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Original poster

weird night waking problem

36 replies

prefernot · 23/09/2004 12:51

I don't know if anyone can help with this one which has me confused.

Dd, 23 months, a good sleeper most of her life with an occasional problem when ill etc. which has responded well to gentle cc, has for the last 3 nights been waking at 2am for 1.5 hours. She doesn't cry, she just stands in the cot, most of the time quite quietly though occasionally calling my name. When I go down she doesn't want anything, maybe just has a sip of water, gives me a kiss and a cuddle standing up and says night night but just doesn't go back to sleep! I've tried not going into her but it doesn't seem to make a difference if I go or I don't. I can't just sleep through it as she calls for me every 10-15 mins or so which wakes me up if I do doze off.

In the day she has 1-2 hours sleep in the afternoon which she definitely needs (more so these last few days as she's exhausted all morning), between 12-2pm. She goes to bed 7.30pm-8pm and wakes about 6.30-7am. I'm in no doubt that she's tired as I can hear her yawning as she stands in the night. She's getting over a cold and a cough but wasn't doing this when it was bad and I think she's nearly better. She's not teething.

I haven't a clue what to do, cc doesn't seem appropriate as she's not crying and seems not to be bothered if I go in or not. Any ideas? This happened to anyone else?

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linniewith2 · 23/09/2004 13:04

Is some noise waking her up? my dd1 sometimes wakes in the night while im feeding dd2 well more early morning.........and she just sits quietly and watches me feeding then goes back to sleep when ive finished.
So Im sorry I've no advice realy but if she's not upset just let her know that youre there if she needs you!
Sorry I couldnt be of more help!
I post here as I have problems geting dd1 to sleep but no problems with her sleeping through

Papillon · 23/09/2004 13:11

Is she perhaps having a bad dream and waking up. She is not upset though is she... People who do not sleep well at night can have low melatonin levels in their bodies making them wakeful at night. Not sure how low melatonin is determined, a test perhaps. Does she have some toys and books to look at. What would she do if she was not in her cot I wonder?

she may just be a little out of her cycle after the cold. The moon is waxing I think at the moment and is also said to make people wakeful.

Original poster
prefernot · 23/09/2004 13:47

Thanks linnie, no I don't think there's a noise that's waking her up. She doesn't like noises and would always tell me if it was that.

Papillon, I don't know about melatonin. I've no idea how to check that or increase it. May have to do some research into that one. She does have things in her cot but she chucks them all out before she goes to sleep and if I put them in again when she wakes up she chucks them all out again except for her favourite sleep toy. She doesn't seem to be awake to play like she does first thing in the morning or after her nap. She seems kind of half asleep but standing up.

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Original poster
prefernot · 23/09/2004 20:48

Anyone else before I embark on another sleep-deprived night?

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lulupop · 23/09/2004 21:00

My DS did go through a phase of this, although he was already a bad sleeper. He would wake around 2am and cry for a bit, thenonce I'd been and explained it was night and itme for sleep, he's go quiet but still chatter away for ages. I couldn;t go to sleep until I knew he was, so I know how tired you must be!

Anyway we found it just sorted itself out after a few weeks (sorry!), but in the meantime I will just extol the virtues of a full dose of Medised at bedtime. My GP recommended this as it does make them very drowsy and we found it kept DS asleep longer, and then the wakeful period was shorter. I also think it helped him to break the habit of waking at that time.

I think around that time of night they are in quite a light sleep and so can wake easily. Having already slept several hours, they aren't immediately tired enough to settle back once they've fully woken.

Hope tonught is better for you.

yingers74 · 23/09/2004 21:06

prefernot, don't have any advice, but just wanted to add my support and hope it does get better soon.

Judd · 23/09/2004 21:09

DD had a couple of weeks around the same age of waking in the middle of the night and crying "no, no". She has black out blinds and for us it worked to put a little night light in the room just under the chest of drawers - ie. a confined light IYSWIM.

Original poster
prefernot · 24/09/2004 12:23

Thanks everyone. Well last night was worse in that she woke twice instead of once (3am and 5am) but both times she went back to sleep immediately after I popped in to check on her. I wish I knew why this had started. She doesn't seem upset at all, hasn't once cried when she's woken up. She just seems in a kind of zombied state, standing yawning and dozing but not lying down or going back to sleep properly.

I've looked through every book I've got and can't find anything on this one ...

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Papillon · 24/09/2004 13:31

does she understand that she must lie back down again to go to sleep?

hope things improve soon

MrsWednesday · 24/09/2004 14:21

My DS (who is 2) has also started doing something similar this week and he was previously a very good sleeper, so I'm in the same boat.

I was wondering whether it could be because he is ready to go into a bed - he's currently in a cot. Is this a possibility for your DD?

The only other thing I could think of is perhaps she's waking up because she's cold?

Sorry, not much help from me, but I will be interested to see what other people suggest.

Original poster
prefernot · 24/09/2004 20:56

Papillon, yes she does know that and she does lie down on her own to sleep every night as she's never let me lie her down and tuck her in. She only ever lies down and goes to sleep when I've blown her a kiss from the door and gone out.

And partly for that reason, MrsWednesday (love the name!), I haven't considered getting her a bed. She's not very big and not a very physical child so I doubt she'll climb out. I just don't know how I'd leave her to settle herself if she was in a bed. I think I also hope that come the time to move to a bed it will happen at a moment when she's sleeping happily rather than in the midst of a problem time.

So what's happening with your Ds? I'd love to hear in more detail as this is so confusing me.

But yes, I have wondered if she's cold. I put her to bed in a vest, warm pajamas and a 2.5 tog sleeping bag (she doesn't have blankets or duvet yet) and the room's fairly warm (about 22 on the thermometer). Maybe I should sneak in when I go to bed and pop a blanket over her, though then she'd probably wake up freaked out about what it is!

