I Have a 3 Year Old Daughter That Wakes up Every Morning Shaking

The only thing I could think of was maybe low blood sugar - that can make you shaky.
Video it so you can show your doctor.

http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes-control/low-blood-sug...

Keep a very detailed record of when this happens and the circumstances. Sit down and go back and write down recent incidents too. Does this happen ONLY when she's waking up and/or when she's angry? Is she angry often and does she lash out physically when she is angry? (That might require an evaluation from a child psychology specialist and not just a pediatrician.) Does she seem to stop shaking if....she eats something right away? If you distract her with a toy? Or she just keeps shaking for...how long?

These are details that would help a doctor. And yes, she needs to see the doctor again. Has she ever had her blood sugar tested first thing in the morning, before she eats or drinks anything at all? (That's called a fasting test--nothng at all in her system.) She might be waking up with very low blood sugar; she might have Type 1 diabetes; she might be experiencing bad dreams or might have a terrible physical response to being "startled" awake when you wake her up (not startling to you, but her body might perceive it that way....)

This is why you need to involve a doctor. Blood sugar test, sleep testing, etc.

If she is emotional and lashes out at other times without the shaking, there may be something else going on that is not physical. Any changes in the months this has been going on? Marriage issues, new sibling, new day care facility or change of adults at her day care or preschool if she goes to one, etc.....

Truly time to get offline, gather data based on what you observe and ask again at the doctor's office.

Is she waking up on her own or are you waking her up? She might just be in a dream and then hears noise and it scares her. I would think it's the blood sugar too. Make sure you give her a good snack before she goes to bed. High protein like peanut butter or meat. Not sure I'd want to do a complex carbohydrate though. That's something you might want to research. If you decide you do want to do the complex carbs then a PB/oatmeal cookie might be a good option.

If she's going to be rather early she might be going too long without food too. If people put their kids to bed at 7 or 8 then let them sleep 12 hours they've gone a long time without food.

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My daughter will sometimes get what I think are adrenaline shakes when she is really upset and crying. (Being anxiety-prone myself, I get these in some situations.) Maybe your daughter is having nightmares? I just saw also that you can get these shakes when dehydrated. Is she crying because she is shaking or does that just come with the shaking?

Found these: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a24775703/update_bab...

http://www.easybabylife.com/my-13-month-old-daughter-shak...

Good luck!

Did she have a sleep deprived EEG? If she's waking up with the shaking, then I would think that would be in order. You can even spend a night with the electrodes hooked up so they can evaluate and monitor you by video. That would be my suggestion. They have to recreate the scenario that brings the shaking/spell on.

However, a neurologist or pediatrician trained in seizures would be looking for other symptoms too. Like wetting the bed, etc.

Did you video her? They can often diagnose better if they have something to look at.

There also can be seizures due to psychological fears and stresses. You might want to look into a child therapist just to rule that out. She could be reacting to a bad dream, etc. That would account for the upset - possibly.

Good luck :)

My daughter has had many hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes. And during them, she trembles, and she gets very angry, agitated, and very short-tempered. I was surprised to learn that these low blood sugar episodes can affected emotions.

You might try immediately giving her a protein-rich snack, like a healthy yogurt (not one of those sugary ones with cookies on top, or the ones that are rainbow colored), or a drink of pure orange juice when she wakes up, if your doctor thinks that would possibly help.

One of the problems, we were told, is that hypoglycemia can be tested only during an episode, which makes it hard to schedule a doctor's visit, since basically you'd have to plan one of these low blood sugar attacks to coincide with the doctor's appointment.

Keep a detailed food journal for awhile. Be very specific on it, listing times and foods and drinks.

You might inquire of her pediatrician whether you could test her blood sugar. I bought a little kit for my daughter - it's very user-friendly, requires a quick prick of the finger, obtaining a small drop of blood, putting the blood drop on a strip and inserting it into a small electronic device. Of course, this depends on how your daughter would handle having her finger pricked, seeing a little blood, and most importantly, whether your doctor would think this was a good idea.