My 2-year-old daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake for hours-crying and whining. It seems like she just wants attention because she askes for mama, dada, drink of water, she'll throw her stuffed animals out of her, crib then whine to get them back. This will last for hours!! I'm talking 2-3 hours for the past 3 nights. I go in there frequently to make sure she is ok, and she always is. I have tried being patient and I have also raised my voice to her. Nothing seems to work. My husband and I are running out of patience and are tired. She gets to sleep in, while I have to deal with her cranky but in the morning from not getting a good nights sleep. What can I do???? Please help!!!

Lorena,

It could be a number of things.  She could be stressed, not eating enough before she goes to bed, she could be having night mares or terrors.  It could be a number of thigns.  What time do you put her to bed?  My 2 year old sometimes wakes in the night, but it's usually because he's wet or had a dream that scared him.  Have you thought about weaning to a real bed?  Has anything in your lifestyle changed recently?  Like a move or a baby coming along, or job changes? That could also be bothering her because she might feel insecure.  If she likes stuffed toys, go to the Build-A-Bear workshop and get a toy she likes.  Then get your voices put on a recorder that goes inside the toy so she can listen to you say something to her and help her feel secure.  Both my kids have a bear that does that and they love it.

Lorena,                                                                                             I agree with Elizabeth but if none of the things she suggested work you might want to call her pediatrician because my son used to do that and it turns out he had allergies. I don't know why but they would make him irritable and thirsty at night.

Maybe could she be feeling a little separation anxiety? My daughter went through a crying phase at night and it seemed like the more i went to check on her all the more upset she would get and the crying would escalade so we tried just letting her cry it out a couple nights and sometimes the crying got to the point where it was almost too much to bear but then she would quiet down eventually and fall back to sleep. After a couple nights of that she gave it up. Believe me, it wasn't easy to listen to her cry and scream but it was all worth it in the end. Sometimes its so hard to know what the right thing to do as a parent. I hope this helps a bit and i hope your little girl will get back to sleep like normal soon! And you and your husband too!

Could she be cutting 2 year molars?  My daughter does the same thing everytime she cuts teeth.  If she is she could just need comfort and a pain reliever and/or homeopathic teething tablets before bed and during the night when she wakes up.  good luck.

I took her to the doctors. She has a double ear infection. No more speculations.

Oh, the poor baby.  My sister and I got those a lot as kids.  I'm glad you were able to find out.  Those are no fun.

So glad you were able to find out what was wrong before it got ugly, i.e. getting more upset with her because you thought she was getting spoiled or letting her cry it out.  I did both of those things with my daughter before I realized it was her teeth.  After the tooth popped through I got my baby back but I feel terrible about it till this day!

Yes, thank you. I should know by now that she only acts that way when something is truly wrong. But, all commen sense seems to go out the window at 2 in the morning.