For the last few weeks, my eldest son (who's never been a good sleeper) has started waking up at least once a night, often twice, absolutely screaming. It's an instant scream, angry in emotion. He kicks his legs violently in frustration. If I try my usual soothing methods of rubbing back or hair, he screams at me and gets worse as soon as I touch him. If I just sit there next to him, he gets more and more angry over time. Sometimes he's screaming things like "did you take the [something], yes or no?" as if he's been dreaming. Often I can't tell what it is he's saying because he's screaming it. If I try to pick him up he goes mad.
All I can do is keep sshhing and trying every couple of minutes to see if he'll let me rub his back or pick him up, and eventually, after 20-30 minutes, he lets me. Then he finally calms down and I lay down next to him and he eventually falls asleep. The whole ordeal knocks an hour off his (and my) sleep and it sometimes happens twice in a night. It's so exhausting! If I ask him about it the next day, he doesn't remember it. I ask why did you cry last night and he asks "when did I cry"? "Why"?
Any ideas what this is or what I should do about it?? Has anyone ever experienced similar