What Causes Toddlers to Wake Up Crying in the Middle of the Night?

You may think that sleepless nights will end after making it through your child's infancy, but not all children adopt blissful sleep habits. If your toddler wakes up crying during the overnight hours, several different issues could be happening. Analyze possible issues to resolve sleep disturbances and help your little one sleep more soundly.

  1. Pain or Illness

    • If a youngster experiences pain during the night, he may wake crying. Teething is a common issue for toddlers, according to the WebMD website. Illness may also cause waking and crying if your little one has discomforts and pain from infection. Determine whether physical symptoms are causing your child to wake. If you determine that your child is suffering pain or discomfort, try to relieve the symptoms to help him rest.

    Learned Sleep Associations

    • Small children might learn specific sleep associations that can cause night waking, advises sleep consultant Nicole Johnson, with the Baby Sleep Site. For example, if you always rock your toddler to sleep or if you sit at the foot of her bed until she̵7;s sleeping, she might expect the same environment every time she wakes during the night. Sleep cycles regularly shift between lighter and deeper sleep. If your youngster wakes and opens her eyes during a light sleep cycle, she may think she needs to repeat the learned sleep association to fall asleep again, and she̵7;ll probably cry. To resolve a learned sleep association, help your little one learn to fall asleep without help from you.

    Sleep Disturbances

    • If your child̵7;s room has loud sounds or noises, your little one may wake in response to environmental sleep disturbances, states pediatrician Craig Canapari. A dog barking, loud sounds from inside the house or even neighborhood noise might rouse a small child and cause him to cry. A little one might also wake if he̵7;s uncomfortably hot or cold in bed. Make environmental adjustments to your toddler̵7;s bedroom to make sure he has a quiet and comfortable sleep environment.

    Stress and Upheaval

    • Examine other areas of your toddler̵7;s life to determine whether she̵7;s reacting to stress or upheaval. Situations such as a recent move, the birth of a new baby, illness or death in the family, divorce or a change with day care or caregivers can create anxiety for a small child. Increase the loving interactions with your child to help increase feelings of security, which should eventually ease night waking and crying.

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