SCREAMING at 3am

one of my LOs has been waking in the night, screaming his face off. we go in, he's totally calm after we rub his head for a minute and the second we turn away - SCREAMS GALORE!

not sure whats going on. teething? i gave him 3 teething tablets before bed because this happened two nights ago, too. i even tried to bring him into my bed bc lets face it - its 3-4 am and all i want to do is sleep. he giggles, plays and tosses and turns. when he goes back in his crib, he screams again.

any idea why this is happening and whats the best way to handle it? i feel bad bc hes disturbing his brother.

 

Have you tried not going in there? I know night wakings can be caused by teething or working on a new milestone. Did this just recently start? Is your other DS able to go back to sleep quickly?
If I suspected teething, I would try Motrin before bedtime and also some teething tablets. I would also see if he was able to fall asleep on his own without going in there but if he is really bugging his brother and brother cannot fall asleep, then maybe I would try laying on the floor but not interacting with him and just saying "shh, sleepy time" until he quieted down.

 

this has only been happening for 2 days. if we dont go in there, he keeps screaming. it feels like forever but i really dont know how long he could probably last without us going in there if you know what i mean, lol.
uhm my DH laid on the floor and then he stood up and started talking!!! threw his paci at him and was giggling!!!

then he lays him down, he closes his eyes and he's calm. looks like he's sleeping. hes even waited a few minutes to leave and when he does, SCREAMS GALORE!

 

Sounds like he is playing you! He has figured out that it is fun to see mom during what is supposed to me bedtime and if he screams he gets attention. Mine have tried it periodically and I at first go in to make sure nothing is wrong. When I determine that everything is a ok, I go out of their room and stay out and they always go back to sleep and don't bother doing it on consecutive nights. I agree with PP - if it is teething I would give motrin. Teething pain doesn't usually just go away when they get attention though!

 

I think it could be nightmares. We have been going through the same thing with Zoe for a couple months, and nightmares (different than night terrors) compiled with possible separation anxiety (which can happen a lot at night) seems to be what it is in her case. She clings for dear life. Eventually, after I calm her I have to walk away. I don't know how else to help her sleep. She still screams but is usually asleep in about 30 seconds after I leave after soothing her for a couple minutes. Sometimes they used to eat snacks or drink a ton of milk right before bed. I have cut down their bedtime milk from 8 to 4 or 5 oz and it seems to have helped. I haven't hardly heard a peep at night over the last few days. Everyone is different, but if I eat right before I sleep, I dream all night.

 

he has been working on walking - the new milestone. IDK!

i did motrin last night as well. he didnt wake up until 4. he was up from 4 to 5 screaming. he DID NOT STOP. my DH picked him up and they slept on the couch together.

 

My ds did this, and i really still have idea why or what was happening. I hope your's doesn't, but Liam did it for about 6 wks straight, pretty much every night. Then it was just a few nights a week. Now it's randomly, and sometimes it's for a couple nights in a row, and sometimes it's just one night.

He's not playing me, he's terrified of something is what it seems like. When I'd go in he'd cling to me for dear life, and he would calm down immediately, he'd even stay settled for 20-30 mins before he would start screaming again. I tried a night light, I tried leaving his lullabies on longer, tried getting him to snuggle with a stuffed toy...nothing helped. It would go on for several hours at night.

I finally got to the point where, after I had given him something for everything (motrin, teething tabs, gas drops, colic drops, decongestant, milk, something to eat), tried changing his diaper, checked to be sure nothing was pinching in his jammies....I would just turn the monitor all the way down until I could just barely hear his cries, and try to go to sleep. Most nights it would take him 20-30 mins of crying before he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

That's basically what I do now when he does it. I go in several times, check everything i can possibly check....and then just ignore him. It's really hard to do, and yes he often wakes his sister up and I have two crying, but nothing helps. He won't sleep with me, in the bed or on the couch....and i can't take care of 4 kids on no sleep. I also don't want to get him up and get him used to playing or going into the living room at night. Thankfully is much more rare now, but those 6-8 wks of nearly every night...that was worse than have twin newborns again!