Toddler Kept Waking up Crying Last night..what Could Be the Matter???

You can try distraction when they wake up the first time. I use to get air freshner (different scent than I always used in the house,)wrapped the can in paper and had my kids cover the paper with stickers. When they woke up during the night with bad dreams I would wake them totally up (usually they are still half asleep which is why they fall back into the nightmare stage) and we'd make a big deal about filling the room with 'happiness air'. The happiness air would smell great and they would fall asleep knowing that all the bad things were gone.

Hi, L.. Listen to your son what he may be saying through his cries and agitation. First of all, you said that his feet hurt, check his shoes or sneakers, and bring him to the pediatrician ASAP about the feet. That could be a sign of something very serious. I know that my feet hurt if I am on them and I have flat feet. Does your son have that or anything seems not to be "normal" like flat isn't normal, but common. Also, where is your son staying during the day, is he with you all day, or does he stay with someone else, whether it's family member or else? Talk with him, not at him. How is his speech? Does he have good verbal skills or is he delayed in his speech? My oldest son, 3 y o has that and is getting speech therapy at home three days a week, 1 1/2 hours a week. He is not as frustrated and is more confident in speaking to us about things and asks what something is if he can't tell us what it is..if he doesn't know what it's called. Now I am thankful that I had it going and started something as soon as I felt that it was necessary to get it set right. Take it step by step with your son and talk with your husband about these things and see what he thinks could be the problem. I will pray that God will give you wisdom and doctors wisdom what could be the problem. But, also, sit down with your son alone and see if you can pinpoint and have him play dolls with you or color for you to see if there is something bothering him. Look at the colors he uses and what drawings he makes and ask him while he's coloring and you color too and seee what he shares with you while doing something. Just some thoughts....

Have you consider an illness called "Hand/Mouth/Foot" disease. Look it up online....my kids have had this before. It's somewhat like a flu, but their hands, mouth and feet will bother them....almost like they are itchy or prickly. I think I just gave them Motrin for it, but do a search or call your doctor about it.

I would definitely check with his dr. My son did this around 2 years old and I thought he was just being a pain in the neck. After several days he developed a bull's eye rash...he had lyme disease! The poor kid was in pain and couldn't express it!

I agree with Sherri too. Ear infections cause this behavior as well.

After that I promised that if any of my children did anything similar I would take them in right away to rule out anything serious. Good luck.

A.

Hi, I am not a doctore but my daughter had/has growning pains and it sounds just like what she would do. Try uping his potassium (bananas) when he has been extra active, it seems to help. Also, on the homeopathy front, i have had good results using Arnica (they come in little white balls that you put under the childs tongue, they are sweet, taste like sugar) Arnica balm (in a tube, like a linament but doesn't stink I use Arnicalm, works well) which helps because you rub it into the affected area, ankle, calf, etc.

Or you can use ibuprofen (worked better than tylenol) or tylenol to relieve discomfort. No matter what anyone says, there IS pain there so do what you have to to help the little guy out. I found stretching the foot up and down and rubbing the calf area helped alot, but the extra banana helps to keep it from happening, don't know exactly why, but it works.

LL

Must have been the moon last night, cause I went through the same thing. my son, 28 months, never wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to sleep with no problems, well usually... because last night it was a party up in this house. He woke up around 9:30 and would cry if I left his room, brought him to my bed (bad idea). He was so excited about being in our bed that he was totally awake. At 11:00 he was runing around the house, which has never happened before. After all that, my husband sat in his room for about 1 hr until he fell sleep...

My daughter does this every once and a while . . it's hard to know if they are bad dreams when they are so small because they don't really know how to tell you. It sounds to me like nightmares. She is 6 now, but when my daughter has them, it is an all night thing. She has a bad dream, sometimes wakes up screaming, but will continue to have bad dreams all night. It's like she can't shake the dream after waking so when she goes back to sleep she just keeps dreaming the same thing over and over. At least now - she can tell me it was a bad dream and tell me what it was about.

Just keep reassuring him. If it starts to be an every night occurance - I would talk to your doctor.

Wow this post is great timing. My son (going on 3 in a few weeks) has done this on and off the past few months, but I always just blamed on it his diabetes (he is type 1).. now I'm wondering if it could be something else.. thanks for bringing this up, I'm not giving advice here, but glad you wrote about it, because I'm going to watch my boy now to make sure it isn't something I may be missing!

Have you asked him if his ear hurts? It sounds like he's in pain when he's lying down. That's usually the sign of an ear infection.

Hi

This happened to my friends 2 year old. It ended up being reflux....she is now on medication and sleeping through the night. Talk to your doctor.

E.

It could be the start of an ear infection. If he does again while napping or during the night, you may want to schedule an appointment with the peditrician.

Its hard to tell, I think it could be an ear infection, from sinuses,due to the allergy season approaching and all the fresh air he is being exposed to, As far as his feet go , I would take him to a orthopedist, could be a real problem, high arches or something, which can be improved with orthotic insert to his shoes, Also try better quality sneakers,
rebok or nike stride rite is even better. have his feet measured. could be just his toe rubbing against to shoe or something.

As far as the waking, its more of a wait and see, you never know it could have been something he saw on tv, heard at home or outside, growing pains,sound outside, dream, shadows, you just have to investigate a bit and try and use your powers of deduction.

Also ask him when he is awake what was bothering him,.

Could have been constipation or gas.

Good luck
keep us posted

M