My little niece is 16 months old and has never been a good sleeper. She had reflux as an infant and for as long as I can remember, she wakes up once or twice at night screaming.She does this every night. She'll scream and cry for about 15/20 min. Sometimes longer. Does anyone know how to prevent this? Are these night terrors? It's hard to get solid sleep since you anticipate her waking up every night. Thanks
2007-10-03 03:20:32 · 9 answers · asked by TJ's Mom 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
I have 2 kids, one is 9 yrs old and ones 11 months old. I think your niece possibly was feed to bed every night and possibly sometime in the middle of the night. Possibly breastfeeding.
My sons the same way when he stays with me. He will cry like crazy at 3am on the dime every night. Sleep with a bottle next to her and feed her when she begins to cry. I guarantee you she will go back to sleep
2007-10-03 04:00:30 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she seems awake but is not responsive to you or your voice..It may very well be night terrors. My daughter has had them on and off since she was 3. She is now 10 and still has them from time to time. I have found that a good way to help her actually sleep through the night is to wake her up about 1 to 2 hours after she goes to sleep. Just enough for her to open her eyes and then fall back to sleep. This disrupts the pattern of her sleep and makes it so she can actually sleep all night. When I do this she sleeps fine for the rest of the night. It seems odd but it really works. I looked up night terrors..and everything seemed right on with what was going on with my daughter. That was one of the solutions they gave ...along with her having a regular schedule every day and night for naps and bed time. Plus if she is going through a lot of change like going to a new daycare or signifigant changes in who is around and who is not ..These things can affect her sleep.Plus it should be compleatly quiet while she is asleep too music or loud noises can arrouse her and trigger night terrors. Try a bath before bed too..that seems to help sometimes as well. Good luck. Hope some of these things work for you . Also..I have read that while a child is having a night terror it is actually best for you not to communicate at all with her. That will just upset her more ..attemting to soothe them doesn't help because their brain is still in sleep mode and it confuses them even more or might even scare her. even though they may seem wide awake. So as long as she is not getting out of bed or hurting herself at all then you're probably best to just let her be and fall back to sleep on her own. GOOD LUCK ; )
2007-10-03 03:47:00 · answer #2 · answered by simplymel78 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter had night terrors and that is the worst. If your niece is waking up about the same time every night then you can try this it worked for me. About 30 mins before the time she usually has the night terrors wake her up. Keep her up for about a half hour and then lay her back down and she will sleep until morning. I know it sounds mean but about a week and half of doing this she will sleep thru the night and no more night terrors. My doctor is the one that told me this and I thought it was mean but it works well. Good luck.
2007-10-03 03:27:34 · answer #3 · answered by emt_girl_50 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My daughter went through the SAME thing at that age. She is now 19 months, and sleeps just fine.
The doctor said it could be a couple of things:
1) If she had acid reflux before, she may have it again. Her pediatrician can give her some medicine to see if that helps.
2) She may be having nightmares. It's apparently common at this age. If the screaming is uncontrollable, go in and hold her until she goes back to sleep. Then put her back down, and go back to bed. If you can stand it...leave her be. She will calm down.
3) She may be going through a large phase. Whenever a child is going through a phase (like at this age, she will begin talking more, interacting more, etc...BIG steps) or a growth spurt, her sleeping habits will change.
Know that this WILL go away. Be patient, be calm, and try to let her get over it herself. It MAY take awhile (mine took aboutt 3-4 weeks), but it will go back to normal.
If it doesn't get better, then call the pediatrician. It's better to be safe than sorry!
Good luck!!!
2007-10-03 03:26:48 · answer #4 · answered by Heck if I know! 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My first born son did the same thing. He eventually got over that problem at about 2 years old. He still though to this day will do it every once in a while and I believe it is due to nightmares. Especially now that he is 4 years old and still crys and screams at least 1 night every 2 weeks.
2007-10-03 03:27:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Poor kid. Her needs for closeness and comfort were being nicely met, and now all of a sudden she's being left to cry alone. You're likely to have better success with this if you transition her more gently and gradually. Let her fall asleep with you, rock her to sleep, or go for a walk or drive at bedtime. Once she's sleeping deeply, you can move her into her bed. If she wakes during the night, respond to her quickly and comfort her back to sleep. She'll be more able to sleep on her own as she gets older.
2016-05-19 22:28:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
16 month old screams at night!!?
2014-11-28 03:27:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im writing a book and name some unique girl names and boy names?
2015-11-29 14:33:07 · answer #8 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just let her scream it out, she'll out grow it. Every child goes through this.
2007-10-03 03:23:09 · answer #9 · answered by amosunknown 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