Waking up at 3am- why? WHY?

[amberj]

Just another random sleep deprived post of frustration!

For the last four nights now DS has decided that about 3am is an appropriate time to wake up and cry and cry. He will stop almost immediately when you pick him up, and will fall back asleep in your arms in due course (very sweet). But its not so sweet when his eyes fly open the second you put him back in bed and he yells bloody murder.

I'm guessing sep anxiety or bad dreams or night terrors (what's the diff between a bad dream and a night terror btw?). If he was in pain, he would continue to cry even once picked up, right?

He won't come and sleep in our bed, because he thinks our bed is a place to play, not sleep. Last night he slept on me on the couch, but he's so wiggly and heavy that there is no way I can sleep! Tonight I think will be all about patting/ tummy rubs and trying to get him back to sleep in his own cot.

Sleeeeeeeep little man, please!!!

[Snacks]

What's the weather like where you are? I have found the past couple of nights difficult because it gets cold around that time. P often wakes around 4 for a feed, but the last few nights it's been earlier I think because it gets cold...
Hope the alternative settling works ok for you. Not fun.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

My DD has been doing the same thing on and off, she had 3 bad nights would wake, screaming the house down, the second i picked her up asleep in my arms but the minute i attempted to lower her into the cot.. ****!

Will be watching this post for ideas, i think it's possibly her teething as her top gums are very swollen but last time she teethed she was agitated and wouldn't sleep even if i held her so i'm not sure.
She will fall asleep in my bed but being PG and with my DP snoring it doesn't work for me, so am TRYING TRYING TRYING to keep her out of that habit no matter how tired i get.

The only other thing i thought with my DD that might not be an issue for you is that i am making the change to milk, i have to take it slow because of her eczema but maybe her restlessness coincides with the increase of the milk amount? i'm just guessing, she had a good night last night so lets hope it continues tonight.

Hope you get some sleep and your DS settles ASAP for you...

[thepixie]

DD was waking twice a night and I was taking her on the couch to settle her - for similar reasons, with the three of us in bed, I was just not sleeping properly. It was basically slowly killing me! Last weekend we took the mattress off her cot and put it on the floor in her bedroom, and since then she is only waking once, is settling quicker, possibly because I don't have to get her out of bed. I just lie down beside her and she is back to sleep in no time. It's not comfort city but it does beat the couch and I'm back in my own bed faster. We are looking at toddler beds, but in the meantime it seems to be working better for us. Just a thought, HTH

[amberj]

Pixie- interesting idea. Do you have any problems with your LO getting up and wandering off when trying to go to sleep or in the morning or anything?

[Jakabella]

I have no ideas but Bella did that last night and a few nights ago - up at 3am and then falls asleep in my arms and then as soon a s I put her in the cot BAM awake and screaming. She has only started doing this when daylight savings came in and the warmer weather started - might be a coincidence but Im not so sure. I hope we both get answers soon!!

Kate

[rufalina]

It does not sound like night terrors...

This is an extract from the Childres Hospital at Westmead Fact Sheet.

What is a Nightmare?
Nightmares occur when your child is woken while having a bad dream. It is sometimes not easy to comfort your child because he or she might recall the content of the nightmare and be afraid to go back to sleep. Give your child a reassuring hug and then settling back to sleep is usually quick. Nightmares can occur in children of any age and are most likely to happen during the later part of the sleep such as in the early morning. This is when Rapid Eye Movement (REM) or Dream Sleep usually occurs. Nightmares can reflect worries that your child might be having during the day and it might be useful to talk to about this with them.

What's the difference between Nightmares and Night Terrors?
Night terrors occur when children are partially aroused from deep (Stage 4) sleep. They are not quite awake yet not completely asleep. Throughout the night terror your child's "mind" remains asleep, whereas the "body" looks somehow awake and facial expressions are very emotional. Your child may scream and appear very frightened, usually not recognising the parents or carers. It will be difficult to reassure your child and they may try to run away or push away those trying to console. Night terrors do not arise from REM sleep and are therefore under the group of Non-REM sleep disorders. Usually your child does not remember having the night terror the next morning. Night terrors tend to occur in younger children and are usually outgrown by the end of primary school age. They are also different to nightmares because they usually take place in the early part of the night, usually one or two hours after the child falls asleep. Like nightmares, there are usually no long-term psychological effects.

My DS has night terrors, and he has no idea that I enter the room when he screams, and I cant settle him. And he will go back to sleep as if nothig happened at all... Night terrors can lead to things like sleepwalking...

Sorry I cant be of more assistance with your 3am... But if it helps, know that I am awake at 3am with my unborn having just found his 3am party groove... I will send some sleepy thoughts in your DS direction tonight... xo

[thepixie]

Do you have any problems with your LO getting up and wandering off when trying to go to sleep or in the morning or anything?

She is usually asleep when she goes in there, or I feed her to sleep there, so that's no problem. I have found at night she doesn't actually get up, she just lies there and cries, maybe crawls around, or sits up but even in the morning she actually stays on the mattress and waits for us to come to her. Amazing really, I was very surprised at this! I expected her to be walking around the place when we first did it, but she has pretty much stayed put. it stays that way!

[thepixie]

Damn it, no sooner do I say :yeahthat: than last night when I went to her room she was standing up, only a few steps from the bed, but still. And this morning she came right to our door before I even realised she was awake - pretty clever in a sleeping bag. Of course she might have called out to me, I was dead to the world after spending 3-5am trying to get her to go back to sleep!