4 yr old waking up several times a night crying

[camie170]

my four year old son wakes up several times a night crying. hes screaming like he's in pain, but i cant find a single thing wrong with him. he is fine during the day and before he goes to sleep. he has no health issues, so i dont understand whats wrong. he has been doing this for about 6 months and always seems to wake up at the same time during the night. im thinking this is just maybe becoming a habit for him, and i would like to know how to break it. im losing a lot of sleep and so is my 10 yr  daughter who sleeps in the next room. i have tried ignoring him, but he will just continue to scream untill i get in there to comfort him, and even that takes me a while to get him to settle down. i did notice a lot of times he will be scruntched up in a ball, and at first i thought he was having stomach issues, but i dont understand why only at night???

[jap2277]

I too have the same issue with my 4 year old, only it started when he was alittle over a year old.  Not every night though, and when he does have these "tantrums" it takes either myself or my husband a good 10 minutes before my son wakes up.  I am to baffled as to what this is and have taken him to several specialists,(sleep study, ent, and of course his regular doc.) none of which helped even though he had to have tubes and his adnoids removed, he still goes through this at least 3x month. So, if anyone can shed any light on this mystery, that would be great.

[TaraLShaw]

My daughter has recently started doing this ill put her to bed then shortly afterwards she wakes up crying usualy shouting things, When I wake her up an ask what's scaring her she comes up with some strange comments like a min ago I asked what's up she was sobbing because the quilt was a mess but half ago she didn't know what it was this has happened every night for the past few week! Its making her very ratty, groggy and tired in mornings and in school is there anyway to stop this or make them go away please reply

[babysnuff]

My son is almost 4 years old, and he would wake up crying , whining, kicking his feet during the night sleep.  He doesn't do this all the time...maybe 2-3 times a week.  But he used to cry for 30 minutes even when I try to sooth him.  I figured a new way to make him stop crying.  Maybe you can try it.  I'd pick him up and take him to the potty and tell him to try to pee.  After he pees i'd take him back to bed....it would take another 1 minute or so for him to settle back to sleep.  During the day...I tell him many times that I will be waking him up to go pee when he cries.  My son doesn't remember he is crying at night when he wakes up in the morning.  weird.

[drewior]

I AM NEW AT THIS SO I THINK I JUST POSTED A NOTE.... MY SON DID THE SAME THING...FOR A MONTH WOKE UP EVERYNIGHT SCREAMING AND REALLY MAD..COME TO FIND OUT HE NEEDED HIS ADDNODES AND TONNSLOLES OUT...DONT MIND MY SPELLING PLEASE...BUT THE REASON HE ONLY WOKE UP AT NIGHT WAS HE HAD A HARD TIME BREATHING AT NIGHT AND IT WOULD WAKE HIM UP AND MAKE HIM VERY MAD...NO OTHER SIGNS THAT IT GOING ON ..HE WAS FINE DURING THE DAY ONLY AT NIGHT...MAYBE TRYING CALLING AN EAR NOSE AND THROAT DOCOTOR AND SEE WHAT HE SAYS...

[MrsMagoo5380]

My 2 yr old did the same thing.  He would wake up 5 & 6 times a night. Screaming bloody murder, I was really worried that he was having horrible nightmares. I never was able to get sleep.  So here is my question for you Does your child snore?  I know that is a crazy question, but I took my son to the Dr several times about the fact that he would not sleep through the night and they never did a thing.  As soon as I mentioned the fact that he snored something fierce the sent us to an Ear Nose & Throat Specialist for "Sleep Apnea" imagine that, and a month later his tonsils and adnoids were removed.  It took a good 6 months for him to finally get into a routine, but now he wakes up maybe once a night and that is only to use the potty.  So I am getting a lot more sleep. And you have the added bonus of them not getting sick as often.  Well, just a thought, Good luck, I feel your pain!

[mama_of_4]

My 2 year old daughter has started doing the same thing.  For the last several weeks now she wakes up every hour or so crying and throwing a fit, its hard to get her back to sleep.  It feels as though once she is sleeping again it happens all over again.  Last night they started about three hours after she went to bed, so about 11pm then continued until 3 in the morning.  She would cry and whine for about 15 min each time then back to sleep.  I am getting so frustrated and sleep deprived.  I am not sure what to do either.

[JoceNick13]

DO NOT WAKE HER!! If she's having night terrors, like I think she is, waking her is making it worse! Imagine waking a sleepwalker, yeah, I don't want to either. She will fuss in her sleep, but it is very short lived, (30 seconds-10/15 min)  Waking her will only cause disorientation and confusion and she won't remember waking, or have any recollection of the fits. and you DO get used to it. and it DOES taper off. Try baby melatonin? It will help her to fall into REM sleep, rather than always being slightly aware of the fact that she's not awake, yet not asleep..

As I'm writing this, I am realizing that this post was from like, a decade ago... but maybe it will help someone else along the way. Hope you're sleeping these days. *wink*