HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lilybird]

my dd who is 2.2, has never been a good sleeper,but this last couple of weeks has been a nightmare! i'm up every two hours with her, seems like she's dreaming, she's crying and kicking out, last night i had to wake her up cos she was so out of control. hate to think that she is having bad dreams,but surely she can't have them every night??
any ideas ladies?

my son is 1.1, so i am afraid i can't help through experience

hope you get some replies

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it sounds like she is having night terrors. i watched a prog about it about year ago. if she wakes up about the same time every night with her first one they recommended waking the child up half an hour before this. sit the child up get them to answer you, and then settle them back down again, apparently this breaks the sleep cycle and delays the deep sleep state a bit. it worked on the t.v anyway.

thanks natt, i'll give that a whirl tonight.
it's just a horrible thought, that she is scared in her sleep.

does she have a night light? I've got one that plays a lullaby and light when ds cries. It slowly fades and plays quieter over about 5 mins.

it's really common, i know thats no help when it's you child though. the little girl on the prog wasn't comforted by mum because even though there eyes are open they are still asleep. it's always around that age, it starts,when the subconsious mind is trying to make sense and order out of the day thats passed. I know what you mean though you don't want your child to be afraid. i hope it works for you.

yes, she's got a nightlight in her room,just hope it's a phase that passes quickly.
i must admitt thought that i've been getting into her bed in the early hours, i know it's not the done thing but i'm so tired of getting in and out of bed all night!

hi, did you give the wake up half an hour thingy a try? how has she been?

My ds still gets these (nearly 4). I find him wandering around his bedroom, eyes wide open, disorientated, apparently very scared of something and still asleep. I lead him into the kitchen (bungalow) and give him a drink of water in the light to wake him up properly, then give him a cuddle and pop him back in bed. He goes back to sleep instantly. hth.

hi natts, tried waking her up and she did sleep a little better. spoke to health visitor yesterday for advice, she said it was unlikely to be night terrors as these occur in older children, so none the wiser really!

I was under the impression that night terrors occurred at this young age and it was nighmares they didn't get until they were older (Dr Green's Toddler Taming book) My ds used to get night terrors - he'd be soaked in sweat, even if it was quite cool in his room and just staring blankly at the corner of the room sobbing, but if I asked him about it in the morning he wouldn't remember a thing about it. I used to just sit with him until it was over, then get him to have a sip of water before settling back down to sleep. But his only used to happen once or twice a night.