23mo waking inconsolable every day

[feb]

It takes DS at least 1 hr to stop crying after he wakes up. it dosn't matter if he has been asleep all night or just had a nap during the day. it also dosn't matter if he wakes on his own or with me or DH there.
he just cries and wants carrying until he finally snaps out of it. if i ask him what is wrong or what he wants he just keeps crying, I can't distract him with playing/TV/the promise of a treat etc. if i ask him to do anything or put him down so i can get on with things he lies on the floor wailing. he is like a different child the rest of the time.
i have a 3wk old DS2 so we really can't carry on like this...does anyone have any advice?

for you. is this a new development?

don't know if it's similar but ds1 went through a stage of being really grumpy whenever he woke up. we finally figured out that he was always thirsty, and would perk right up once he'd had a drink.

hope things improve for you. congrats for ds2!

thanks for the congrats
he has been like this for a few months - it is very frustrating. i always offer food and drink and have even tried offering milk in a bottle but he reacts as if i'm trying to poison him and wails even louder!

Congrats - please feel free to pop into the tinsel and tantrums 2 under 3 thread in this section (we were the 2 under 2 until our DCs grew up)

Is he starting to dream? DD woke crying or screaming a lot at about this age and there were probably all sorts of reasons, but when her language improved told us things that suggested that she seemed to be having trouble getting from dreaming to rl. She also needed juice (low blood sugar?) although she wouldn't always take it.

(Have you looked at some of the night terrors threads also - it could be a form of that.)

ds had a few nightmares at this age, agree, I think it was the separation of reality and dreams. We would talk to him about what he wanted to think about when he was asleep. Still do in fact, he's 4 now. Is your ds quite verbal? Can you ask him yes/no questions to find out more, such as "are you frightened?" "are you sore?" "are you cross?"

When I'm tucking ds into bed we always do a list of 10 nice things that he can think about that night. I don't know whether he does or not, but the thought seems to make him happy.

when you offer a drink do you offer it in a bottle, beaker or cup with straw? sometimes ds is thirsty but i will offer a beaker and he will want a cup or vice versa.

will he wear hats? does he dodge you trying to comb his hair/ rub his head etc.?
just asking cos he might have a headache when he wakes up.
My niece cried pretty much every time she woke, from a very young age until about 21mo.

No advice, just sympathy, as DD has always been like this, though thankfully it doesn't usually last an hour, more like 15 minutes.
I have tried most things, and she is 2.10 now, so pretty verbal- nothing helps. Thankfully it is just after naps now, rather than every morning, and she is outgrowing it.
Some people have suggested food because of blood sugar levels, but this has never made a difference to her tbh.

I think it's because she has very vivid dreams, which of course littlies have difficulty separating out from reality, and do not understand what is going on.

She still wails for me every morning plaintively, but not inconsolably.

thanks for the suggestions. he is quite verbal but i can't get any sense out of him when he has just woken up!
i may well pop into the 'tinsel and tantrums 2 under 3 thread'.
i'm sure its just a phase. at least i hope it is!...