please help....20month old ds had sleep problem last night

[Scabbybaboon]

....and it freaked me out a bit.

He woke up suddenly, screaming and completely inconsolable. He's teething his back molars atm and it's given him a cold, so I gave him some calpol, changed his nappy, dabbed his eyes with water as he was rubbing them constantly. Nothing worked though, he continued to scream for what felt like ages.

He eventually calmed down and I took him into our bed to see if I could settle him down. I couldn't and he kept asking to go downstairs. sigh so I took him down (this is at 2 in the morning by the way) and he proceeded to tell me he wanted to play with his jigsaw (in between he asked for water and ran around the living room). I told him no and kept the lights off so he knew it was still night time.

After 30 to 45 mins I decided enough was enough so I told him we were going back upstairs to sleep, he said ok, so I took him up. But...when I tried to put him back in his cot he started crying again. I tried rocking him to sleep in our room and he started nodding off so I tried to put him into our bed but he woke up and wouldn't have any of it.

After this I decided to just plonk him back in his cot, I tried to put his covers back on (he kept standing up) and left the room saying goodnight. He cried for a bit, took him ages to settle, he eventually did but his sleep was fitfull.

Today he is exhausted, he has massive bags under his eyes, but he still won't sleep. He has refused to have his regular nap, just crying upstairs instead. I don't know what to do .

I'm sorry this is so long, but I had to write it all out. He's usually a great sleeper and we have little problem with him (every once in a while we have a bit of a bad night but that's normal I reckon). I just don't get why he felt the need to play at two in the morning?

Please could someone give me a little advice? I feel like I'm going to break apart...

tyia xxxx

It's hard for little pre-verbal kids to deal with feeling rough and being in discomfort. And that's your son's way; the discomfort makes him feel disoriented at therefore he wants to play at 2am with his beloved and familiar toys.

Humour him, be sympathetic and try not to let him out of his room if he does it again tonight.

Good luck

(And by the way one night like this is a count-yourself-lucky thing for many parents)

Thanks suzy, I appreciate the advice. Yes, I know we've been pretty lucky with his sleep, suppose that's why it makes the bad nights so hard to deal with .

Plus a shouty dh doesn't hep either...but that's another story!

It sounds like you did all you could SB but I bet you're knackered today. The sleep deprivation is a killer isn't it?! I just want to echo Suzy's advice and to say I hope it was a one off for you.

xxx

ah the shouty dh, it is a real deal-breaker isn't it, the how to deal with night wakings, you just have to take control and go your own path.

The reason I am dishing out advice on this subject atm is because my little ds2, 2.7yrs has had tonsilitis and I didn't see the signs in the days running up to the full blown infection and I feel bad of course, but what I mean is that little kids do find it very hard to express discomfort, we can moan and whinge and look for sympathy but with then it's often unwanted behaviour.

Have you tried raising your son's cot with a couple of books under the head-end feet? That could help drain off mucos. A bowl of hot water with eucaplytus in it left in the room is a good one too.

mamaG: I'm absolutely exhausted! Doesn't help that there's a tottering pile of ironing waiting to be done in the living room (which I was meant to do today but ds won't nap aarrggh!). Why does tiredness become more acute when you know you have lots to do?!

Suzy: no go with the raised cot I'm afraid. He is the worlds wriggliest sleeper so I don't think it would work. The eucalyptus could be a goer though..thanks for that.

We've had 2 occasions when our DS did something like this (hes 22 months).Hes normally a great sleeper and, in fact, loves his sleep.
The most recent one was a couple of weeks ago where he woke up bright as a button at 11.30pm calling us to get him out of his cot. When I went in to him he chattered away as if he'd woken from a daytime nap (maybe thats what he thought??).
I just laid him back down and told him it was night-time and he needed to go back to sleep. I spoke very quitly and didn't turn any lights on. This happened 4/5 times that night. Still got no idea why! Wondered whether he had some indigestion or something that had disturbed him?
Anyway I know this isn't giving you any answers but I just thought I'd let you know that it will probably be a one-off or very rare event just in case you have visions of endless nights like it !