Ummm...what the heck???

MickeyM04

So for the last four days, DS has been waking up from his one and only nap SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER.  Like hysterical crying for a good 20-30 minutes, body thrashing, literally screaming while crying, red in the face, complete meltdown that you would expect if you saw a bunch of medical professionals trying to hold a toddler down in the ER to try to hook up an IV.  I rock him, I try to soothe him, I offer food, I offer juice or water and he just thrashes around screaming and crying hysterically.  Finally we've taken to just giving him some Advil (teeth?  stomachache?  ????) and within 10-15 minutes he settles down and then is a little temperamental but otherwise fine for the rest of the evening/night.

I am not sure what the heck is going on.  He did have the stomach flu Weds-Fri but I don't know why he would be waking up like this Saturday and Sunday as well.  Also, he did pop some molars recently but usually when it's his teeth that are bothering him, he's a mess all day.  He's 100% completely normal from 6am when he wakes up until 1pm when he goes down for his nap, but then he wakes up at 3:45 and it's complete disastrous meltdown until about 4:15 or so, then he's fine again.

The thing that worries me is it sounds like he's in pain.  It's not his usual tantrum-y crying, but like blood curdling screaming.  But it only lasts for 20-30 minutes and then stops, so I'm wondering could he really be in pain for just 20-30 minutes a day and then be fine the entire rest of the day?

Any ideas ladies?  I'm thinking I'll give it a couple more days and if it keeps up I'll take him to the doctor for a quick look and see.  Since he did just get over the stomach flu I suppose he could be waking up with some remnants of that or maybe he grinds his new molars into his bottom gums when he's sleeping (just has two molars on the top) and that's why he's waking up all miserable.  I am hoping it resolves itself on its own but I just do not know what is going on and it's unsettling for sure.  TIA for any thoughts!

KikiCohen

DS does this too on occasion.  He does it from naps and in the middle of the night.  Sometimes I'm not even sure if he's awake or not.  I'm definitely going to stalk this thread and see what others think.

Missa_g

S did this right after his molars popped through. I think there is something about them grinding their teeth or hitting it funny. My boys are just getting over the stupid stomach flu too and have been extra crabby at wake up, so it could be a tummy ache too. If it lasts much longer I would go get his ears checked just to be sure.

martinimomma

G has done this from time to time, starting about the age your kiddo is.  Luckily (if I can say that) it has been limited to waking up from naps and not at night.  We have tried the spectrum of responses with little success.  The best outcome we have, once he has started to calm down even a little,  is to try and engage him in an unusual activity to redirect his focus.  One time I suggested cleaning the ceiling fan, wihch he was perplexed by and it totally got him out of the immediate funk. 

He is always a little tenuous the in hours after one of these episodes.  But then he's tenuous a lot of the time anyway.

It stinks but you are not alone.

MickeyM04

Wow!  I had no idea this was so common!  I seriously thought we were in the Twilight Zone.  DS is usually SUPER happy after his naps, wakes up just chatting to himself, smiles when he sees you, etc.  And he sleeps great at night (even now), but then it's just been a real disaster. 

I feel fairly certain that he is awake...we go in there and he's crying and his eyes are open, and then he sees us and stands up and reaches his arms up for us, then settles for like 2 seconds and then as soon as we take a step to move away from the crib to change him or sit with him or whatever, it starts again and then does not stop for 20-30 minutes. 

I guess the good thing to know is that if it doesn't let up soon, it sounds like this is actually pretty common and nothing to fret about, although it does suck obviously for everyone involved!