Toddlers Cannot Explain Why They Are Crying at Night

“Someone please tell me this is normal or ok or this will end. My 18 month old just whines and cries about 90% of the day. I don’t understand. Not in pain. We have seen doctor’s and specialists. I think it’s the lack of communication skills. But I am at my wits end from being home with him all day. My heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. I feel like I’m going to explode. I try to be understanding that he isn’t speaking many words yet to let me know what he needs. But holy shit!!!!”

“Hi, My son is 17 months old. Ever since he was a baby, he's been a screamer. Whenever something happens that triggers his emotions (it can be a car ride, being tired, changing a diaper, me not letting him touch something dangerous etc) - he just cries while screaming at the top of his lungs. It gives me so much anxiety. He doesn't have any health issues, pediatrician claims it's normal for them to scream before developing the ability to communicate. He can be quiet and content as wel”

“My toddler is 2 years and 2 months old, and recently she has started waking up at night crying for seemingly no reason. The crying is intense, and it's almost impossible to calm them down. Holding them, giving snacks such as grapes, comforting them, etc. doesn't work at all. We already took our child to the children's hospital, and they checked everything and said there was no obvious problem. During the day, she is completely normal. Has anyone experienced something similar with a 2”

“Just as the title says, during naps and in the middle of the night he’ll just start crying and thrashing about until I come and comfort him then he settles and goes right back to sleep. I don’t know what to do or if this is normal. He has 1-2 nightmares a night at 1-2 during his 3 hour nap (he sleeps once during the day by his choice, he refuses short naps just one really long one). Is it normal for an 8 month old to be having nightmares? Can I help him somehow? He’s my first baby and I don’t kn”

“For starts, I am really not used to this at all. My son has slept throughout the night since he was 2 months old. Always slept in his own bed, no problems. always slept more than 12 hours as well from 7:30 pm to 8:00 am. We never really went through a regression other than the 4 month old one which was only one week. Now, it’s been 2 weeks and he’s sleeping really bad. He wakes up 2-3 times during the night, crying hysterically…this has happened before but after 1 minute he’s able to go back to”

“Wakes up crying in the morning, goes to sleep crying often at night. Cries if we watch tv because it “wasn’t enough episodes.” Cries if we have candy because “it wasn’t enough candy”. Cries after a fun outing because we have to go home (I understand this one). Cries if we have one food we like for dinner and not a random other food. Seemingly random constant crying and it does not unlock “getting your way” so I do not understand it. Y’all… I am worn out. We are almost 6 years old. Getting tons o”

“The screaming, crying, and constantly standing up in her crib at bedtime is off the rails right now. submitted by /u/ckouf96 [link] [comments]”

“Does anyone’s baby whine and cry about literally everything? I feel like I can’t win no matter what I do. She was colicky with CMPA/reflux which we finally got under control and had what felt like one good month. Since around 4 months I feel like she whines and screams constantly. We’ve started solids and she whines and cries when she’s in the high chair. I’ve tried to let her eat the food herself - she cries. I try to help her eat - she cries if I take too long to get her the bite. She cries if”

“My 10 month old screams at the top of his lungs all the time. Sometimes it’s when he’s upset or wants something, sometimes it’s just for no reason. I know it’s probably normal but it’s really hard to tolerate. Is there something I should be doing to get him to stop? I mostly try to just ignore it and give him the attention he’s looking for as soon as he stops screaming but it’s gotten very difficult. submitted by /u/Born-Grapefruit4883 [link] [comments]”

“I just had my second child and forgot just how bad Sundown scaries could feel. Curious how long this lasted for other folks, especially those who’ve got other littles around. I feel sometimes my toddler helps distract me but other times her needs amplify the anxiety I have. As far as finding things to help, I’ve been taking a hot shower in the evening to refresh myself, and my husband and I are doing shifts where he takes on the first part of the night so I can sleep, and I am on from like 1am t”

