waking up every morning screaming (ds not me...but I may be next)

[jabberwocky]

Ds has never been a great sleeper, but I had finally gotten him to the point where he was going down about 8:30 and sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00. For the past several weeks, he has become very difficult to settle, not going down some nights until 10:00 - or even later! Before he would sometimes sleep through and sometimes wake once briefly. If he woke one of us would go in to reassure him and he went right back down.

Now, he wakes up about 2:00 am every night, screaming like a banshee, many times does it again about 5:00 am and then more screaming when he wakes up for the day. I just don't understand what's going on. He is 2.10. Could this be a stage? I am pg with baby #2 but we haven't told him yet. I have wondered if he suspects something "different" is going on with mommy and is feeling unsettled but this really seems extreme.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

how old is he? my ds did this around 2/2.5 yrs but seems to have just grown out of it(frantically touches all wood in vicinity). The HV said it might be growing pains?

Ds went through a stage of doing this. It lasted almost 2 months. In the end I bought a special star wall-light for him (Ikea) which he can switch on and off himself. He stopped waking about 3 or 4 days after getting it. 3(?) months on he will still startle awake (you can hear him yelp every so often) and some days we still find it switched on in the morning but he doesn't need us any more. I'd say decide what routine will best comfort him which he will eventually be able to do himself and he may well sort himself out with repetition. We found just comforting ds when he was hysterical wasn't getting any of us anywhere.

Yes, that's what we are finding yomella. He has a night light on already, so maybe I need to work on finding something else that has the same comfort factor. We are just at our wit's end, but hoping it's only a stage.

Update - he has slept through two nights in a row and woken up like a little angel. Knocking on wood as I write this! The only thing I have changed is not insisting on his regular bedtime, so he is still staying up until about 10:00 but atm it's more than a fair trade