2 year old screaming and crying all night…what gives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m at my wits end. Our DS2 has a strong willed temper and in general has bouts of tantrums and screaming when he doesn’t get what he wants. He recently started this up at night. He doesn’t like sleeping in his bed and we’ve established a terrible cosleeping habit. He sleeps on top of me, legs in my DH side, just wild. He now wakes up continuously screaming and crying. I am certain there is nothing wrong with him. He will not stay in his bed, will get up and open his door and leave the room and come into ours. Even if he sleeps with us, he kicks and screams. I am exhausted. What can I do about this? The only restraint I have is to literally lock him in his bedroom. Nothing works.

Have you considered there is legitmately something causing him pain or are you just dug in on this idea that you have a crap kid?

What illnesses or medical issues only cause problems at night? I can’t imagine there are that many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m at my wits end. Our DS2 has a strong willed temper and in general has bouts of tantrums and screaming when he doesn’t get what he wants. He recently started this up at night. He doesn’t like sleeping in his bed and we’ve established a terrible cosleeping habit. He sleeps on top of me, legs in my DH side, just wild. He now wakes up continuously screaming and crying. I am certain there is nothing wrong with him. He will not stay in his bed, will get up and open his door and leave the room and come into ours. Even if he sleeps with us, he kicks and screams. I am exhausted. What can I do about this? The only restraint I have is to literally lock him in his bedroom. Nothing works.

Have you considered there is legitmately something causing him pain or are you just dug in on this idea that you have a crap kid?

What illnesses or medical issues only cause problems at night? I can’t imagine there are that many.

Intolerances
Allergies (environmental or chemical)
Food issues like lactose intolerant, gluten, etc
Ear infections
Enlarged adenoids or tonsils causing issues breathing
Gas/constipation
Low magnesium or low iron causing leg cramps or restless leg syndrome (see kicking of legs)
Headaches/vision issues
Night terrors

He also seems to have a "temper".sometimes agitated or highly reactive kids are bothered during the day and it comes out as temperament. ESPECIALLY if he was a difficult baby, has stool issues or has frequent blowouts, reflux, colic, etc.

I'd try addressing those possibilities before locking my kid in his room and abandoning him but thats me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m at my wits end. Our DS2 has a strong willed temper and in general has bouts of tantrums and screaming when he doesn’t get what he wants. He recently started this up at night. He doesn’t like sleeping in his bed and we’ve established a terrible cosleeping habit. He sleeps on top of me, legs in my DH side, just wild. He now wakes up continuously screaming and crying. I am certain there is nothing wrong with him. He will not stay in his bed, will get up and open his door and leave the room and come into ours. Even if he sleeps with us, he kicks and screams. I am exhausted. What can I do about this? The only restraint I have is to literally lock him in his bedroom. Nothing works.

Have you considered there is legitmately something causing him pain or are you just dug in on this idea that you have a crap kid?

What illnesses or medical issues only cause problems at night? I can’t imagine there are that many.

Intolerances
Allergies (environmental or chemical)
Food issues like lactose intolerant, gluten, etc
Ear infections
Enlarged adenoids or tonsils causing issues breathing
Gas/constipation
Low magnesium or low iron causing leg cramps or restless leg syndrome (see kicking of legs)
Headaches/vision issues
Night terrors

He also seems to have a "temper".sometimes agitated or highly reactive kids are bothered during the day and it comes out as temperament. ESPECIALLY if he was a difficult baby, has stool issues or has frequent blowouts, reflux, colic, etc.

I'd try addressing those possibilities before locking my kid in his room and abandoning him but thats me.

Also as several other posters have pointed out, pain from molars coming in can be worst at night. Have you tried giving him Tylenol when he wakes screaming? If that helps the next step is to follow up with your ped to figure out what the underlying issue is.

Does he have a fever at night? Extremely less likely than PP’s great list of things but malaria is also often only really present at night and there have been cases far north as MD this summer.

[Anonymous]

Get a sleep study.

We have three kids, our first was like this. Turns out she had significant apnea and was screaming in part because she was so exhausted and couldn’t stay asleep.

Next two kids taught me how NOT normal that behavior is, and no sleep training in the world would have corrected it.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had sleep apnea my whole life but it wasn’t diagnosed until my late 30s. When I was really little - and persisting until I got diagnosed and treated - I would have episodes where I would wake up and be alert in my mind but could not move or breathe. When I was really little these episodes terrified me and once my breath came back I would cry inconsolably. My mother punished me for it which was just great.