Advice on Night Time Crying

my oldest daughter went though this at about 18mo. the doctor said it was night terrors.. and my daughters was caused by allowing her to fall asleep in one place and then moving her to another (such as falling asleep on the couch, and then moving her to her bed) she would wake up and not know where she was. His advice was to establish a strict nightime routine. (bath, story, sing.. whatever.) but this must be done in the room/bed where you want them to sleep. It also helped if I did this at the same time every night. Kids need predictability/Routine. It took a week or so, but once she knew what to expect it stopped and we got to sleep again!! Hope this helps.. good luck!

Have you looked at any information regarding night terrors. I don't have any experience with this but know others who do. Maybe he is having bad dreams and is afraid to go back to sleep.

Hello. I am sure everyone will give you diferent advice on this, but I can tell you my opinion. My son is going through the same thing. It is tough. He is waking at 11:30pm every night and does not want to go back to bed alone. He will scream his head off for 1 to 2 hours if I let him. I don't anymore. I thought if I let him "work it out" a little bit he would eventually quit and put himself back down. That never happened. The screaming just got louder and he started making himself throw up. UUGH! What I researched is that he is going through a little separation anxiety. This is completely normal and will pass soon. Also, every milestone that baby makes causes him to have anxiety during sleep. If he learns a new word, step, etc. he may have a resteless night. I figure that he will be independent soon enough. For now I love the fact that I get some extra time alone with him. When he awakens during the night, my husband or I hold him in the rocker and wait until he is completely out. Then put him back in the crib. It is getting better. Last night he slept until 4:30am and my husband simply went in to his room, picked him up and loved him and baby fell right back to sleep until 7. Good luck to you. Enjoy those babies.

It could be that something as benign as nightmares or separation anxiety is why he wakes up and begins crying, but he is realizing that the crying elicits a lot of attention from you and he is probably thriving on that. Try not making a big deal out of it and let him cry it out on his own (with some sort of noise machine/fan? for the sister) so she won't wake. Could also be something medical that is bothering him...ask your pediatrician what he thinks. Hope this helps.

Could it be an ear infection?

I had a son doing the same thing, and I had a friend recommend Hyland's Teething Tablets. They are homeopathic, dissolve on the baby's tongue, and calm the child as well as relieve pain. I gave my son a few, and he calmed right down. It lasts several hours, and they worked great for us! I hope you find relief soon!

Hi L.,

Has there been any changes lately to his daily activities? Maybe like a new babysitter, daycare, anything like that? Has anything happened to anyone in the family lately that he might have overheard? Any arguments at home with family members?

Night terror is what it sounds like, but make sure to rule out the things I've mentioned above and make sure to read to him and if you are a believer, pray with him before you go to bed. You should see a difference in a few days. Also, if you don't have a night light, get one and have it on in their room. Sometimes they wake up and don't like the total darkness.

I have four kids of my own and went through this with my son when he was about that age. He even started sleep walking! I was going through a divorce at the time.

Good luck,
M.

have you ever heard of night terrors? maybe you should ask your pediatrician about it, don't know if 17 months old is too young for them, but just a suggestion. i have read about them in parents and parenting magazine.

I agree with the night terrors. My son had them also. His started at about 16 months. His pediatrician had me eliminate television 1 hour prior to bedtime also, I had to wake him up 15-20 minutes prior to when he would wake himself. His pediatrician told me to wake him & play, read, etc to him, then put him back to bed. His night terrors were bad though, he woke up every 1 1/2-2 hours & was up for about 30 minutes. He fell back asleep finally. I had to put him in the living room on a toddler couch (the one that folds out into a bed) to go to sleep. He slept there until I was ready for bed. Then I took him & put him in his bed. His night terrors lasted about 2 months. I thought they would never go away. Finally though, they did. They came back briefly a few weeks ago. He only suffered about 3 days this time. The pediatrician said it's something he will outgrow that some kids get them. Good luck.

Hi have you tried any type of gas drops? My daughter is one and I have not slept for a year it feels like, she still wakes up crying and it usually is not for a bottle so I have been giving her tummy drops or mylacon drops and it seem to soothe her and get her back to sleep faster. The doctor said its very safe stuff so try it out. I think some of the new foods we give our kids gives them bad gas at night. Hope this helps.

Patience. I know that sounds nuts, but this is a stage my son went through as well. It lasted about 3 weeks and I felt like death the whole time... I would leave some music on and a night light. That helped my son a bit. Good luck!

THESE ARE NIGHT TERRORS... MY SON HAS THEM ALSO.

I would check to see if he has new teeth coming in. When my daughter was teething she would cry all night long with only 15-20 minutes stretchs when she would sleep. Prior to that she was sleeping through the night. Neither Tylenol nor Orajel would help her either. The only way I could calm her down and get her to sleep was taking her for a walk in the stroller. I would be cruising the neighboorhood at 2 in the morning, but it worked everytime. Of course I was exhausted for work the next day but knowing she wasn't crying anymore was well worth it. I would also see if he could have an ear infection, that always caused my daughter to wake up in the night and cry. Good luck

B.

I have read all of the responses to your question so far and I tend to agree with those that are suggesting that it could be night terrors.

My daughter had them for about two weeks. She was older than your son, probably about 3 or 3 1/2 when she started having them. They lasted about two weeks and I figured out that they were related to a very stressful situation that had occured about month earlier.

If you look up night terrors on the internet you can get some really good information. When my daughter had them she would wake up (what I thought was waking up but if you research it they are really not awake)screaming like she was really scared of something. I would hold her and rock her and she would stop screaming but she would still cry and tremble. Actually the first time it happened I almost thought she was having a small seizure because of all the trembling.

