Wakes up miserable and upset

[wishmynamewasdave]

My 3 year old always wakes up upset/crying/grumpy/moody always has, right from when she was tiny. Because of the mood she is in when she wakes she immediately wants me rather than being able to entertain herself or drift back off nicely to sleep.

Anyone who has had a kid like this got any tips on helping their wake-up grumpiness... and do they ever grow out of it?

My little boy is happy and sings when he wakes up, entertains himself for a while... both been treated very similarly!

Watching with interest! No tips unfortunately...

Good to know it's not just her!

Also watching with interest, DS is 10 months old and is always upset when he wakes up. He used to wake up and just chat away to himself but now he's always fed up and moaning and it stresses me out!

Maybe she will grow out of it? My DS used to do this both in the morning and when he woke from naps right from when he was a tiny baby until circa age 2.5, when he just started to wake happier of his own accord. Nothing that we did. Now he does what your little boy does - wakes and chatters in his bed for a while before we go into him, rather than immediate wails and demands for mummy.

I always used to think it was to do with hunger /blood sugar. Not sure re the science but with the waking-from-nap wails, the only thing that ever fixed it was to get a yoghurt or fruit pouch down him. Sometimes there were huge tantrums to get to that point (as he didn't like anything I did) but eventually when he could be persuaded to eat his mood would just change like a switch had been flipped.

What is she like during the rest of the day?

I asked this exact question a few months ago!
DS was the same. He would wake from naps screaming his head off and nothing at all would pacify him, he would be in a complete state for about 30 minutes.

He's almost 3 now and it doesn't happen very often any more. He naps in my parents' home as I'm at work and my dad started telling him 'now, when you wake up from your snooze, don't cry! Just call me when you're ready to get up.'
Either that did the trick, or he's just grown out of it (mostly, the odd time now he'll throw a fit after waking).

DD aged 4 still wakes up in a mood. I just ignore her for 10 mins and she mostly snaps out of it for breakfast.

My daughter does this. She is now a little older than yours. Similarly I ignore her for a few minutes. if I try nto give her a kiss or a cuddle good morning I get shrieked at. If I need her to get up I always go in ten minutes before I need her out of bed (although she doesn't know that).

The rest of the time she's pretty happy! She's not great at being particularly independent, but she's quite happy.

I can't really ignore her when she wakes as she screams if she doesn't get me! If I'm not there with her quite quickly she can't handle it at all!

My DS was like this at nap times up until about 2.5. It was a case of put a snack and a drink in his eyeline and retreat to a safe distance. Just the sight of me anywhere near him when he was trying to wake up would give him the rage! He'd be fine after about five minutes.

No helpful advice I'm afraid, just know you are not alone.

This too shall pass.