Exasperating nap wake ups

eeclem · March 2011

This has become a trend in our house and I'm curious if any other moms of toddlers have experienced it. C generally naps fine and is good for one afternoon nap about 2ish hours long. Lately though, when he wakes up he is IRATE. Inconsolable. It is so strange. I've tried waiting a bit to get him (thinking maybe he's not ready to get up), but he just gets more upset. He basically flips out for 20 minutes or so until something snaps him out of it and then he's perfectly fine.

Yesterday, I heard him whining after being in his crib for almost three hours, so naturally I pop my head in. He's clearly not happy and not quite awake, so I rub his back a little and leave. Whining turns to general upsetedness, upsetedness turns to straight up crying. l go in again, he wants me to pick him up but then tries to hit me. He doesn't want his paci or milk, but doesn't want me to take it back. He wants out of his crib, but doesn't want me to hold him and doesn't want me to put him down. There's a lot of sobbing. This goes on for like 15 minutes. Finally, I put him back in the crib (mostly because he kept hitting me) and walked away for a good five minutes. He continues to rage on, but eventually I hear "Mama?" and go in and he is all smiles and totally cooperative.

WTF? It is so crazy. The only thought I had is that I can see about four teeth creeping in below his gum line and sometimes he acts like his mouth hurts (particularly the wanting the paci, but then hating it and throwing it across the room). So maybe he wakes up because his teeth hurt? But he generally doesn't do this in the mornings and doesn't make a peep at night.

So weird. Any thoughts? I think he does this occasionally with the in-laws, but I haven't heard that he does it at DCP.

QueSrah · March 2011

DD often wakes up like that from naps, and in the morning now that the sun isn't up as early and waking her up before we go in to get her up. But she's always been a crap napper (I *still* laugh at that phrase after the thread a few weeks ago) and I attribute it to not getting a long enough nap with her. Esp. since we were lucky twice in the last week and put her down for her nap earlier than usual, she slept twice as long, and woke up happy.

Anyway, teeth are always a reasonable explanation in my book. Or just a phase of some annoying kind? I hope others have good ideas so I can take notes.

DCtoLowcountry · March 2011

I LOL at "crap napper" vs. "nap crapper" too.

About half the time, DS wakes up in a poop-tastic mood from his nap like you've described. I chalked it up to waking up like his dad, who is not a morning person, or waking up at the wrong place in his sleep cycle. Sometimes he's in a great mood post-nap, and sometimes we've got to wake up ve-e-ery slowly.

In addition to teething, I'll throw out ear infection too. Fussy while laying down + chewing on everything has also = ear infection, not just teething, for us.

vtmezzo · March 2011

DS does this too periodically, both after naps and in the morning. Lately, he has been a serious PILL every single morning. Ugh. It usually lasts a week or so and then he's back to his charming self. I'm just chalking it up to toddlerhood, but man things can get really ugly when it's time to get up in our house!

Hey Jellisy · March 2011

Same here, it depends on the day - usually I hold DD, soothe her and then try to distract her with something she really loves - like going outside or playing ring around the rosie. She can be a serious grouch, especially if we wake her up from her nap. (I know, let sleeping babies lay - but when she takes super long naps (3 hr+) after going down late, it affects bedtime).

eeclem · March 2011

Hmm - I wake up grouchy from naps sometimes too. Maybe it's just genetic. I generally don't hit the first person who tries to talk to me, though. Generally. . .

I don't think he has an ear infection. He's really perfectly fine otherwise and like I said, makes no fuss going down or at night.

tracy042206 · March 2011

Maggie rarely naps anymore and this started when she was about 2 and has just gotten progressively worse. Now she just goes for quiet time in her room while Molly naps and I get stuff done. However if she does fall asleep I truly dread her wake up. It is like me waking up from a nap (of any length other than 8 hours) but ten times worse because she has no thought of "I shouldn't be acting like this" as I do. Now I try and have something fun to offer immediately - like a trip to the store with just me to try and avoid the worst of it.

Maggie also often wakes up in the morning like this. She will roll over some mornings and tell me it is still bedtime and she wants to sleep. I consider this a teenage years preview.

