Is she having nightmares??

Jessica - posted on 04/21/2010

My 20 month old just got over the night terrors...we would lay in bed and try to let her get herself asleep for about 10 or 15 minutes. Usually it would work for us, but I WOULDN'T go in until after 15 minutes or else she would go back asleep. If she wasn't asleep after the 15 minutes mark I would then rub her back and reassure her it was all ok. We recently had a relapse of the nightmares but they were happening every 30 minutes...come to find out it was her allergy medicine that was causing them (claritin).

Kristen - posted on 04/20/2010

I don't have a solution for you but my daughter is doing the same thing. We switched her to a full size bed a month ago because she started climbing out of her crib and I thought by now she would be back to sleeping by herself but she too wakes up crying and says she's scared so I usually end up sleeping in bed with her because by 2 am and after calming her down several times, I am tired too. Wish I could help, just know you aren't alone with this issue :)

Amanda - posted on 04/19/2010

I was having the same problem with my 20 month old... I actually started feeding her some cereal about a half hour before bed, and she started sleeping through the night again without waking up screaming. The nights i dont give it to her shes up half the night. Turned out she was just getting hungry in the middle of the night...

Jamie - posted on 04/19/2010

I'm having this same issue with one of my twin daughters. She goes to bed fine but wakes up screaming in terror. I just go in their room and lay her back down. Rub her back and tell her it's okay. Then I usually lay on the floor by her crib until she's asleep. She knows that I won't put her in our bed or hold her. Thankfully when she does it, it's just once a night. Unfortunatley, it ends up being at least 5 nights a week. It's a phase. They should grow out of it no problem. I'm thinking of taking her out of the crib and in to a toddler bed to see if that helps at all too.

Connie - posted on 04/16/2010

My 20 mnth old son has woke up occassionally with night terrors for a few months now. I found it best to take him out of his room to watch TV with us for a bit and then tuck him back into his bed like normal when he calmed down. Also I got a small night light to put near his crib and that seemed to help a bit. I also read that if the child is over tired they will have more night terrors, so I try to make sure Erik has a little nap sometime during the day.

Michelle - posted on 04/12/2010

hi there i have a 18month old child an she done this on me to she was the same some time's she would wake up screaming.. but wat i did i let her cry for 10mins as a child cn cry 4 15mns witout netng been wrong.. i think it is just attention an when u give in once she will keep trying as to see if u will give in to her u just have to bide the time it is hard an mean mayb a few sleepless nights but she wil soon realise u aint going to give in an sleep through the night..

Sarah - posted on 04/12/2010

Hi, I'm not sure if she is having nightmares or not, but my 20 month old daughter doesn't sleep her nights either. With mine I think that she is scared to be alone. I think your right to get her out of your bed as soon as possible for the longer you wait the harder it will be for all of you. This is also a habit that can last all the way until teenagehood . I have a couple of suggestions to help you succeed in getting her to sleep in her own bed. you can let her cry it out while you are there to soothe her with your voice so she won't feel rejected. You could also start by rocking her back to sleep and then putting her into her bed/crib. But you need to be consistant in the fact that she doesn't sleep in you bed anymore otherwise it will be very easy for her to get back into your bed . Consistancy is very important when setting limits for our children, it is what teaches them their boundries.Good luck with this it won't be easy but it will be the best for everyone. ( well it could be easy and that would be a bonus ,if it is easy with her for all of you lol)