2 year old nightmares or moaning help

[RunawayBunny]

Back story, dh is out of country for a few months. He has been gone about a month. We dont co-sleep per say, but if ds comes in at night we let him stay.

So about a week ago DS, who is 2.5 wakes up an hour or so early crying (literally) he misses daddy. I tell him daddy loves him and misses him and that we would try to video chat when we wake up. He goes back to sleep. Every night since then he does this moaning/groaning thing at bed time (when he is almost asleep) but more often at 3 or so at night. Its almost crying but not quite and I cant tell if he is awake or asleep.

Last night he was up til 11pm. I was exhausted (and pregnant) and finally put him back in his own room. A few hours later he was moaning. I woke him up, changed his position and went back to sleep. Then he woke me up at 5:45 (very early for him) and says he misses daddy.

It seems to coincidental not to be related to dh being gone but I dont know what to do. It was one thing when it was just me losing sleep but now he is too.

[mrs_blazen]

mama! It's tough! My little guy is such a daddy's boy and freaks out when Daddy's gone. Maybe try a "daddy doll"? We got ds one and it helps. He loves snuggling with it. You can order them from daddydolls.com but I'm sure with just a little bit of craftiness you could make one pretty easily. If you could find a printing company that would put a pic on fabric for you?

Also, this is going out on a limb, but my ds moans at night when he's cold. It's kind of how you're talking about. We just go in a cover him up and he stops in a few minutes. That's probably not the case with yours since it seems to have started when DH left...

Anyways, sorry I don't have any more advice then that, but i couldn't read this without offering something. Hopefully it passes soon.

[RainandRedemption]

Idk if this will be helpful, but I noticed any time my kids eat sugar close to bedtime they are more rest less in their sleep. If he gets any sugar after dinner, maybe cutting it out would help him sleep better.

[venia]

My son is about the same age and I noticed he is starting to moan, cry, talk and even laugh in his sleep. He is also waking at least once or twice a night after over a year of sleeping through. DH and I were just pondering whether there is an age where vivid dreams start kicking (brain development?) in or whether its grow spurt related. He seems to have grown a ton in the past few weeks and his vocabulary has started to expand again too.

[kgmom]

My son started waking nightly at 2.5 after sleeping through the night for over a year. Took me a while to figure out what was going on but finally I realized he was getting his 2 year molars. After they broke through he went back to sleeping better.

Sent from my iPod touch using DS Forum

[RunawayBunny]

Thanks, mamas. Hoping for a good night tonight so we arent also battling overtired problems, too.

Originally Posted by mrs_blazen mama! It's tough! My little guy is such a daddy's boy and freaks out when Daddy's gone. Maybe try a "daddy doll"? We got ds one and it helps. He loves snuggling with it. You can order them from daddydolls.com but I'm sure with just a little bit of craftiness you could make one pretty easily. If you could find a printing company that would put a pic on fabric for you? Also, this is going out on a limb, but my ds moans at night when he's cold. It's kind of how you're talking about. We just go in a cover him up and he stops in a few minutes. That's probably not the case with yours since it seems to have started when DH left... Anyways, sorry I don't have any more advice then that, but i couldn't read this without offering something. Hopefully it passes soon.

We actually have a daddy doll. He loved it for about a week and then started bringing his standard bear to bed and train out when we leave the house.

It actually had gotten colder since dh left so maybe I will try his fleece footie pjs for a few nights.

Originally Posted by RainandRedemption Idk if this will be helpful, but I noticed any time my kids eat sugar close to bedtime they are more rest less in their sleep. If he gets any sugar after dinner, maybe cutting it out would help him sleep better.

I dont recall him eating much sugar junk but he has been having grapes as his pre-bedtime snack. That should be easy enough to cut out and give a try.

Originally Posted by venia My son is about the same age and I noticed he is starting to moan, cry, talk and even laugh in his sleep. He is also waking at least once or twice a night after over a year of sleeping through. DH and I were just pondering whether there is an age where vivid dreams start kicking (brain development?) in or whether its grow spurt related. He seems to have grown a ton in the past few weeks and his vocabulary has started to expand again too.

I tried googleing to see if it was age related but didnt come up with anything substantial. It makes the most sense, though.

Originally Posted by kgmom My son started waking nightly at 2.5 after sleeping through the night for over a year. Took me a while to figure out what was going on but finally I realized he was getting his 2 year molars. After they broke through he went back to sleeping better. Sent from my iPod touch using DS Forum

DS was an early teether. He had his two year molars by 13 months. That said, the dentist said his six year molars were starting to move up (though it'd be a long while before they broke through) at his last appt. So that could be it, too.

I am really hoping its anything other than his daddy. He is definitely a daddys boy, but seemed to be ok during the day. I dont know what else we can do on that front.

[cdeweese]

My DD is a month younger than your son and talks, moans, laughs, etc. in her sleep at least several times a week. We don't let her sleep with us, we go to her if she's upset and talk her down (she normally asks for us to "tickle" her back). She's normally ok afterward.