Nightly Screaming - Help

palmbreeze · February 2014

I'm at my wits end with my two year old. He's always been such a good little sleeper. A couple months ago he decided to start screaming at night and not going to bed. The only way to get him to sleep was to rock him to sleep and then try to lay him down without him waking. Then I was able to just sleep in the chair in his room until he fell asleep and then tiptoe out. That lasted for a week or so and it finally got better.

He had an episode a couple weeks ago that was horrible. Then it got down to him fussing when I laid him down, I would go firmly tell him to lay down and go to bed. Then I would have to sneak off to my bedroom and not make a peep. Now again....last night and tonight with the screaming. He'll go to sleep and then wake back up screaming. He throws his lovey out of his crib and then screams more. I feel like a hostage in my own house and I'm completely out of patience, ideas and strength. Tonight he went to bed well and then woke up at 1:00am....well now it's 3:20 and he is still screaming. I went to sleep in his chair and then he started talking like he wasn't even tired. I thought about tying his lovey to his crib, but that seems like a safety hazard.

I'm a single mom and I can't take much more of this. Please someone help. Ideas, thoughts, ideas?

I've tried yelling, I try going in his room every so often to throw his lovey back in his crib without saying a word and without looking at him. I've tried leaving the door open, the light on......aaaaaahHHhh!

dairygirl19 · February 2014

Honestly, I'd let him scream and let him work it out. It kind of sounds like he's playing you for the attention.

My 2.5 year old did that for a bit at bed too. She'd scream over nothing, hop out 32523525 times etc. My rule was I'd go in once and after that she had to deal.

Tough love sucks, but it works sometimes.

Or is he scared of something? What kind of cry is it? If it's scared I'd see if you can figure out what it is.

Cherryblossoms07 · February 2014

We went through about a month of DS screaming at night. He would sleep a few hours and the wake up screaming. After that he would wake up every 1-2 hours screaming again. DS's screaming was more of a terrified scream so I always went in. I would not let my kid scream if he sounds scared. I ended up getting so tired from the lack of sleep that I started bringing him to bed with us after the first or second wake up. He ended up sleeping the entire night when he slept with us. It lasted about a month, then just like that he quit waking up. I don't know if it was night terrors, over exhaustion, sleep regression due to hitting a milestone (he had a huge improvement in his speech at that time too)....However, he is back to sleeping well. I hope you find a solution soon! I have been there.

palmbreeze · February 2014

I can't tell if he's scared, if he's in pain - I did give him some Infant Advil before bed tonight - or if he just wants to play me. I feel like he is trying to play me. I had a four hour battle with him last night! Another night of screaming!

IA2TXGirl · February 2014

I am in somewhat of a similar situation. Though DD doesn't scream necessarily when she wakes in the middle of the night, she will be up for an hour + in the middle of the night. Often she is whining/crying for me or just laying awake in her bed. I brought it up at her 2 yr check up last week and the pediatrician said it is just a phase and urged me not to go in there. At this age, they need to be able to self soothe, and since we know they can, we just have to hold strong and make them do what they are capable of doing.

As far as being able to tell if he is scared or is in pain, I ruled out both with DD when I would go in her room and she would immediately stop crying and tell me she wanted to rock. At least for me, I've learned that for one reason or another she is not tired enough to be sleeping through the night, and when she wakes up she just doesn't want to be alone. However, I've also learned, that going in there only makes it worse, and she gets less sleep.

I am no more an expert than any other mom here, but I guess I recommend that you don't go in there unless you believe he is in pain. Good luck!

Cherryblossoms07 · February 2014

palmbreeze said:
I can't tell if he's scared, if he's in pain - I did give him some Infant Advil before bed tonight - or if he just wants to play me. I feel like he is trying to play me. I had a four hour battle with him last night! Another night of screaming!

I could tell by the tone if his cries. There was a franticness to them. It was like no other cry I had heard from him. Plus, he didn't automatically calm down when I entered the room. If you cannot tell I would guess that it is an attention cry. I think you would know if there a difference in his cries.

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