# Hysterical Wake ups?



## PepsiChic

Since Barry was about 12 months, if he got woken during sleep he would literally be hysterical, crying and almost panicked, inconsolable.

The last couple of days hes been waking half way through his naps like this and no matter what I do, he wont go back to sleep and it takes forever to calm him down. I know hes not waking because hes not tired, hes exhausted and barely opens his eyes when he wakes like this, and I end up getting him up and then hes miserable, and has a meltdown the rest of the day till bedtime.

I have NO idea whats causing him to wake up so upset, like I said its been this way since he was about 12 months, luckily he sleeps through at night about 98% of the time, but when it does happen theres no getting him back to sleep.

like right now, He has only been asleep 30 minutes, and is awake hysterical in his bed, he doesnt want me to touch him, but if i leave the room he gets more upset. I tried offering him warm milk, his monkey toy, a blanket, he throws it and cries louder. 

Hes not wet, hes not stinky, hes not cold or too hot, he doesnt seem hurt in anyway. :shrug:

I dont know what to do...Im pulling my hair out when he does this, he doesnt want to get up, he doesnt want to go back to sleep, and the rest of the day is literally meltdown after meltdown.

*sigh*

It worries me because I dont know whats wrong and he doesnt talk so he cant tell me.


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## mrsthomas623

I was going to suggest night terrors but I don't think they would happen at nap time? Have you tried just leaving him? I don't say this to be mean to the child, but when Nolan was having night terrors I had to not even go in his room because he would flip out. It was horrible. With his night terrors his eyes would be open but he wasn't truly awake and would lash out if I touched him.

Hope whatever is going on, doesn't last long! :hugs:


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## mrs_park

They definately sound like night terrors hun. 

If it is a night terror, it can be caused by being over tired but not always and it is something they grow out of. Google it and see if the description fits. 

My son has had a few and they are truly awful but the child doesn't rememeber them at all and they are not actually awake. They say not to try to awaken them or comfort them during a night terror (as hard as that is) as it only makes it worse.


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## PepsiChic

Thanks ladies I'll have look into night terrors, he doesnt always open his eyes when hes upset when he wakes, most of the time he closes his eyes but he seems kind of aware that im there because if I leave the room he gets more hysterical.

I left him and he cried for about 5 minutes and then was back out like a light. Hes now been asleep for an hour and still fast asleep.

I feel so helpless when he gets upset and I cant even touch him.


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## mrsthomas623

It really is horrible, the first few times I forced him to wake up and he was a mess. He would hit and kick (which he has never done when he is awake) and then would just sob when I finally woke him up. When I started to leave him, it would only last 5-10 minutes and he would go back to sleep like it never happened. 

Nolan still isn't talking yet either, it's so hard to figure out what's wrong or why they are upset. :(


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## cutie4evr01

My daughter has awoken from her naps like this for 2 years now. For about a year from 1-yr-old until 2-yr-old, it was every single nap, but thankfully now it has reduced to once every 3-4 days. It's definitely worse when it's a short 30-minute nap, but sometimes even after a nice long 2-hr nap she's the same. I don't think it's night terrors, because everything I've read about that says they are not aware of your presence, and if you leave them they will fall back to sleep. She's definitely aware of my presence, because even though she doesn't want me to pick her up and doesn't want anything I offer (milk, snack, tv, etc.), she screams much louder if I try to leave the room, and also screams louder if DH comes in to see her rather than me. Generally we manage to calm her down within about 30 minutes, but sometimes takes longer. I've tried leaving her alone a few times to see if she'd go back to sleep and it took even longer for her to calm down on her own, over an hour, and she certainly didn't go back to sleep.

Anyway, that being said, the only thing I've been able to find about this is that maybe she has sleep inertia (I thought there was another name, but I can't recall right now), which is apparently more prolonged when kids are overtired. It means their brain is in a weird state of awake, but not quite fully awake/functioning yet. The main advice I've seen is to try to make sure they get more sleep. We did all sorts of playing with naptimes/bedtimes to little avail, but you could try to ensure your son is getting enough sleep. For my DD, I think part of it may be due to her very sensitive personality.

From Healthy sleep habits, happy child:
"In children, sleep inertia appears to be more severe and more prolonged for those who are more overtired. It appears that sleep is intruding into wakefulness, and this overlap state is painfully uncomfortable. One mother described it as a "fugue" state, another as a "demonic" state. The children are out of control, panicky, crying, or screaming hysterically."


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## PepsiChic

Thankyou for your post cutie, I read about the night terrors and Im not sure if thats exactly what he has...

He does refuse to be comforted or touched or talked to

but he seems to be fully aware that Im there, If I try to leave he gets more hysterical, and he will open his eyes and look at me. 

I dont know if he'll go back to sleep every time or not...most of the time he end sup standing at his door screaming hysterically, and nothing I do gets him back to sleep. Theres the odd occasion where he will go back to sleep like today...it seems to depend on hold long hes asleep for before he wakes.

He used to sleep 12 hours at night and nap 2-3 hours, since he moved to a bed from crib he naps 2 hours and only sleeps 8-9 at bedtime. So lack of sleep is more then likely a factor in this. Ive tried putting him down earlier, and just ignoring him when he gets up but to no avail. he wont sleep till hes ready!


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## cutie4evr01

Yes, my DD is the same. She sleeps about 8-10 hours at night and I'm lucky to get a 30min-1hr nap from her. We still persist in putting her to bed by 7 and not allowing her to get up until 6 except to go to the potty (we have a sleep training clock), but most nights she lies in her bed talking to her blankies/teddies until about 8 or 9, and is up by 5 most mornings, but just looks at her books until the cow on her clock wakes up. Oddly enough, she's never like this in the morning, only after a nap, and it was happening even when she was in a crib sleeping longer at night and having 2 naps in the day.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that it could also be low blood sugar or a food intolerance - we now try to make sure she always has a small snack before she takes her nap (and generally it's pretty soon after lunch anyway). I am considering cutting gluten for a while to see if that helps (she also has some skin issues), but haven't taken the plunge!


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## angel2010

I have no advice, but wanted to send hugs. Hope you can find a solution.


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