STRANGE WAKING EVERY NIGHT!

[MollyMooMin]

My DD is 19 months old and has slept through for 16 of those. But, recently, she has started waking at about 11pm crying, when we go in to comfort her, just the fact that she's seen us winds her up more. We go to pick her up & she forcefully pushes us off. IF we manage to calm her, we put her back in her cot... half an hour later it happens again! She's not hungry, thirsty, wet, cold, too hot.. We considered night terrors, but EVERY night is abit weird. There's been no change to any daytime routine/ food.... so why?

bad dreams perhaps?

Can you wake her up, or she just goes to sleep without aknowledging you are there?

Don't know how often night terrors manifest themselves (or if she is having night terrors), but I have a sister who sleepwalks and speaks on her sleep, and all through her childhood these episodes happened every night, sometimes several times in a single one. Fortunately, people seem to suffer from sleep terrors for considerable shorter periods, so, hopefully she will be out of them very soon.

Yeah, she's awake as last night i started to talk to her to calm her down & she responded.

Any "traumatic" events at the time that the waking started like change of nursery, trips, change in family-friends structure?

No, no changes. They're getting worse.. last night, she started at midnight, and cried for 3 hours! Nothing calmed her down, in the end we put her in bed with us, but she sees our room as somewhere to play. So, we took her back, and as soon as she went in her cot she screamed! We tried everything.. drink, nappy, took clothes off, put them on, gave her milk... nothing worked. In the end, I think she just stopped through exhaustion. It's been going on for 2 weeks now... What on earth is wrong with her??

I really don't know what is going on. But if you think is well over the top, perhaps a visit to the GP/HV may help?....

Could it be something causing pain such as an ear infection or teeth?

my 18mth dd had been doing this but at 4am. She wouldn't be cuddled..had drink, clean nappy, medicine if teething etc. She would pinch, lash out. One time she screamed in anger so much I had to shut the window so that she didn't wake the neighbours. We got her a little night light and this has helped lots. I think because it was partially light when she went to sleep, she would wake up and it would be pitch black and she was petrifiyed. It has all but stopped now. hth and good luck

Thanks all. She doesn't have any pain.. we tried medicine but she pushes it away. She always has abit of light too as we leave a landing light on which gives her just enough to see if she wakes. Do you think it could be some kind of growth spurt? I've never noticed anything unusual about her before if she's ever had a spurt so I don't really know the signs...?