Why does my 3yr old wake up screaming in the middle of the night after a "Big" day?

Question

For example, I took him to the zoo yesterday and he woke up screaming. He did the same thing the night after his birthday, when he got to spend the day with grandma and grandpa, a long day at the park with mommy, the night his baby brother was born, etc. He always wakes up saying his legs hurt, and is inconsolable. I can't figure out why his legs would hurt to the point that he screams like this. No matter what we do or say he just screams. I've tried rubbing his legs, but it doesn't help. After about 30 minutes he will just quit crying and go back to sleep as if it never happened. The only thing I can think of is that he normally does this on days he doesn't have a nap, or if he gets one it isn't a very good one. It also happens at about the same time everytime it happens. It is normally somewhere between midnight and 1am.

Can anyone explain this?

Answer 1

My 3 year old does that also after a big day I think there little mind is racing so hard that at that age they can not distinguish between real and dream. My little girl sleeps great if we have a veg day where we lay around all day instead of running all day.

Answer 2

Sounds as though he may be overstimulated.  Allow him about 1 hour of quiet time (reading to him, cuddling with him) before you put him to bed.  As far as the legs, he may have been walking too much or too long at the zoo and the park and his legs aren't used to such a lot of exercise and/or he may not be wearing the proper footwear for all the walking he did.  Make sure he has supportive sneakers/shoes and socks the next time and allow some "down time" at the zoo to keep him from overstimulation and to rest his leg.  (Sometimes warm cloths help with leg aches)

Answer 3

Sounds like he is having night terrors which can sometimes get worse or happen when he has had a long day or an eventful day. I would ask your doctor about it. They wake up screaming, crying, sleep walking, etc and only lasts for a bit and they go back to sleep and don't remember in the morning. You never try to wake him up during this. It will only make it worse. Just try to get him back into bed if he is up and he will fall back asleep. The doctor can give you more information on it. This is something that he will eventually outgrow.  

Answer 4

He could be having night mares or bad dreams. My oldest son wake up during the night crying because he has bad dreams and night mares and now he even talking in his sleep. That probably why he waking up middle of night.

Answer 5

It sounds like he is getting too much stimulation from the days activities. Also, if he is missing a nap it throws his whole schedule off. Have you asked him what is wrong during these crying spells? He may be too sleepy to communicate with you.  

Answer 6

Is it possible that he has bad circulation in his legs and long days on them provoke this? Maybe run the question by a doctor and see what answers they give you.



That would be my best GUESS. Just a thought. I'm probably wrong.