Tantrums After Napping?
By marcroswell
@marcroswell (473)
Philippines
July 26, 2008 1:21pm CST
I make it habit that my son (2 1/2 yrs old)has taken a nap every afternoon. When the clock strikes 130pm, it's time for him to sleep. He'll sleep for 1-2 hours.
Sometimes more than 2hours. I am happy coz I'll be able to sleep as well. But, few days ago, everytime he wakes up after that nap, he also cries. Sometimes, it takes 5-10 minutes before he stops. I don't know what's wrong. Nobody could stop him. Sometimes, I can divert his attention and then, he'll stop crying. But, sometimes it's not working. So, what I did is I let him cry and I won't do anything. I'll just stare at him, After a while, he'll stop. A
Anyone? Any idea?
3 responses
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
27 Jul 08
Hi marc,
I have no kids and have no idea about this..LOL! Maybe, he felt hot or uncomfortable waking up and he will not see you right away! LOL!
If staring at him is very effective I guess you just need to do it regularly and maybe in the long run he will just stop crying! LOL!
@marcroswell (473)
• Philippines
28 Jul 08
You may be right. Coz there are times that when he wakes up and I am not around, he would really yell. And, his tantrums will start. It'll last for 5-10 minutes.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
26 Jul 08
Sounds like he is having nightmares. 1-2 hours - or longer - nap for a two year old is quite long. Kids should be taking shorter naps the older they get. I am sure you enjoy the break, but could he be getting too much sleep during the day and not enough at night?
@marcroswell (473)
• Philippines
26 Jul 08
I am working night shift. My husband takes charge of getting my baby asleep during the night. According to him, my son sleeps around 930-10pm coz he's still watching tv programs. I get off from work at 6am and arrives at home around 8am. Before getting myself to sleep, I need to do household chores and spend quality time with my son. Yeah, i am taking advantage of the time that he's asleep in the afternoon coz that's the only time I can get myself to sleep. You may be right, he's having a nightmare. Coz, while his eyes are still closed, he's crying and at the same time talking.
@liquorice (3887)
•
7 Aug 08
My daughter's 2 and a half as well, and she still has a nap each day of about the same length as your son's. I've read various things about naps, but one very good (and popular) book, by Elizabeth Pantley ("The No-Cry Sleep Solution"), says that it's good and refreshing for children of this age to be having naps of this length. It can actually make them more relaxed and contented so that they also sleep better at night.
My daughter has always cried when she wakes up (since birth). We don't know why she does this and when we ask her she can't seem to tell us. I think she just doesn't like being by herself! I suppose it's different with your son as he's only just started doing this. Maybe he's teething, or perhaps he's not comfortable with the temperature if you've had especially hot weather or something like that. He could also be coming down with something, but if he doesn't seem ill in any way then this probably isn't the case. And like others have said, maybe it's a nightmare.
With my daughter I just give her a cuddle until she's woken up a bit more and stops crying. Hopefully if it's just lasted a few days so far, it will go away and he'll go back to normal. Good luck!
