why is my toddler doin this - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

JuniorsMommy929 · 07-24-2007, 06:11 AM

Ok so my son will be 2 the end of sept. a little over a week ago he started this.
he has been in his own room and went to bed on his own since he was 6 months old. he has always went to bed willingly and only woke like once a night to be changed and have a cup. no problem! he was/is on a pretty good schedule, almost 9pm to 9am

Well for some reason, he now screams and fights for an entire hour after we put him in his room. after he finally goes to sleep, he wakes like 6- or more times at night screaming and cryin, then come 6am he wants to get up!

about 3 days after he did this we figured, maybe he thought his baby brother got to "hang out" later then him so we now have it so they share a big room, but he still does this...I thought maybe his molars were coming in so i tried tylenol and teething tablets...nothing is working and idk what his deal is, im calling his doc today to have him checked out just in case its not just a phase

gemmalou · 07-24-2007, 06:57 AM

i cant say why he's doing this but i just wanted to say that my dd used to be an angel when it came to bed time, 7pm she would actually ask to go to bed, then all of a sudden she changed, (this was a long time ago, even before ds came along) come 7pm she fights and screams cause she doesnt want to go to bed, she also wakes several times a night but still gets up at 7am, but if she wakes at like 5am, she will want to get up and scream blue murder until she does get up. this has been going on for well over a year now and we have just gotten used to it. i know some people may disagree but we have put a tele and dvd player in her bedroom, so if she does wake at 5 am we put her favourite film (cinderella) on for her which she will fall back to sleep to. we've tried the whole putting her bed later thing and that doesnt work either apart from making her cranky the next day

im sorry i cant say anything to help or why he's doing it but i just wanted to let you know that he isnt the only one who does it

mkgbrook · 07-24-2007, 08:10 AM

Between 18 months and 24 months children go through a sleep phase shift. They hit an extremely active sleep phase where they dream alot. These can manifest in night terrors, insomnia, and unwillingness to go to sleep, etc. Most children go through this phase. You can try giving the child chamomile tea mixed with milk or honey to relax him/her. My son went throught this.. it took 3 months to get over it. It wasn't until we all started seeing a sleep specialist that we learned about the sleep phase thing. A lot of things change in a child about the age of 2. But to give you perspective.. think of how you would feel if you had never had a dream that you could remember then suddenly you started to dream. It doesn't matter what about.. many times dreams are abstract and detached.. wierd even. The strangeness of dreams can be very frightening to the child. Try talking to them and reading them pleasant stories. Do not let them see TV with in 2 hours of bed time. I have a sleep hygiene post on the sleep disorders board it is a summary of the sleep etiquette recommended by sleep specialists. Following it always helped my son relax.

Best of luck to you.
Sincerely,
MG

JuniorsMommy929 · 07-24-2007, 05:24 PM

my son has a tv in his room and watches it when he goes to bed, and it stays on all night for when he does wake, i talked to his ped. and she said to get a bed time routine even tho he has had one, the same one since he was 7 months...