What do you do if your child keeps waking up in the middle of the night?

Child Waking During the Night

Is there no reason for your son to be fearful? Should he feel safe and secure? If the answer to both these questions is yes, then I think he may have you on a string. Children of this age need the adult to take charge in order to feel really secure. Sometimes they fear their own power.

By all means give him time to talk about anxieties but, before bedtime and for a length of time decided by you. When he comes to you at 4am, return him to his own bed, tuck him in and do not speak. Continue this no matter what happens, as he will try his best to take back control. In other words it will get worse before it gets better, but worth it in the long run. New answer from TRINABABE:

Depending on the age, there are many reasons a child wakes in the night. If the child is under 5, has anything changed in their daily rountine like are they no longer getting the same amount of play time to wear them out for a good nights sleep, have they been exposed to anything that scared them lately, has some dynamic in the household changed? If the child is 6-10 look for the same type of things as above but on the age level. Is there a bully at school, is there one at home, has any part of their routine changed lately. Are they going to bed and waking up at the appropriate times? Children are not keen enough to be manipulative at an early age. Think about this when a child is born they come out with no prior knowledge to social skills and mannerisms. These are all learned responses from our environment. I would be very surprised if any nurturing loving caring parent would intentionally teach their young child traits that manipulative. Now there is such a thing as a parent needing help in parenting a child. Being able to give them boundaries and not giving into their every whim. All of this is age appropriate and accordingly. Yes, communication with our children is our best defense to teach them, mold them, learn with them and mainly to love them. Yes children do like boundaries. You cannot send mixed signals to children and them do something one day thats not appropriate and then the next changes your mind. Keep steady with your schedules, allow the child to express their feelings but not everything is negotiable, be firm yet loving and set examples, explain why they they may have to share or why someone just bonked them in the head with the ball. Do Not let a 2 or 3 year old start dictating to you how its going to be, the tears that roll from their eyes and the screaming they may do is all about how we as humans learn to control our feelings. You can soothe them to the best of your ability and still get nowhere, you must get to the root of the issue before taking the steps to solve the problem.. Its sometimes hit or miss if you cant figure it out but dont start new bad habits to cover the old one, thats like a bandaid and makes little monsters out of our angels. It will come to you and there is lots of help out there from support groups, your local library and your family physician. Be strong and keep a positive attitude.

There's a Booggieman in my room!

Young children right up until 6 can experience nightmares or fear dark shadows in their room and this is perfectly normal. If your child has had a nightmare then allow them to sleep with you. This is a safe haven for them and they will get over the nightmares quicker and start sleeping right through. If the child is just afraid of shadows in the room put one of those fun nightlights in their room (some have fish that go around on the ceiling like they are swimming) or simply a small nightlight left on. Talk to your child and walk into closets, check under the bed with your child to prove that there is nothing there. Once again, it's normal and your child will grow out of it. Before you know it there will be wails of "Mom, my room is private ... stay out!" Parents can't win for losing! LOL

As the other poster said if your child is older 7 and up it would be wise to sit down and over cookies and milk and talk out their problems. Give the child time to explain. Gently probe your child to find out if they don't like their teacher or they are being bullied or they have some other fears.

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