“Our almost 16 month old wakes up several times in the night crying. He only takes one nap a day during the weekdays (lasts 1-2 hours) and on the weekends he sometimes takes two short naps a day. If it’s teething we do take care of his pain from that so idk what it is. This has been going on for months and months, even before our 4 month old was born but it’s gotten worse since she’s been born. Is this just a phase? We get him calmed down but as soon as we leave the room he throws a fit. Any advi”

“Has anyone had a child start to go off naps at 18 months. Some days he does nap others he just fights it. Spends an HOUR crying, talking (babbling) and trying to be a master ninja and slowly try and inch down out of my arms to get sneak and get away. He went to an 1 hour nap a day at 12 months. On the days he naps, if he sleeps any more than an hour hes up until 10 or even midnight. This is too early to start skipping naps . I KNOW it's too early. I'm afraid if he doesn't nap it'”

“If your baby was very fussy, what were they like as toddlers? I need some hope or I’m going to lose my mind soon submitted by /u/No-Bat2016 [link] [comments]”

“I start with mine: Background: baby Boy at 19 months. EBF, and nurse to sleep, bedshare since the beginning. 2-3 meals a day. not going to daycare, staying home with me. I take care of him 24/7 except during evening/weekends when I do some self employment work at home, daddy works 9-5 and takes care of him when I work. - he ALWAYS cries when he wakes up from his sleep or nap. No reason, if I’m not there, he cries. If I wake him up hugging him, he won’t cry. - when I don’t let him go somewhere/to”

“My 16 month old has been lately screaming loudly if she wakes up during the night, rather than just putting herself back to sleep as she used to. She's always been a easy and pretty solid sleeper and generally goes to bed without a problem, but this sensitivity (needing to be comforted back to bed if she wakes up for whatever reason) is new. She does have a night light but otherwise its dark, and last night when I went up to comfort her, I wondered if she was afraid and not just uncomfortabl”

“Hi! I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has experienced something very similar with their toddler, especially if you’ve been through it around 16–18 months. My daughter is 17 months old and has suddenly become extremely difficult to settle at bedtime . This started about three days ago, despite her having had some sleep issues before this. Before this, she already woke several times during the night, but we could usually settle her. Now it has suddenly become much more extreme: She completely los”

“It’s one of those days where the whining and crying and constantly wanting to be held is excessive and my 15 month old is getting on my last nerve, doesn’t want anything I offer, pretty sure she’s teething but I say that every other week. We usually go outside to some playground but it’s already a billion degrees outside. Besides library what do y’all do?? Send help 🥲 submitted by /u/callmelila [link] [comments]”

“My son is almost 2, and over the last week something has changed very suddenly at bedtime and during night wakings. During the day, he and I are completely fine. Both my wife and I work, and every morning he happily waves goodbye and stays with his grandmother. He plays with me, asks for me when I’m out, and I can still put him down for his daytime nap without much trouble. Until recently, nights were fine too. He had been sleeping through for months, roughly 9 pm to 7-7:30 am. Both my wife and”

“Typing this from my couch crying because I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore. My 13 month old has had a couple extremely rough nights. She’s teething hard, drooling like crazy, biting everything and clearly tired, but she is fighting sleep HARD. Last night she woke a couple hours after bedtime and was up for hours. She’ll rub both eyes, yawn, whine and lay her head on me, then immediately pop back up and want to crawl around and play. Normally nursing is our guaranteed comfort, but now she”

“Hi Everyone I am not an overly emotional person but something happened with my son turned 1 years old. I suddenly got extremely sad. Growing up seems to be a bittersweet thing. I started suddenly thinking about him being a baby and how that time.. is coming to an end The babbling, the MAMA/DADA, the being in the crib, the holding in my arms to sleep, the innocence. My little man will continue to grow and progress, but he will never, be my little BABY boy anymore.. This part will soon be over, an”

