Waking in the Middle of the Night - Help Me Please

[lworth]

I'm slowly dying from lack of sleep = can you help me. Here's the situation: My dd who is 19 months old has been a jewel. We (since she was 8/9 wks old) have a very established bedtime routhine: bath, story, song, prayer, hugs, BED. This usually last about 10 minutes after the bath is finished. She then happily goes off to bed without one word of complaint and sleeps for 12 - 13 hrs. she also does the same at nap time and sleeps for 1 1/2 without a fuss or cry.
EXCEPT for the last week or so, she suddenly wakes up at any given time (there's no pattern) screams like she's terrified, stands straight up in bed and just keeps on. I tried letting her scream, the first night it was 30 minutes before I gave in the next night it was 45 minutes. Anyway, as soon as I walk into her room she lays down and is quiet. She doesn't want to be picked up or touched, just wants someone in the room. I get her quieted and try to leave, she screams again. The last couple of nights I have been sleeping on the floor in her room, again not touching her or talking, just being in the room.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing this or how I can fix it. She's not sick, teething, or having any changes to her normal routine. We haven't gone on any vacations or had any visitors...in other words, nothing has changed - except her SLEEP.
Thanks for any advice - sorry this is so long

[HOMEWriter]

This is similar to what my own son is doing. He's 19 months, too. I would not let her scream in this case. We've come to the conclusion that it is a form of separation anxiety. Most children will have it around 9 months of age, but it seems to hit later in children that are constantly with their moms. No, I don't know of any scientific studies to back me up on this. This is just my observations. My first four were exposed to babysitters more than my last one has been. If I run to the store, he cries the whole time I'm gone. I can't go anywhere without him. He cries upon waking, until he finds me. He was waking up during the night for about two or three weeks. He just stopped last week.

I would suggest offering as much comfort as possible, until your child gets past this. And she will. Until then, put a pillow in the room for your use when you are needed in the middle of the night.

Kelly H.

[lworth]

This has taken a long time for me to get back to...Sorry
Waking up in the middle of the night only lasted a couple of weeks.
Never did figure out the problem, or the solution for that matter, but I really don't care - just that she's sleeping through the night. Hurray