daughter wakes randomly at night crying, not her norm, leave her cry/ or not?

Katy - posted on 11/20/2009

My son is almost 4 and wakes up in the middle of the night crying ... let her cry she just wants either attention, another bottle or cup whatever you give her. There is nothing wrong. I screwed up and gave him a cup of milk for a loooong time and I am still paying for it. I hate it when people say my baby was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks ... well not mine. I think it really just varies and depends on the child. There is nothing wrong with her and if you dont let her cry your just giving in, I know its hard but dont be like me ... with a four year old and still getting up in the middle of the night to crying for water... then wakes up bc he drank too much water and now he has to pee... wakes up cause the sun came up ok its still 5 am go back to sleep ok wants MORE water... wakes up again 6:30 I got pee ok well now I might as well get up even though. I dont have to be at work till 10 am. I have another friend who cut her kids off the right way and she gets sleep .... what a b she is! (:

Janine - posted on 11/20/2009

I found that my daughter woke in the night with teething, she only seemed bothered by it at night for some reason, apparently some children do teethe at night. If she had red cheeks or was dribbly and biting her fingers i'd give her a small dose of Calpol (paracetamol suspension) to try take some of the pain off. I was advised to do this by my Doctor. You could have a word with your health visitor if it is becoming persistant to see what she could suggest. I found my daughter always slept well after we'd been to play group because all the stimulus wore her out and the older they get the more they need. I let my daughter walk some of the way home from town now she's 2 just to give her a bit of extra exercise and to help tired her out or she won't sleep properly.

Michelle - posted on 11/20/2009

thanks, she's almost 11 mo old, and its been happening every other night or so, as early as 1:00 in the morning, I tried one night to calm her but all she wanted to do was play, and then after that she thought it was nursing time, so I put her back in her crib of course she was wide awake and upset by then, so my husband got her out a bit later and eventually she went to sleep, she seems to be crying in her sleep at first and sometimes will do that for an hour or so and sometimes wakes up fully. I just don't want her to get in the habit of getting up too early 6:30 is early enough for me and most mornings she sleeps til then.

Janine - posted on 11/20/2009

How old is she? My daughter is 2yrs and has always been a good sleeper but occasionally she does wake up crying. I go to her as sometimes i think she has a nightmare and needs re-assurance thats everythings ok and we're still there, i lay her down tell her everything is ok and try to go back to sleep and this is normally enough for her. I do leave her for 5 mins first to see if she can calm herself but i can ususally tell from the pitch of her cry whether this is going to work or not. If she is getting herself overly worked up i get her out her bed, sit her on my knee and read a story to her or sing and rock her anything to distract her from what woke her, i stay no longer than 10 mins then i put her back down, this also works with my daughter.

If it were a regular thing i'd say try to leave her to see if she can settle herself but as it's not normal and she has a regular sleep routine then there could be a reason for it and going and checking on her should not break your routine. My daughter still sleeps fine :)