“I'm trying to figure out if my son's behavior is normal or maybe something is wrong. He's 16 months old. Very sweet and loving, gives a lot of kisses and hugs. Lately he has a lot of tantrums during the day and doesn't want to sleep at night. Any time something doesn't go his way he starts screaming and crying - for example today I didn't let him pull the hose on the balcony, and he had a 20 minute tantrum. His last wake window before bed used to be 7 hours and he would f”

“I'm trying to figure out if my son's behavior is normal or maybe something is wrong. He's 16 months old. Very sweet and loving, gives a lot of kisses and hugs. Lately he has a lot of tantrums during the day and doesn't want to sleep at night. Any time something doesn't go his way he starts screaming and crying - for example today I didn't let him pull the hose on the balcony, and he had a 20 minute tantrum. His last wake window before bed used to be 7 hours and he would f”

“so my daughter is almost 19 months old but i swear in the last two weeks she has decided she now throws actual temper tantrums, she is so little but has SUCH a big personality it’s ridiculous. if she wants something and doesn’t get her way she will get so mad and take whatever she has near her and throw it on the ground and march around like she owns the place. this girl is barely two feet tall mind you and in the 3rd percentile for height. i just try to ignore it and let her have her little shp”

“We have a 2.5 year old. She communicates very well. (Yes I know about the terrible 2’s) We are having an issue with her saying things scare her like tonight she wanted chicken nuggets we didn’t have the kind she wanted and as part of her tantrum she says she’s scared to stand. Another instance was a snack she had was cold and she was scared to eat it unless we explicitly fed it to her. The biggest one for me was she’s recently started to say it when we are dropping her off at the babysitter. Any”

“My 22 months old daughter has reached another behavioral milestone but this one's hard. Whenever she is disappointed or upset or angry, she would bite you or scratch you. I really dont like that. I am pretty overstimulated myself so when she bites me or scratches me, I get soooooo overwhelmed that I literally have to get away from her to take a breather. An example scenario when it has happened: We were at the store, buying groceries. She heard the ice cream truck outside, we told her to wai”

“Has anyone experienced this ? My 1 year old will do several little cries in her sleep throughout the night and also hysterically cry. I’m unsure where to go like is it normal, do I need to see the GP, sleep consultant etc submitted by /u/lalala-1995 [link] [comments]”

“I wasn’t sure if this flair is right so sorry in advance. Ihave been such an anxious mess. Ever since 6 months my LO has been so fussy and it’s gotten much worse right now at 7.5 months. Is usually wants do be held constantly, he’s whining and crying most of the time. It’s not like intense crying but half of it is fake crying and the other half sounds like frustration. He has short periods of times he will play and laugh by himself and then he’s back to whining and crying. He’s best after he wak”

“Within the past week and a half or so, our 2.5yo has seemingly become a different child. Much moodier, more stubborn, more aggressive, and in some ways seemingly manipulative. She was an amazing sleeper but suddenly needs me to physically pat her for over an hour to go to sleep. Attempting to leave begins a huge emotional cycle/power struggle where eventually she does fall asleep from exhaustion or I cave and pat her to sleep anyway. But the biggest thing is peeing. We potty trained 6 weeks ago”

“If you had a previously very sweet two year old, that has become a bit of a three year old monster, did you do anything to mitigate the behaviours or did they just pass with age and brain development? Mostly she struggles with turn taking and sharing and will ‘fake cry’ a bunch if she doesn’t get her way during play. She’s very dramatic ‘no one is ever going to let me play with it’ and even when the thing is offered (the kid feels bad) she’ll be like, ‘I’ll never ever get a turn! No one will let”

“I'm going to babysit my nephew (11m) in two weeks and he's been have some sleep problems. Sometimes he just cries for a long time and they'll get really stressed about it (which I completely understand) They keep trying all kinds of esoteric Rituals and when none of them work they get super frustrated. I'm wondering, is it bad to just let him cry when he's upset? I'm not talking about the CIO method. What I mean is comfort him even if he cries for an hour or more? Since I”