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Whimsy · 24/09/2004 21:05

We have had the same problem with DS he is 21 months, he goes to bed 7:30-8:00 and wakes at 2-3am and sits in bed playing for about 1 hour. I'll be keeping an eye to see if anyone has any ideas

Original poster
prefernot · 25/09/2004 12:18

Last night she didn't wake. I've no idea why. She did wake earlier this morning, 6.30am but that doesn't matter much really. I don't have a solution to offer those with the same problem as I can't think of a thing that was different about last night than there has been for any of the other nights when she's woken up!

Still a mystery to me. And I'm sure last night was a fluke.

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yingers74 · 25/09/2004 13:58

fingers crossed that it isn't

MrsWednesday · 25/09/2004 14:52

It sounds like I'm copying you here prefernot, but my ds didn't wake up last night either - instead he was up bright and breezy (shouting 'Bob, Bob') at 6am.

I might be clutching at straws here, but could the weather have woken her up? On Monday night it was really windy here and that definitely caused a problem (my DS thought it was a 'doggy' for some reason). And because he did it on one night, it seems like he's got into a pattern of doing it - he likes the attention, and the fact that (stupidly) we brought him into our bed so we could all get some sleep.

I'm being really unhelpful here, sorry! The only other, totally useless, thing I could add is...it's just a phase (i.e. I have absolutely no idea!).

Original poster
prefernot · 25/09/2004 20:40

MrsWednesday, dd IS going through a phase of being freaked out by noises at the moment so it might have something to do with that. We've got a neighbour (we're in a big tower block) who runs up and down their stairs v. noisily and she will never go to sleep until he's quietened down.

Let's see how tonight goes!

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MrsWednesday · 26/09/2004 09:25

How did she get on last night prefernot? Hope you had a good night.

Original poster
prefernot · 26/09/2004 14:24

MrsW, she slept through again until 6.45am but it took her a while to go off last night as there was quite a lot of noise in neighbour's flat at her bedtime.

How about you?

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MrsWednesday · 26/09/2004 18:24

Same here! He went to bed later than normal (about 8.30) and slept in until 7. And then refused to have a nap today!!

He's now sat on the settee, glued to Toy Story 2 - won't be long before it's bed time.

Hope it continues (for us both) tonight!

Original poster
prefernot · 26/09/2004 20:27

Well, dd did have a nap today, 2 hours. To be honest she's seemed very run down for the last week now. I'd thought it was tiredness due to her sudden night waking etc. but I'm also slightly worried she's got some viral thing lurking ...

Does your Ds often skip a daytime nap? What are his normal sleeping patterns day and night by the way?

It's good to hear from you

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MrsWednesday · 26/09/2004 22:27

Has she had chicken pox? My ds had it recently and for a week before hand he was strangely grumpy and then after he seemed very tired for a good couple of weeks.

How much sleep does your DD get at the minute then? I keep wondering whether my DS is ready to drop his naps - at the minute, if he's up at 6, he definitely needs 2 hours (usually 2-4), then bed at 7.30. If he gets up later then I usually don't bother with a nap, just put him to bed earlier. He's quite unpredictable - he went through a 'phase' of about 3 months where he got up at 5am every day.

If I'm honest, I'm dreading the point when he gives up his nap completely - when would I eat my lunch and watch Neighbours?! What age do they usually do this, do you have any idea?

Sorry, I'm wittering on...

It's nice to meet you - I am new round here and have only just dared to venture out from the TTC thread!

Hope your DD isn't coming down with anything.

Original poster
prefernot · 27/09/2004 10:06

Hi MrsW, nice to meet you too! Funny you mention chickenpox because I've started another thread about dd on the health board as I noticed yesterday she has some small white 'blisters' (?) on her lips and a white-headed spot on her cheek. I think it's more a sign that she's a bit run down at the moment rather than chickenpox but I'll keep an eye on them.

Well, dd's sleep (when in normal mode) is 7.30-8pm until 6.30-7.30am (she's unpredictable with her waking, 7am is probably average), then 12.30-2.30pm in the afternoon. I usually put her down straight after lunch as she seems very sleepy then, especially if she's woken up quite early. She's only very occasionally dropped a daytime nap and usually it's been because we've been out in the pram and she's dozed for 20 mins rather than had a proper sleep. She gets incredibly tired by teatime if she doesn't sleep in the day. I think she's a child who needs to sleep but she also often resists it. She's very very sensitive to strange noises etc. at the moment, sometimes that puts her off going to sleep, the fear that she'll hear someone close their door or go up their stairs in a nearby flat.

Where are you based MrsW? No need to reply if you don't want to .

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MrsWednesday · 27/09/2004 12:42

Sorry to hear she's so under the weather. Poor little thing, it's so upsetting when they are ill. My DS's chicken pox started off on his body, just one white-headed, scabby-looking spot initially, and within hours they were everywhere! If she hasn't got any more today, it doesn't sound like it's chicken pox.

I'm in Leeds, I work part-time and I'm back in the office after a week at home . Where are you based?

Original poster
prefernot · 27/09/2004 13:59

Hi MrsW, no, no more spots today so I'm guessing it's some kind of coldsores as she's a bit run down. She's a poor little soul at the moment, very clingy and quiet.

I'm based in London and am at work today too, dd's with dp who looks after her the 2 days I work. I always miss her when I'm at work .

Does your Ds go to nursery when you work?

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Original poster
prefernot · 27/09/2004 14:00

By the way, how did your Ds do last night? Dd woke very weirdly at 11pm but very briefly and went straight back to sleep when I went in. Then she woke at 6.15am this morning (AGH!!!) dp says she's very tired today.

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