One thing that I did learn that I found comforting was that as far as the scientists can tell the child does not remember. I used to ask my daughter the next morning if she had had a bad dream and she would say no (she will tell me if she has a bad dream) and that she slept just fine. Anytype of stressful situation can cause night terrors and it is usually something that has happened about a month or so in the past. From what I could find by researching it on the internet and talking to a friend who is a pediatric nurse there is really nothing that you can do to stop them but they will eventually end.

Good luck and hopefully it will soon end and you and your daughter can get a good nights rest.

M. N.

L.:
Does he seem to be awake. I know your son's eyes are probably open, but if he spends the time screaming and is unconsolable, he may be having night terrors. Night terrors occur in children, usually not until 2 years old, but...they are characterized by screaming and very upset behavior that you can not calm. Night terrors seem to happen when the child is over tired i.e. not napping, just started daycare, etc. You usually can not console them and trying seems to make the situation worse. If he is in his own room, you could try lying him down back in his crib, rubbing his back, but basically let him cry it out. He might actually cry less if you leave him alone...but it will be very hard! I have had some parents with success. Others give Benadryl at night before bed to prevent deep sleep states which is when the night terrors occur. Talk to your pediatrician first....
Good Luck
M.

Not to belabor this point, but I do agree with most of the respondents, it sounds like your son has night terrors. My son started having them like clockwork around 18 months old...they occured every night at 3 a.m. and lasted a few months. It was pretty freaky. My pediatrician said that over-stimulation may be the trigger to night terrors, so we started reading at night, singing softly together, and saying our prayers...over the course of a few months, these routine activities calmed him down and he's been sleeping like a rock ever since.

One note about letting young children watch the news. During the period that my son was having night terrors, the news was focused primarily on hurricane coverage. Because we had nearly all of our family in Florida, we were watching the news all the time. While we were doing so, we didn't realize that our son was actually absorbing and understanding our worry to such a degree that he developed a great fear of hurricanes. Now that there's a ton of war coverage regarding Israel and Hezbollah, we have to watch the news when he goes to bed or very early in the morning because he's even more aware and very worried about what's going on in the world.

Could be night terrors, talk to your pedi about it. Good luck!

Hi L. - There is a wonderful teething pain remedy that's been around forever (my parents gave this to me & I'm 32!) called Humphries #3....you can get this at Wal-Mart or Walgreens, but they are kept behind the Pharmacy counter even though they are non-Rx.....they are tiny white balls and you can give 5-10 at a time to your baby....I used them with my daughter (now 3) and feel like they really helped and she really liked them too (they taste sweet)! Also for the night waking, I would also suggest Dr. Karp's method of soothing babies...from the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block"....here's his method: The 5 S's
There are 5 components to this method which, when used together, work amazingly well to calm your crying baby and in many cases help your baby go to sleep with no fuss.
Using cross-cultural techniques combined with his own research, Dr. Karp has developed the "five S's system". Some babies will need all five, others just a few to help induce what he calls the "calming reflex."

Swaddling - Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom's womb.

Side/stomach position - You place your baby, while holding her, either on her left side to assist in digestion, or on her stomach to provide reassuring support. Once your baby is happily asleep, you can safely put her in her crib, on her back.

Shushing Sounds - These sounds imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb. This white noise can be in the form of a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan and so on. The good news is that you can easily save the motors on your household appliances and get a white noise CD which can be played over and over again with no worries.

Swinging - Newborns are used to the swinging motions that were present when they were still in Mom's womb. Every step mom took, every movement caused a swinging motion for your baby. After your baby is born, this calming motion, which was so comforting and familiar, is abrubtly taken away. Your baby misses the motion and has a difficult time getting used to it not being there. "It's disorienting and unnatural," says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.

Sucking - "Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system," notes Karp, "and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain." This "S" can be accomplished with breast, bottle, pacifier or even a finger.

These steps sound pretty easy, but seeing them done properly, in conjunction with each other, is the key to relieving your baby's colic symptoms and making Mom, Dad, and baby less stressed and much happier!

My nephew does that, and it turned out to be night terrors. Maybe thats the problem. My brother said there is nothing they can do for my nephew when this happens but hold him and offer him comfort until he calms down (sometimes takes up to an hour).

I agree that it's probably night terrors. It's scary and for me, my son I don't think is truly awake when he's screaming and tantrum throwing. I walk him through the house until he settles down and falls back asleep. I find that this happens if he gets too tired or wound up before bedtime. Maybe you need to change bedtime. Has anything happened in your home, pattern changed that would be upsetting him?

L.,

I understand your pain in this situation. My oldest started screaming like his was being beat when he was 8 months old and it didn't stop for 3 months. I did the same as you trying everything and one day said screw it drove 2 hours to my mom's house at 3am and banged on the door (he cried the whole time). She took him got a bottle put water in it microwaved it for 15 seconds and put a small candy cane in the water. He was happy within 30 seconds. Trust me when I tell you I was so mad! lol. I have since learned that for older children mint patties work just as well. I don't understand it how it works but it does.

Best of Luck
J.

My daughter is 1yr and she goes through the same thing. At first I would take her out of her crib and give her a bottle, rock her and sing her lullabyes...nothing worked. Then one day I decided I was just going to ignore it and see what would happen. The first night she cried for a long time. The next a little less and so on until she finally got it. Crying was getting her nowhere. Now once in a while she'll let out a wimper or two throughout the night but that's about it. I don't know if this will work for your son but it's worth a shot if you can handle the first few nights.

My son also did this. He had been watching a video each evening after dinner and before his bedtime routine, we took the video out and made him so something more relaxing, like reading, coloring or puzzles. The problem went away almost immediately.

Good luck!!