“I'm at the end of my rope with my almost 5 year old. The past 6 months she's been absolutely insane. She refuses to listen almost to the point it feels like she can't hear us. She is constantly screaming and shrieking so loud I'm afraid our neighbors will hear. Doesn't matter if she's happy, upset, mad, etc she's always screaming. She won't stay in bed at night and gets up and runs around or goes to the bathroom upwards of 10-15 times in the span of 2 hours. I fee”

“My baby is 8 months old now. My husband and I love him so much, that I think we are not being the best parents. He has tantrums constantly, and we don't want to let him cry, because his tantrums normally evolve in meltdowns rapidly. As an example, if we are playing and he gets bored, he will start complaining, and if we don't distract him with a different toy or by holding him, he starts escalating. We love to hold him, and we try to do it as much as we can, since he's already weighi”

“Is it normal for your 16 month old to roll their eyes??? Or is that learned?? Also, does it feel normal to anyone else that you just get so annoyed by your toddler it doesn’t stay forever but it’s like sometimes you just get like intense feelings that everything they do is irritating annoying and just makes you needstep away for a minute. I completely know and recognize that he’s only 16 months and he’s exploring and going to do things test boundaries I get that!! we have so much fun together. I”

“I’m really not sure what it is, but my 12 month old has been throwing screaming tantrums during breakfast. The minute I put her in the high chair, she flips out. I thought it was because she wouldn’t let me feed her oatmeal, so then I started handing her the spoon, but she’s inconsolable. She throws the spoon off the high chair, and whatever else I throw her way. Cheese, berries, you name it. This time around, I just took her out of the high chair and put her in her play pen and she won’t stop s”

“I need help! Brushing my 17 month old’s teeth is becoming a nightmare for her and me. I feel like I’m going to traumatize her 😩 I’ve been consistently fighting her to brush her teeth since she was 9 months. It was easier back then, we would let her watch Elmo’s teeth brushing song or watch her favorite show and she’ll open her mouth and let my husband or I brush her teeth. Now, one of us has to hold her down while the other one brushes her teeth and she’s screaming and kicking. I’ve tried letti”

“My daughter is 2yo and wakes up constantly at 4am with some little moans and groans, when I go in to try to calm her, maybe change her pull-up, etc. Sometimes it works and she’ll go back down if she’s still half asleep. As soon as she wakes up she’s saying “see mama, see mama” progressively louder. My wife is currently 31 weeks pregnant and is exhausted. I’m trying to give her as much sleep as I can. My daughter just won’t stop yelling for her and it’s making things really hard for us. I try boo”

“We’re in a phase of constantt whining and it’s making me want to check into an insane asylum. I’m a sahm and hearing it allll day long is really taking a toll on my mental health, i even snapped at him once and said his name really loudly and i feel so so so guilty. I try to come up with all kinds of activities and games and we read all the time, i build him a climbing playground, i make up games and go outside when we can but i feel like he’s so bored of everything, of all of his toys and books”

“i feel like my 10 month old is constantly frustrated. he’s generally a pretty happy dude, but lately i feel like everything just really makes him mad if i won’t let him have something or do something he wants, he yells. he yells almost anytime we’re in the car unless he falls asleep. he wrestles and fights during diaper changes and while nursing (unless im nursing him to sleep) when he yells it’s the most strained, angry sounding cry and honestly it stresses me out so bad. i know me getting stre”

“My 9mo instantly gets fussy as soon as he sees his sleep sack, and when we start our nighttime routine. He’s been like this since he was 4 months old. He’s won’t really settle with a paci, and when he does it takes quite long. Typically, I nurse him to sleep whether it’s naptime or bedtime, and he instantly settles and falls asleep within a few minutes. Has anyone experienced this with their baby? Would like an evening out, but nervous he won’t settle with my MIL. submitted by /u/man”

