Hello! I'm new to Mumsnet but hope you can help.

I have a toddler (18 months) and a new baby (2 months). My toddler has always been a good sleeper (12 hours at night and 1 1/2 or 2 hours in the afternoon). Recently she wakes up at least once a night screaming and screaming. I go in sometimes but other times I leave her (the most she has screamed is 5 minutes before going back to sleep). She then wakes up at the normal time in the morning and is happy.

Similarly for her daytime nap, she goes down fine and is clearly tired but wakes up screaming after 30 mins or 45 mins. Sometimes I go in and she'll go back to sleep once I've calmed her a bit (and will then sleep for at least another hour). Other times she refuses to sleep again (although rubs her eyes and is tired).

I am unsure whether this screaming is as a result of the new baby (she is also extremely clingy with me and has started having tantrums during the day when she was always a very content child) or perhaps her back teeth coming through (she has 16 teeth so it's only the molars now)or bad dreams or maybe just the age. It's v hard to look in her mouth so I can't tell if it's teething.

I would be grateful if anyone could let me know if this has happened to them and how they dealt with it.

Hi,
Don't know if this will help, but I heard (and found with dd) that it can be related to potty training. As they begin to have an awareness (if you know what I mean). Dd began to do this when she knew how to use a potty, so I guess she would scream in the night if she was going to wee.
Hope that helps, never really been great at explaining things, but made sense with my daughter.

Thanks but we're not potty training. Still in nappies. So I don't think it's that. Unless I'm not understanding you.

Hi,
May not necessarilly be to do with potty training but just that they are begining to be aware of their body and that they have just wet the nappy. Just an idea, was definitely the case for dd and my friends dd. Could be teeth though.

Does anyone else have any ideas?! Thanks

Could be nightmares. dd1 did it and once she's started talking properly has been able to 'tell' me. The sudden onset on nightmares could very well have something to do with new baby (fears that you're going to leave her now you've got a new toy etc) All that worked for us was lots of cuddles (I know annoying when you're snuggled up in a nice warm bed)

Is she awake when screaming? If not, it could be night terrors.
My 11 month old dd did this a couple of months ago, she would start screaming a couple of hours after I put her down (very unusual for her) and wouldn't stop when I picked her up, only stopped when I woke her by bringing her into the light. Apparently, they get like this when they are anxious about a change - in my case, I had terrible flu, so couldn't give her as much attention as usual and lost my voice for a week so she spent her days in silence. The night terrors stopped when I regained my voice and got better.

She is wide awake and standing up in the cot when she is screaming and as soon as she sees me, she asks me to lift her up and wants to go out of the room. I am sure she is doing all of this for my attention as if my husband goes in, she carries on screaming. I just don't know what to do as it seems to be getting worse and worse.