Ok, so say that you have a toddler who sometimes wakes up screaming around 2 or 3 in the morning. Should you:
A: let them scream until they fall back asleep?
B: go in and rock them, in hopes that they will go back to sleep?
C: invest in a tranquilizer gun and dart them from the doorway?
We've been leaning towards B, but we're afraid that we're developing a bad habit and that she'll simply expect the attention in the middle of the night. Any advice?
5 comments:
In my case (my daughter is 3.25 years old now), we were ok as long as we didn't pick her up to comfort her. If we stroked, cooed, and sang to her, she'd go back to sleep pretty quickly. If we picked her up, we were pretty much committed for a stretch of several nights. We'd also wait 15 or so minutes before going in at all, to give her a chance to put herself back to sleep. She's in a normal full-size bed now, and only wakes up at night (that we know of) on rare occasions or when she's sick.
All of this got tossed out the window (and still does) if she's sick, though. Then it's all cuddling, all the time.
Good luck!
You know I have no advice, but I feel for someone who wakes up screaming in the middle of the night.
Cuddle her, I think. If you're like me, the screaming wakes you up anyway. So do you want to lie there awake, listening to the screams? Or would you rather spend five minutes calming her down & getting back to sleep yourself - in peace?
It won't last forever. With us these things came & went in phases.
As long as you asked--let her cry for about 10 minutes to see if she will comfort herself back to sleep. I like the idea of rubbing her back and singing while she is still in her crib. But I also see nothing wrong with rocking her for awhile. After all she is only 19 months old. Now if she if 15 years old and you are still rocking her to sleep then it's a problem. I'm not so sure comforting her by holding and rocking her is a going to work itself into a habit. Trust me--all of this will end only too soon. I know you both are saying "easy for her to say."
We have this pop up from time to time. Marin is about 3.2 not and I agree that you should listen for a minute or so - then go in if it sounds like she needs you. You know if they need you or are just fussy.
Rock, rub back, put covers over, find stuffed animal, whatever is required based on the instance and then go back to bed.
Unless you are me, then lay awake in bed for up to 45 min, then get up and do laundry and watch a movie. ;)
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