“I am currently a mom to three kids (ages 5yo, 3yo and 4mo) and we are in desperate need of some advice! As the title says, our 3yo is currently waking up once or twice a night, every night, SCREAMING his head off. Our sleeping arrangement is currently that our two older kids sleep in their own room (often times with Dad) and I stay in the master bedroom with the baby, as I am EBF and baby still wakes up to nurse at night. If one of the older ones wakes up, it’s Dad who checks on them and sometim”

“My 3.5 year old son has seemingly overnight developed behavioural issues. For the last week he has been having minimum 5 tantrums a day, he is hurting his brother (2YO), hitting me and his mom, cannot handle the word no (this has never been an issue), and he is doing things he knows are wrong (like encouraging his little brother to bite and hit us). During his tantrums it’s like a demon has taken control, he doesn’t hear a word anyone says, screams, hits and bites, so we’ve started having to put”

“My 16 month year old was screaming and pointing at the paper towels this morning. I thought he wanted his nose wiped. Turns out he spilled applesauce on the floor and wanted to clean it up. Then, this afternoon, he started screaming and crying like crazy. He went to take a sip of his Keifer (yogurt/milk type drink) only to spill it on himself, his feet, and the floor. He just wanted to wipe it up. Please tell me that the urge to clean up after himself is one of those things that is always going”

“Hi everyone! Need advice. My 13 month old daughter has bad separation anxiety right now. For context, we’re not in our normal situation and haven’t been for about a week. We got back on Tuesday from a visit with my family in another state and have been staying at my parents’ since we got back until they can drive my daughter and I home tomorrow. My husband had to fly apart from us because he had to attend a training for work immediately after our trip. Since we got to my parents’ specifically, m”

“you’ll see from my old posts that this has been an awful year. however, things have really escalated recently with a trip to A&E due to persistent pain and crying/2hours sleep a night for my baby. Given a suppository and movicol to clear the gas/stool and sent on our way. this has been going on for a year…we aren’t convinced constipation is the root cause as he’s rarely been constipated. plus on day 5 on movicol he is still in agony. he’s just started nursery 2 days ago, and it’s my third da”

“At what age could you go somewhere without tantrums, diapers, bottles, strollers and your kid could eat with cutlery and not make a huge mess? And also say what is bothering them? submitted by /u/creatureoflight_11 [link] [comments]”

“Please share any tips you have for the 18 month separation anxiety phase. It has gotten to the point where even when my village shows up to “help” my daughter will scream and cry relentlessly for me if I’m just in the other room. I can’t get anything done anymore or have any alone time. When my husband gets home from work she cries because she now knows that he gives me my break. It has gotten so bad that she has been refusing to eat dinner because I think somewhere along the line she connected”

“my toddler throws tantrums more with me than with my partner, but maybe I’m intervening more? he mostly throws them if I stop him from doing something he wants/pick him up when he wants to do something. he will hit/bite me or recently has pulled out chunks of hair (surprisingly not painful for 10+ hairs in 1 pull). normally he’ll throw himself on the floor first and then if I need to pick him up (like out in public/in a road) he’ll get physical. i am not around any babies that do this so don’t h”

“My LO is just a little over 17 months old, and we’ve reached a point where it’s crying at ANYTHING, throwing tantrums, conniption fits for no apparent reason. She doesn’t want me to get off the floor with her, I can’t do anything when she’s around else I’ll have to listen to her manic crying. She’s extremely defiant, she knows what she shouldn’t do and she’s purposefully testing the limits and trying to see what she can get away with. Shes climbing EVERYTHING and standing on things she knows she”

“He's been very whiney and clingy for the last two months, which I attributed to his molars coming out. Now all 4 molars came out, and he's clingier than ever. He's constantly screaming and wants to be held. Last night he woke up and was awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night, nothing I tried soothed him, not even nursing. I'm so tired. The weather is extremely hot, so we can't go out as much as we used to. I don't work, so I'm with him 24/7. When he cries to be”

