God help! I need sleep!!

[laura6032]

My DS 3.5 has started waking up about 11pm, and does not go back to sleep. Initially he woke with sore tummy, and this has continued, he rolls about in pain for about an hour which is horrid to see, then he gets better and goes into over tired hyper mode, I'm having less than 4 hours sleep a night and he is knackered during the day.

He stays in bed, tosses, turns, wriggles, sings, laughs, but - and I know - won't let me leave the room. I know I could just leave but at 2 in morning I'm too grumpy and tired battle with the getting him in and out of bed.

I'm not even sure if he still has a sore tummy, but he does genuinely seem distressed and in pain, I've had him to Dr's, they said nothing serious.

Amy suggestions???

Have you had the sore tummy checked out with the GP? Kept a food diary? Just to see what the cause is and if you can rule this out. Could he be eating too late and getting indigestion or too early and getting hunger pains?
Other than that though it sounds as if he's hit in a brilliant way of getting some extra attention off mum so maybe make night time very boring. Put a mattress in his room so when you go in, say "mummy's here back to bed" then lie down quietly and don't interact with him?

Thank for replying, we're Doing the food diary, he doesn't eat much sweets or processed foods, he does eat a lot pasta and bread.
Did wonder if taking the P, but he does seem in genuine pain.
He woke again last night, I lay next to him, but when he started the wriggling and fidgeting and signing and spinning, I turned away, he continued about an hour, I think it was an attempt to get attention.

But then the constipation and diarrhea yesterday.

This parenting thing isn't easy :)

Oh gosh it's not is it, poor you!! I'd always advise checking out physical pain/illness before assuming it's a behaviour. Good luck, I hope you work it out!!

Maybe ask the gp for a coeliac test. I had tummy pains as a child and wasn't tested. I found out I had coeliac as an adult by which time I'd become quite ill with it

Hi did you say he had constipation and then diarrhoea? My DS is 2 yrs and we have struggled with tummy problems for the past 6 months. Turned out he was stool holding and was scared to poo because it hurt as he was constipated. Then he got so constipated he had the runs, but really that was a sign he was so bunged up it was seeping out so wasn't diarrhoea at all. After months of going back to the GP and trying different laxatives we are seeing a positive response now. He too was screaming with tummy ache at night, just keep an eye on how often he poo's, the consistency then if you notice possible severe constipation this could explain things. Just a thought given how much we have been through. Movicol helped us in the end. x