Waking up with a tantrum

bellevuebride07

This morning Leo completely freaked me out. He woke up about 430 screaming. I went in and gave him some orajel and out him back in his crib with the intention to let him cry and that he would go back to sleep. I watched him on the monitor and he was banging his head on the side of his crib really hard! I went in and he didn't want me to hold him and he didn't want me to put him down. I took him downstairs and offered everything I could think of and he just screamed. He was hitting chairs and tables, throwing everything he could get his hands on and banging his head. I sat on the floor next to him and tried to reassure him. After about a half hour I started to ignore him and he calmed down. Eventually he came over and sat on my lap. Seriously though this was the biggest freak out I have ever witnessed. Is this normal? Do you think it could have been a night terror? I really hope this isn't the start of a new phase. Sorry for no paragraphs, posting from iPad.

kel716

B has done this once or twice.  Not to that level, but the inconsolable, won't let you touch him, all out scream fest.   It usually happens when he wakes up too quickly.  Usually when it happens I go downstairs and get him a drink, give it to him and ignore.  He's safest in his room, so I leave him there.  I leave the door open so he can come out when he's ready, and I tell him that we're in our room so he can come get us when he's ready to get up. 

Sometimes DH goes in- the sun rises and sets on dh, so it usually works better, and he can hold DS. 

It's scary- you don't know what's wrong and you can't hold your kid.  It happened today for us too...   FWIW, I think today's freak out is because he banged his head 3 times on the floor yesterday- he fell backward in his car twice and once when he went to try to catch a ball. 

gandcnky

Poor guy.  B did this after waking from his afternoon nap for about three days straight.  He wasn't throwing things, but he was just screaming and screaming, and couldn't decide what he wanted.  It turned out he had an ear infection, and it completely stopped once we got him on antibiotics.  Just a thought, although I hope this is a one time thing for you.

Missbollinger

He is at the age where sleep regression and night terrors start.  Developmentally it's hard to pin point an exact age as each child develops at different rates but 2years is a very loose guideline.

 Henry doesn't get night terrors but he wakes up cranky and usually cries for no reason so I let him get some out then open the door and carry on as though I am ignoring the tantrum until he calms down.  

Of course make sure to rule out any ear infections or teething issues first, these can also cause them a lot of discomfort.