3.5 year old waking up in middle of the night

amother

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 10:09 pm

my 3.5 year old has been waking up in middle of the night for the last week or so ..sometimes seems to have been from a nightmare maybe .. tonight she woke up 3 times already since she went to sleep.. is this normal ? did anyone else ever have this ?? she’s been sleeping thru the night since she was very young!

amother

Lilac

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 10:14 pm

Did you take them to the bathroom? That’s usually the issue here. Or being thirsty. Or an ear infection

amother

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 10:29 pm

amother Lilac wrote:

Did you take them to the bathroom? That’s usually the issue here. Or being thirsty. Or an ear infection

she’s not trained at night and she had a drink with her Sad

ear infection she has tubes so not that either Sad

amother

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 10:47 pm

amother Celeste wrote:

Maybe pinworms?

hmm! I didn’t think of that ! how do I check for that ?

amother

Poinsettia

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 11:10 pm

Sounds like pinworms.
You can try looking with your naked eye but it’s very possible to miss it.
There is a paddle test you can get from your doctor. Or you can just treat and if she stops waking up, you know that’s what it was. The meds are over the counter.

sandyish

Mon, Feb 19 2024, 11:12 pm

Def check for pinworms. But if it’s not that, you should know that it seems that 3 is a common age for kids (girls especially) to start having disturbances at night…. My 3 year old daughter gets night terrors where she screams in her sleeps, or just times when she wakes up crying. I’ve heard it from parents of other 3 year old girls too. It’s a phase that will pass IyH.

tweety1

Tue, Feb 20 2024, 12:57 am

Another vote to check for pinworms. Once you know what they look like it's pretty easy to find. By girls they go into their private parts so you have to look carefully, but it's very doable.

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 7:56 am

I checked and I don’t see any pin worms . is it possible I am missing it ? she also is very expressive and hasn’t said anything about being itchy or anything but for the second night in a row she woke up like 5 times .. any other suggestions?

amother

Pearl

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:10 am

amother OP wrote:

Does she have her second molars in? It’s very common to have wake ups for toddlers. Probably night terror or nightmares.

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:22 am

amother Pearl wrote:

Does she have her second molars in? It’s very common to have wake ups for toddlers. Probably night terror or nightmares.

but it’s normal so many times ??

amother

Pearl

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:26 am

amother OP wrote:

but it’s normal so many times ??

How do you know she doesn’t have an ear infection? Oops never mind I saw you wrote tubes. Do the tubes need to be checked ever? Idk how that works.
Also I lesrnt recently that sleep trained kids vs not sleep trained kids are the same when they’re toddlers. Meaning just because a kid slept nicely as a baby when they reach two or so they are the same. And crying out doesn’t work on a toddler.

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:42 am

amother Pearl wrote:

I guess I can ask my doctor about that I’m not sure myself ! but she’s acting fine during the day that’s what weird !
she’s been sleep trained since very young bh!

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:43 am

teachkids wrote:

My kid has night waking as a symptom when her iron gets low.

hmm! that’s interesting gonna ask my dr ! thanx !

amother

Pearl

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 8:45 am

amother OP wrote:

I guess I can ask my doctor about that I’m not sure myself ! but she’s acting fine during the day that’s what weird !
she’s been sleep trained since very young bh!

Right but sleep trained kids vs ones that aren’t are the same by toddlerhood… so you may just need to support her with connection etc cuz it’s different for toddlers. They want connection during the day.

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 9:06 am

amother Pearl wrote:

so like what for example?
she’s my oldest she gets plenty of attention during the day:)

amother

Birch

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 9:10 am

Check for strep. It's random but night wakings are one of my kids symptoms. Also pinworms must be checked for in middle of night. Shine a Flashlight and hold it open in the back for more than a few minutes and you will see it come out.

amother

Pearl

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 9:14 am

amother OP wrote:

so like what for example?
she’s my oldest she gets plenty of attention during the day:)

Does she have any sensory needs? We started giving my daughter “blanket rides” before bedtime. She loves it and the vestibular input and propioception really calms her down. Maybe you can try a sensory activity thing before bed? Burrito with blanket, blanket ride (need two ppl for this) maybe she’s restless and needs to feel calm before bed?

amother

Wed, Feb 21 2024, 9:33 am

amother Birch wrote:

ok I will try tonight ! question is how I’m getting her to sit still for a few minutes like that she’ll scream!