How do you resond to cries of "Mama help!"

[eenybeeny]

My 22 month old DS has never had any sleep issues really past the early/middle months. For the last year he has gone to bed fairly easily with a good routine and slept through the night.

There is a book of poetry of mine that I have always read to him and he is seriously obsessed with it. He calls it "mama's book" and I read it to him several times a day. At his request.

Tonight it is 9:20 I left him in his room at 8 after all the usual stuff and he is screaming and crying and saying either "mama help" or "mama's book" meaning he wants me to read it to him. Of course I went up straight away when he said help and he was sort of --

wrote that a while ago. I just came downstairs from his room.

He was really screaming badly for me so I ran upstairs and he was just so upset. Basically we tried to do the thing where you get him to self settle but he wouldnt so in the end I rocked him in my arms and sang him to sleep and then lowered him into bed. He was very twitchy and it took a long time to get him to let me go.

I gave him some Calpol as he was sweating like a pig. We dont have a reliable thermometer anymore so I cant check his temp. Am worried and not sure what to do if this happens again tomorrow either nap or bedtime.

bump

growing pains? my dd1 (4) often wakes in the night screamin incolsolably and it takes a long time to settle her. i have found that getting into her bed and cuddling her works best.

after mentioning this to the doc he said it si more than likely growing pains. but if yours has a temp i wuld take him to gp's.

i think you did the right thing, if it happens agin i would go and see what was wrong. try and leave him to self settle for a few mins once its clear he is not desperately ill or injured, but if he wont settle hug him till he does.

my dd1 woke up hysterically at about 2am last week coz she wanted a hug off me her dad was there offering to hug her, but i was in bed. after about 40mins of screaming i had to give in before she woke half the street. there was just no calming her. but had a chat with her the next day and she hasnt repeated this.

thanks. I am happy to be there for him however he needs me. I know in theory self settling is best and we did do some sleep training when he was around 11 months but if he is seriously distressed I will stay with him and rock him/sing to him etc.

Will just add that at 22 months he is 35 lbs so very heavy to rock! Still it was lovely he snuggled into my breast just like he did when he was littler. I worry about him though. I need a proper thermometer but havent got any money to buy one.

growing pains. I hadnt thought of that! Will call my GP tomorrow but I know she thinks I am a loon anyway.

DS woke me up this morning he was sitting in his bed sort of whimpering "mama help" over and over again. Very distressing for me to hear.

you don't need a thermometer to see if he has a raised temp. You can take his pulse (if he sits still long enough!). Of course you would have to find out what the normal speed is for his age. Find his pulse on his wrist - I can't really explain where it is if you don't know - perhaps you can find an image on the internet. Once you can feel his pulse, look at a clock or a watch, and for 15 seconds, count the pulses you feel. Then times that number by 4 (to get an average count for one minute). For example, I can take my pulse now for 15 seconds, and it is around 17. 17 x 4 = 68. So my pulse is 68 beats per minute which is normal and fine. If it was say, 75, I would know I was cooking a temp. The smaller children are, the faster their pulse is naturally, so it all depends on what is normal. Does this make sense?

But why don't you take him to see the gp anyway?

wow thank you for taking the time to explain that to me! I do know where his pulse is (I think, I mean, I know where it is on me!) I will do that.

I didnt take him to GP today because on the whole he seemed fine. Its just this awful whimpering of "mama help" when he is waking or in bed. He is very hot in general all the time anyway. Just a warm child.

I do worry about him though. His health makes me nervous but I dont think I am paranoid its just a feeling I have.

I think about my child's 'hotness' too. I read the other day in a posting by another Mumsnetter about how the children she vaccinated were always strangley 'hot', but the one she hasn't is not.....hmmmmm.

Does your ds have enough vocab to tell you what is wrong?

In my book, if your mother's intuition is ringing alarm bells, then it is worth investigating. Just take him to the gp - you have nothing to lose, and peace of mind to gain.

hmmm very interesting re the vaccinations! Another weird one is me and DS both get really hot in our sleep.

He can say almost anything now and can answer yes or no questions but when I try to ask him whats wrong he just cries and clings to me and says either "mama help" or "sit mama book" which means 'sit down, I want to sit on your lap while you read me the book!'

eenybeeny, please take him to the gp's. You know that something is wrong. Why take a risk? At the worst the gp will tell you off for being over cautious (unlikely if she/he is a good gp). I am a big believer in mother's instinct. If he had just woken up in the night it would be one thing, but if he's still wimpering the next day, I think it sounds like something more....maybe an ear infection. And please get a thermometer. You can get the really cheap digital ones that go in the mouth or under the arm at any chemists for under £10. I have a 5 and 7 year old and have practically worn mine out by now. And learn to know your child's normal temp....My ds, like yours runs really hot and will get temps of 104/5 when he is ill, while dd runs cool and a temp of 101 is really really high for her.

I dont know if I explained it properly in my post but this "mama help" thing etc is coming in bed. That is why I havent taken him to GP yet because when he is up and about he seems fine. (healthy and normal emotionally) It seems to come in relation to going to bed. He and I are very very very close and we basically live in each others pockets so I dont know if he is just very upset at being away from me.

Will get a thermometer this Friday with payday.

and will see about GP today. Ours is crap and often treats me like a total moron for bringing him in. When I went in to tell her I was pregnant (ages ago - pregnant with DS) she said "um... Why are you here telling me? What am I supposed to do about it?"

no shit. She really said that. The staff at the surgery are lovely and there are many good points about it but the actual GP is an idiot.

oh, sorry, I did misunderstand. If the wimpering is just happening at night and he's fine during the day, then you are probably right that it's something else. It's fairly common for kids to go through night waking phases. And 22 months is not an uncommon time for that to happen.
Sorry about lousy gp....I had one for awhile and it's truly awful when you have a child to not feel comfortable bringing them in to the doctor.

is your GP better now? Hope so

DS is fine one minute and the next his little lip is quivering and he seems all fragile. I'm sure its just a phase he has to go through but I worry. Sigh!