“My son (3 in December) won’t stop pushing and hitting his 11 month old sister. I know this is normal, but it’s getting worse. I’ve tried: No reaction “Gentle hands we don’t hit” Time out No movie time Calmly explaining it gives sissy a boo boo We give him plenty of special 1/1 time and he genuinely is usually so loving with her and likes to make her laugh. The pushing and hitting usually occurs when she tries to play with his toys, annoys him when he’s trying to color etc. I try to give him spac”

“5 1/2 month old. Squirms and can’t sit still when I hold him, put him on the floor to explore and squirm but he doesn’t like it so he just continues to cry. I try to put him in a play table, I try to engage in other things, doesn’t work. Cries and fusses. He just only likes to be held but doesn’t sit still and wants to move so what’s the point of wanting me to hold him if he doesn’t want to just stay put. I am dealing with a lot of medical issues that require me to keep off my legs and not carry”

“My three month is VERY attached to me. She’s also VERY opinionated and high needs. The last month or so, she gets so worked up when she’s mad (riding in the car, being held by someone other than me). She just screams and screams until she finally wears herself out. I can deal with it at home and she calms down easily for me. However, she starts daycare in two weeks and I’m so worried. Is she just going to scream and be pissed all day?? Will she get used to it quickly?? I just am so worried”

“What am I doing wrong. Since 3 months (my baby is almost 4 months now)absolutely loses it every time I pick him up for a nap. His wake window is only about an hour or hour and a half before he starts getting fussy while playing so I don’t think he is over tired. We sit down and I pop the soother in his mouth and he absolutely cries his lungs out for about five minutes then passes out is this normal or am I doing something wrong. He doesn’t do this at night he actually puts himself to sleep quite”

“Anyone else’s 4 month old do this? My 4.5month old just started to wake up from naps scream crying. No matter how long or how short the nap was. Wake windows are appropriate so he’s not overtired or under tired. Just wondering if anyone’s experienced this and knows what I can do and why? Ranges from 5-30 mins of crying post nap. submitted by /u/Neither-Bat-1624 [link] [comments]”

“Our almost-4-year-old has recently started having repeated conflicts with one very close friend at her daycare/school. Almost every incident has involved this same child, and the spike closely coincided with her regular lead teacher, who understands her very well, going away for summer vacation. Our daughter sometimes responds physically, which we absolutely address. But the school agrees the dynamic is two-sided. The program director described the other child’s behavior toward her as at times u”

“My 16mo became a toddler almost overnight. Pitching fits involving screaming and throwing himself on the floor, stomping, the whole 9 yards. Otherwise, he’s an incredibly happy guy. It has now slipped over into nap and bedtime. We transitioned to one nap about a month ago and he was doing great. We give him the opportunity to take a cat nap in the morning to break it up, and put him down around 7:30 (ends up being 5.5/5 for wake windows). But the last few nights, if there’s even a hint that we’r”

“I have a toddler and she’s just getting louder and louder as she gets older. Right now she turned 3. Whether she gets hurt physically or emotionally, her crying is more screaming than tearing. After a while it really starts to grate me but I control because I don’t want to tell her to bottle her feelings. I sit with her and comfort her , do everything I am spsd to do, but I am gritting my teeth the entire time. So my weird question is: has someone successfully managed to lower the volumes on the”

“FTM. My boy toddler is 2 years and 3 months and I cannot stand this hitting and kicking phase. My patience is running so thin when I get smacked or kicked during a tantrum. I distance myself when there is no point in reasoning with him, but the hardest part for me is when he runs up to me to smack me when i'm already low. Im constantly doing "gentle hands" or "hands to youself" as I catch his hands to put it beside him but nothing. I try to be understanding as his talking”

“My kids feel like they are in their most difficult phase yet. My 3 year old (4 in a few months) is constantly not listening, arguing, picking battles, whining, etc. His tantrums are intense and I can no longer contain him because he’s too big and strong (whereas before I could pick him up and remove him from the situation). He’s mean to me constantly, tells me to go away, he doesn’t like me, just wants daddy, etc. I’m at my breaking point with him and it feels like all I do is yell at him. I kee”