfect.
Maybe she fears what might happen if she isn't able to be perfect.
Maybe she's working very hard to be perfect, no matter what.

I experienced that with my daughter. She is almost 5 now and it rarely happens. I think she has nightmares or vivid dreams. Thats what I assumed because they run in my family and sometimes she would sleep walk or talk. My daughter pretty much grew out of it, so hopefully yours will too. I don't buy the child psychologist thing either. I would just comfort her and after a couple minutes she would calm down and go back to sleep. I actually think she was asleep and thats why she couldn't tell me what was wrong. It was the exact same scenario as you described.

Could be cramps/growing pains. Both my kids had them off and on starting at about 2 1/2-5+. Kids are very sleepy and sometimes have a hard time explining what they are feeling, especially if it isn't something that happens during the day.

Try rubbing various part of her i.e. legs, back, feet, without much talking and see if that helps. (Even if she isn't having pains, this may be comforting.)

Good luck!

My 5 year old daughter does this and it is growing pains or cramps in her legs. She gets them sometimes in the evening too, right before bedtime. If she is awake she can tell me, but when she is sleeping and it happens she just cries and won't talk.
I usually try to give her a dose of children's motrin and put a warm towel (hand towel in the microwave for 30 seconds) over her legs, maybe rub them a little bit. She calms down within minutes and goes back to sleep.
The leg pains happen on days when she has been very active. Like on Wednesdays she runs with a group after school. On those nights I try to have everything ready for when she starts crying or I will give her the motrin right at bedtime.

Try a trip to the bathroom.

My son went from crying to walking and talking in his sleep. The whining, we discovered, was because he had to go to the bathroom, but was too asleep to know it. He (now 16) has grown out of most of that, but still will get up and wander around and have conversations that nobody understands when he gets up to use the bathroom sometimes.

It's worth a try.

Related to night terrors is Confusional Arousals. My 6yo finally started outgrowing them about a year ago. If I tried to wake her up I only made things worse. I would tell her softly to lay back down and gently pat her pillow. Sometimes I would have to do this a couple of times. Now she just talks in her sleep almost every night. My husband was a sleepwalker as a kid and I won't be surprised if she starts that someday.

I don't agree with taking her to a psychologist. This could label her and actually make a small problem much bigger.

I agree with others that this is probably night terrors. My oldest had them and eventually he outgrew them. It could also be physical growing pains. And it could be that she has to go to the bathroom but can't quite wake up enough. One of mine did that.

Whatever you do, don't make a big deal out of it. This will pass, just like most other things with children. Making too much of it will cause her to be self-concious and possibly become anxious.

Updated

I don't agree with taking her to a psychologist. This could label her and actually make a small problem much bigger.

I agree with others that this is probably night terrors. My oldest had them and eventually he outgrew them. It could also be physical growing pains. And it could be that she has to go to the bathroom but can't quite wake up enough. One of mine did that.

Whatever you do, don't make a big deal out of it. This will pass, just like most other things with children. Making too much of it will cause her to be self-concious and possibly become anxious.

i agree with the doc you need to have this checked out. but it could jsut be night terrors how long has she done this

My daughter does this. She's never really wakes up. Sometimes she'll talk to me about it in her sleep, like have a conversation, then lay back down and go back to a real sleep. She never remembers it. It is sorta spooky!