She wakes up in the middle of the night and calls for me. When I go in to see what is the matter, she is crying hysterically. She won't tell me whats wrong, she won't speak to me at all, she won't make eye contact or look at me. She reacts to things that I'm saying, though, so I don't think she is still sleeping. It takes a good half hour to calm her down. Then she immediately lays back down and goes back to sleep like nothing ever happened. Sometimes she has to go to the bathroom, but that doesn't calm her down. During the day, when she is upset, she has no problem communicating what's wrong. Why is she doing this? It really freaks me out!
2006-07-22 18:22:35 · 8 answers · asked by crystal 3 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
I think some kids don't know they are hungry. Try some milk.
2006-07-22 22:35:28 · answer #1 · answered by thepaxilman 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
When my daughter was 3 1/2, she suffered from night terrors. She acted much as you have described... wouldn't look at me, crying loudly, reacting to me as if I were a monster instead of her mom, then laying down after about an hour of screaming and going back to sleep. She continued this for about two weeks. It scared my husband and I to death. We looked it up on the internet on a parenting site. It was always about 4-5 hours after she had gone to sleep. We started disrupting her sleep cycle once we figured out the time she normally would wake. We'd go in and wake her up about half an hour before she would wake screaming. We found that by disrupting her sleep cycle, we broke the night terrors. We just had her get out of bed for a few minutes, drink some water or go to the bathroom. The key was to do this BEFORE she would wake up screaming... otherwise she would just continue to freak out even if we got her up out of bed. It was a stressfull two weeks until we figured out how to stop the sleep cycle, though, and I feel for you. Try timing when her outbursts are, and waking her about 1/2 hour before. Good luck!
2006-07-23 12:26:35 · answer #2 · answered by dolphin mama 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When she awakens, she can't talk. Kids come out of deep sleep very quickly and it takes them longer to get to the point when they can talk.
My son suffered from night-terrors for a few years and it was scary. He'd awaken from sleep crying like crazy, usually sitting up, rocking back and forth, eyes open but not awake. He'd sometime be muttering "I'm scared" but not really very loud. We consulted our pediatrician and he said to just hold him and gently say "wake up, wake up." What is going on happens so far into their psyche that they won't remember anything, so you can't scare them. It finally ended, thank goodness.
2006-07-23 01:31:58 · answer #3 · answered by Rogue Scrapbooker 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My husband has a calmer form of night mare/night terrors. He will get up and talk to me for 15-25 minutes..he wont recall a thing.
he will have his eyes open he will laugh...and go on he takes a shower... Sometimes hje waskes up afriad even though he is still asleep.
See what your friend/family dr says
Do something NOW before It becomes more of a problem
sorry I was not a help to you.
2006-07-23 02:02:50 · answer #4 · answered by MayberryNR5 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please, please pay close attention to your child and what is going on in her life. Never completely trust anyone with your child. Someone maybe bothering your child and this may be her way of letting you know. When it comes to children, I always advise mothers that no one will love their little ones more than you. My now 7 year old daughter was molested by my own brother, right under my nose and I didn't even know it. Be careful. Especially with your girls. There are predators out there. There is something though that will tell you what is going on. And if you can't get it, take another approach.
2006-07-23 02:02:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
At three years old, your child's imagination is beginning to expand and because of this nightmares occur frequently at this age. In my opinion, I would be observing the kinds of movies/video games that she is watching as well as mentioning of monsters and the boogie man. In my experience with my three year old, she woke up crying because she thought swiper the fox was chasing her.
2006-07-23 01:38:06 · answer #6 · answered by Sarah 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what u are describing is night tremors ...and if she does this several times a week , they say it will continue until the child is six... there is a book that explains it, i think the book is called what to expect , the toddler years.. if u ever heard of the the book what to expect when u are expecting , it is a continuation of that book...u can find it at any book store
2006-07-23 01:43:01 · answer #7 · answered by sssoulchild 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like night terrors. Just be thankful she's not in Iraq hearing bombs go off all around her.
2006-07-23 01:39:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