1 Year Old Screaming At Night

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1 Year Old Screaming At Night

by Nicole C
(Canada)

My daughter is a year old and lately has been waking up in the middle of the night, just screaming for like almost 30min. I finally am able to calm her down with a bottle or something but she has been having watery diarrhea everyday for 3days now and she has no appetite what so ever.

I don't know if I should take her in or not seeing as she is still in good spirits during the day except for being tired.

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1 Year Old Screaming At Night

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Oct 02, 2008

Night terror...
by: Baby Help Line

Hi Nicole,

It almost sounds as if your daughter is having night terrors or maybe nightmares. The difference between the two is that with night terror, the child isn't actually awake, although eyes are open. The terrors can last for up to 30 minutes and then the child falls back into a more peaceful sleep without remembering anything about it. With nightmares, of course, the child is more easy to communicate with, since she is awake.

You didn't mention if the screaming had been going on longer than her diarrhea.Do you think the diarrhea and the screaming are related? Is she having a fever? Have you changed her diet at all, which might cause the diarrhea?

If she does have a fever and possibly belly pain, the waking up is highly likely to disappear once the illness is gone. If they are unrelated, it might take a bit longer.

Most babies and children go through periods of vivid dreams and disturbed sleep. It can be due to either the normal development stages or when something changes in life, such as mom going back to work, starting in kindergarten, going on a trip, moving into a new room or bed or whatever.

The best you can do is try to to console your baby, just like you do. Just a word of warning regarding the bottle. If your baby isn't drinking formula at night already, try to avoid introducing it. Getting a nighttime bottle is great according to many babies, and it can be a bot hard to get rid of it again. Try water instead if possible, or a pacifier and a cuddle. Much better for your baby's teeth too. (Some tips on baby teeth care can be found here.)

And to learn from other parents with babies waking up at night, browse the many questions and answers in our baby sleep help forum.

Anyhow, if the poor appetite and runny bowel movements continue, go see a doctor. And make sure you offer her lots of liquid so that she won't be dehydrated.

Hope this helps a bit.

Good luck,

Paula

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Hope this helps!
by: Anonymous

To help your child with the bowel movements you should put her on the BRAT diet.
-Banans
-Rice
-Apples
-Toast
It helps solid the bowel movements. Also put your baby on Pedialite to make sure she isn't getting dehydrated!
If watery bowel movements continue after 7 days, take her to the doctor's office.
Hope this helps!

Apr 25, 2012

1 year old not sleeping well NEW
by: Scott

Our son turned 1 on April 13th 2012, he had been sleeping pretty good IMO from around 8-9 pm until 6-7 am and would take a 2-3 hour nap around 11am-12pm each day. Well about a week ago now he started waking up between midnight and 2am screaming and the only thing that will settle him is nursing (which my wife is trying to wean him from), his naps have also reduced to 1.5 hours or less. He has refused a bottle from around 4.5months but will drink fairly well from a cup w/ a straw.

The last 2 days his appetite has been off also, refusing breast milk/solids.

No Fever
No rash (other than his normal eczema)
just fussy, rubs eyes, and appears to be tired alot.

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