Why does my 2-year-old baby cry in the middle of the night?

Many parents who often take care of their babies know that sometimes babies will cry in the middle of the night at a certain period of time, especially 2-year-old babies. They have certain cognitive abilities, but there are certain reasons for crying in the middle of the night. However, parents often do not have a special understanding of the baby’s world. They don’t know what causes this phenomenon in the baby, and they always think that the baby is disobedient. Let’s understand why a 2-year-old baby cries in the middle of the night.

Why does my 2-year-old baby cry in the middle of the night?

1. Children who lack calcium often cry at night. In the past, due to lack of medical knowledge, people believed that if a child cried at night, they could post a note outside the child's home that said "Heaven and earth, I have a child who cries at night..." and the child would get better. This approach is obviously not going to be effective. Children with calcium deficiency will not only cry at night, but also have corresponding symptoms, such as excessive sweating, bald spots on the back of the head, square head, late closure of the fontanelle, beaded ribs, etc. Supplement your child with vitamin D and calcium, and let your child get more sun exposure, and your child will be fine.

2. When a child is frightened, he or she will often wake up from sleep and cry at night. When a child cries, he or she is often accompanied by fear. In life, it is not difficult to find out what caused the child to be frightened. The solution is to comfort the child, tell him/her that there is nothing to be afraid of, and temporarily prevent him/her from directly contacting the objects or people that scare him/her. Gradually, the child will fall asleep peacefully.

3. When children are suffering from many diseases, such as colds and various acute infectious diseases, they will cry after sleeping. Some chronic diseases, such as anemia and tuberculosis, can also cause children to cry in their sleep because of discomfort. In addition, children often cry at night if they have a stuffy nose or pinworm disease. If it is caused by an illness, the child will fall asleep peacefully as long as the primary disease is cured.

4. Clothing and quilt factors: If the child is covered too thickly, the child will become irritable due to the heat and start crying; If the quilt is covered too lightly, the cold stimulation will also make the child cry. If the mattress is not laid flat, the clothes are too tight or the straps of the clothes hurt the child, the child will cry. In addition, you should check if there is something on the bed that is poking or prickling the child. As long as you find the cause, the child will feel comfortable and the crying will stop.

5. Crying due to hunger at regular intervals is related to the child’s hunger. For breastfeeding mothers, there is no need to be rigid about the intervals between feedings. Just let the baby eat when he/she is hungry. If the baby falls asleep while feeding, mothers can tap the baby's feet to let him/her eat until he/she is full before going to sleep. For babies who are bottle-fed, you should consider increasing the amount of milk you feed them and check the quality of the milk to see if too much water is added.

6. Children who have severe urinary urges have been trained to control their urination, but they still cannot get up to urinate at night. Sometimes the child will say he wants to pee, but most of the time, the child will cry to indicate that he wants to pee. As long as parents understand this pattern, their children will continue to fall asleep after changing their diaper. If parents do not understand the meaning of their child's crying, the child may wet the bed.

7. Reversing day and night. Some children sleep a lot during the day and are full of energy at night. When their parents ignore them because of tiredness, the children will protest by crying. The correction method is to reduce the child's sleep time during the day and play with the child more, and the child's sleep will improve at night. After a period of time, the child's life will become regular and he will be excited during the day and sleep well at night.

8. Need for caress. Some children cry because they are being spoiled. They want to use crying to attract their parents' attention, so that their parents can hug them or give them caress. The parents of these children are often too busy with work and have little time to take care of their children, or they one-sidedly emphasize the cultivation of their children's "self-reliance", causing their children to become "skin hungry". As long as parents give their children more love and care, the children's needs will be met and they will stop crying.

For children who always cry at night, parents can provide them with massage, which can have a certain effect. The method is: parents use their thumb to push from the tip of the child's thumb along the outside of the thumb to the base of the child's palm, do it 50-100 times; push from the tip of the ring finger along the palm to the base of the palm, do it 50-100 times; along the middle of the palm of the forearm, push from the wrist joint to the elbow joint, 20-30 times; from the wrist joint along the palm side of the forearm thumb to the elbow joint 30 times, pinch the midpoint of the transverse line of the child's palm and wrist; pinch the Shixuan acupoint on the child's fingertips; rub the Baihui acupoint on the top of the child's head 20-50 times; pinch the child's spine from bottom to top 3 times.

The above is an introduction to why a two-year-old baby cries in the middle of the night. Parents must pay close attention to such symptoms, because if the baby does not get enough rest in the middle of the night, it will seriously affect the quality of sleep. It is also very detrimental to the baby's growth and development. In addition, parents should pay more attention to such symptoms to see if the baby is feeling unwell.