Ds 3.10yrs screaming through the night for hour or two!!!

[Nemo2007]

Really need help with DS. He has never been the best sleeper and only slept through a few times. Now he screams whenever he slightly wakes. Now he normally does this because he needs a wee but will scream for 5 or 10mins before he will move then when he goes back to bed he will scream for a couple of hours. During this time he is half awake so it isnt night terrors.He can do this 2/3 times a night from when he goes to bed until 6am.
We have tried
sitting with him
ignoring him
reward both immediate as in gift next day and long term as in earn it on a star chart
removing toys
rapid return wouldnt work as he doesnt actually get out of bed unless it is to wee

nothing is working and it is now at the point where last night I absolutely hollared at him!! Last night was the first night in ages that both my girls [20m+7m] slept through yet I was still up with DS 3 times.
Dh has tried going in to him but it is no different...so please somebody must have been through similair

What about playing a story CD on repeat v. quietly?

have tried that but he turns it off and says he doesnt like it.
Also thought he may have been cold but again he screams if I put a cover over him and insists on lying on top of his duvet.
I leave water by his bed for a drink
He has his light on and also a torch

How long did you try sitting with him for?

I totally sympathise with you. My dd is 2.2 and she does exactly the same. I have tried everything and nothing works

I wonder if there could be an underlying medical reason. This is similar to how our dd2 was when she was 2 - 2.5 and it turned ou tshe was anaemic. Once she was on supplements her behaviour became much more settled and we did rapid return which worked in under a week. I'm not saying anaemia might be the cause, there can be all kinds of things that provoke disruptive sleep - constipation is mentioned by Tanya Byron, another cause might be a food intolerance. Might be worth having a chat with your hv or GP.

completely behavioural..I told him last night on the third waking by 12.30 that he could sleep in our bed. From then on there was not a single peep from him

I would have said that my dd's problems were behavioural until I saw the change in her.

So, are you going to carry on co-sleeping?

last night he slept in his own bed. I left a teddy at the side that he wanted and told him if he screamed/ came into our room then I would move the teddy. He woke up a couple of times but didnt do the stuff he has been doing!!

Glad things are getting better. I've been up with our ds for probably ten nights' out of the last fortnight, he is 15 mo and has a mild cold and is teething. He cries out, so I pick him up and he stops. But then I can't put him down w/out the screaming starting. If I hold him he just sits on my lap blinking at me like a little owl for two hours at a time - I get back to bed around 5 - half five and dd2 gets up at 6. I've given him pain relief but tbh it doesn't look as though he is in pain. Just wanted you to know you're not alone!

STT horrible isnt it, can see why sleep deprevation was used as torture!!
DD1 was doing the blinking owl bit for a while but I stopped picking her up and instead just patted her in her bed which helped, didnt seem to last as long then.

I don't feel right not picking him up b/c I can see he is cutting four pre-molars. Plus he'll wake the dds. He's still in our room and I have great hopes for when I finally get his room sorted.