Melissa - posted on 03/04/2012 ( 2 moms have responded )
8
3
Hello! I don't usually post, but I have been experiencing something with my daughter that my son never went through. She is 18 months old. She has been going through some changes in sleeping habits (we are in transition from 2 naps to 1), but she has always been a good sleeper at night and goes down without much fuss.
Periodically over the last month or so, she has been waking up screaming bloody murder. Usually it stops as abruptly as it starts and she will go back to sleep.
This week she has been sick and not sleeping well. Last night she woke up screaming and because she has been sick and I have been up with her every night for the past 4 days I went to get her instead of letting her soothe herself back to sleep. When I went to pick her up she was not standing up waiting for me, she was rolling around in her crib kicking and screaming - like a tantrum. When I tried to reach for her, she hit me and yelled, "no". When she realized I was there she started kicking and screaming and flailing harder. She violently kicked her feet through the crib slats and got her leg stuck, threw her head against the crib, and kept screaming "no" at me. At one point I didn't want her to hurt herself so I picked her up despite her struggles and she violently arched her back and threw herself away from me, so I put her back down. This went on for 5 minutes or so before she would let me pick her up.
It was horrifying for me and I didn't know if I should wait for her to stop or hold her or what.
Her tantrums have always been more dramatic than my son's were and I know with her and I both being sick we are under stress, but this was over the top. Has anyone dealt with this? Any ideas what it was, if I should be worried, if I should talk to her pediatrician, or how I should handle it if it happens again? Thanks in advance!
2 Comments
View replies by