Help with Sleeping - Albuquerque,NM

I found some good information on Mayo Clinic.com (link below) about "growing pains".
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/growing-pains/DS00888
The key takeaways are:

You can help ease your child's discomfort with these home remedies:

*Rub your child's legs. Some children respond to gentle massage. Others feel better when they're held or cuddled.
*Stretch your child's legs. You might make it a habit during the day and again before bedtime.
*Use a heating pad. Heat can help soothe sore muscles. Use a heating pad on a low setting before bedtime or when your child complains of leg pain. Remove the heating pad once your child falls asleep. A warm bath before bedtime may help, too.
*Try a pain reliever. Offer your child ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others). Avoid aspirin, due to the risk of Reye's syndrome — a rare, but serious condition linked to giving aspirin to children.
It may also help to simply offer your support. Remind your child that growing pains won't last forever.

GOOD LUCK!

We've had the same problem with all three of our boys at different periods in time. Sometimes it has been a security issue (they need to see mom and dad okay with each other, life being safe, boundaries being sure etc.) but it has also been growing pains and the solution for that is potassium. Increase bananas and tomatoes in his diet and that will stop if it is an issue.
Best wishes
K.

if your child has no medical reasons for the crying then I would ignore it and let him fall back to sleep on his own. stay out of his room. it may be just a way of getting attention and if you do not give it to him he will eventually he will just say to hell with it and not wake up.

BUT if he actually crying like a pain call he might have a medical reason --- my youngest daughter had a lactose intolerance and about 12 midnight it would bother her

BUT if the cry is just a whiny cry like I think you meant in your description I think ignoring it would be your best bet--- try this for awhile and see what happens

Have you tried a nightlight? My son started waking up, and we figured out that he was afraid of the dark. We put a nightlight in his room, and he quit waking us up!

My daughter (4 years old) has sleeping issues and has since she was a baby. She will have a hard time going to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night and then not be able to go back to sleep. For awhile, she was having night terrors. THANK GOD the night terrors went away, but she still struggled to get a good night's sleep. I talked to her psychiatrist about it and we decided that while a sleep study could be done, it wasn't feasible at her age. So, we give her melatonin. She takes 1/2 of a 5mg tablet about 1/2 to 1 hour before bed. She doesn't take it EVERY night; just on nights that she is having a tough time settling down. My daughter has ADHD and has a VERY rough day the next day (behavior problems, cranky, etc) if she doesn't sleep well (as we all do!).

I would suggest talking to your pediatrician about his sleep habits. Keep a sleep diary for him. Note if he took a nap during the day, what time, how long he slept, when he goes to bed and when he wakes up. Also, limit the amount of sugar that he takes in to no later than 5 pm. This will help figure out if there is something underlying or if it's just a phase. If your pediatrician is of no help, I would suggest contacting a sleep doctor. They can be of great help with suggestions and information. If everything has been tried and nothing works, they could do a sleep study on him. I was told that they can do sleep studies on children as young as 18 months.

Good luck and keep us updated!!

I agree with the recommendation to increase potassium in his diet and see if that helps.

You might also try massaging his legs and feet with a little lavender oil in a base oil like jojoba or olive oil. It might relax him.

Also, nothing like mom or dad loving him back to sleep. Cuddle with him for a little while until he feel comfortable sleeping.