Molly is only slightly cranky and that is when I have to actually wake her up. In that situation I have a sippy and a snack ready which help.

QueSrah · March 2011

eeclem:

I generally don't hit the first person who tries to talk to me, though. Generally. . .

You have had the benefit of decades of practice with your impulse control. C is still pretty new to the concept of not doing the first thing that comes to mind. (I try to remind myself of this regularly.)

victoria1212 · March 2011

DD has been waking up mad for the last few weekends and I finally figured out yesterday it is because she is so hungry. I thought this was the case on Saturday so on Sunday- I greeted her with a sandwich and I was treated like the best person ever (she is probably thinking I am the dumbest mom ever).

eeclem · March 2011

QueSrah:
eeclem:

I generally don't hit the first person who tries to talk to me, though. Generally. . .

You have had the benefit of decades of practice with your impulse control. C is still pretty new to the concept of not doing the first thing that comes to mind. (I try to remind myself of this regularly.)

Haha - good point.

eeclem · March 2011

victoria1212:
DD has been waking up mad for the last few weekends and I finally figured out yesterday it is because she is so hungry. I thought this was the case on Saturday so on Sunday- I greeted her with a sandwich and I was treated like the best person ever (she is probably thinking I am the dumbest mom ever).

I would think that (because he is an angry little bear when he's hungry!) but I usually greet him with a sippy of milk and it gets thrown across the room.

tomandcourt · March 2011

These might sound obvious, but:

When I go in to get J, I try not to flip on the light, just open the door. Then, I always ask "Are you ready to get up?" That way, it's more of a choice - he can say yes, or he can chill in his crib a little longer and get his stuff together.
Do you have a post-nap routine? For us, when I get J out of bed lately, he always announces that he wants milk. Then we go and play his new little game where he tells me to sit in his little chair and we chat. It used to be that he would want to go look out the window to see if he could see any buses. It's a nice transition to the rest of the day.

WinesNotWhines · March 2011

tomandcourt:
For us, when I get J out of bed lately, he always announces that he wants milk. Then we go and play his new little game where he tells me to sit in his little chair and we chat. It used to be that he would want to go look out the window to see if he could see any buses. It's a nice transition to the rest of the day.

That's so cute! I can't wait until M can tell me what he wants. Well, assuming he does it in a pleasant way and not while screaming and throwing things. Tongue Tied

QueSrah · March 2011

tomandcourt:

When I go in to get J, I try not to flip on the light, just open the door. Then, I always ask "Are you ready to get up?" That way, it's more of a choice - he can say yes, or he can chill in his crib a little longer and get his stuff together.

I might have to steal this idea. I am more careful about turning on the light first thing in the a.m., but never really thought about the way we approach getting up from naps.

tobeaTodd · March 2011

DD went through a phase where she acted exactly like that...not every day, but probably twice a week. I think she was about your DS's age. Nothing I did (offering food, going in quietly, not turning on the light, letting her be, etc) changed her behavior. It was really worrisome for awhile and I began to think I should mention it to the pedi,and in fact, we did take her in and had her ears checked (she was fine). She wasn't teething at the time. It lasted for about a month or two, maybe longer, and she's never done it since. Maybe it was growing pains, who knows...I think sometimes we just don't know. Anyway, I hope it passes quickly for you. It's so frustrating. I remember dreading the end of her naps...just not sure if it would be a good day or a bad day.

bh2720 · March 2011

there must be something in the air...

Warner woke up from his nap crying today and it's really unusual for him. In about .5 seconds, he went from completely asleep to standing up crying. I rushed in to see what was wrong and when I went to pick him up to take him out, he did the limp noodle arm thing so I couldn't pick him up (without difficulty).

I asked him if he wanted to get up, did he want a snack, did he want to go play legos and he just kept saying no. He wasn't crying anymore at this point, so after a few minutes I said, "ok, I'm going to go back to my room, you tell me when you are ready to get out of bed." and he stayed in there for at least another 10 minutes...just standing there talking to his stuffed animals. it was kind of bizarre.

oh, but no advice...sorry!

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