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waking up middle of the night inconsolable

hi. I'm new here. I always have quesiton and love giving advice when i can.
Okay, My three and a half year old son has had several instances where he wakes up in the middle of the night and cries, kicks, and seems to be in pain, and mad.
This has happened since he was one, Now that he can talk quite well, I would think he could explain to his father and I what is wrong, but he won't answer any quesitons. He cries and kicks his legs alot. He doesn't want to be held, and nothing consoles him for about twenty to thirty minutes until he episode has past.  
Anyone?
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Avatar universal
VVO
Children before the age of 5 goes through this quite often due to the lingering memories from his/her past life (assuming you could not find any other explanation)
Both my kids had it, the young one,7 yrs still does every now and then. What I found best to do is to turn on her favorite TV channel to sort of bring her back to reality. I talk to her softly and after a few minutes she would be back to sleep. I would be careful not to completely wake him or her up.
Be patient, at times it would take more than a few minutes but in general it has worked for us. And it took us a few years to figure it out.
Good luck
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Avatar universal
Hello, I know this has been several years and I'm sorry 2 bother....but did u ever find out what the problem was? My son (4) is going thru the same thing and it's very troubling.
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Avatar universal
My son just turned 3 this week, and he had nvr experienced this  before, but twice this week he has. I thought at first it was bc he has  been ill with a fever, but tonight I researched it because its the second time it's  happened to him, and I got  scared. He screams no for about 15 min, kicks, pulls my hair, throws whatever he can, gets outta bed and runs from any kind of communication or affection from us. I've nvr heard  of anything like this. Thank you for all the postings, its consoling to know I'm not alone.
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Avatar universal
It soulds like "night terror" My son had them when he was 4. He awakes sudden in night and sometimes blank stares too(after I try to wake him).  But dont try and wake them if it doesnt work the first few times. This child could be a deep sleeper now and future. Just talk to child with soothing and reassuring comments like: "Its okay, I'm here...it'll go away..I'll stay with you". This way, if your child can't wake up atleast mommy probably can be heard...Don't touch child if she seems agitated by that because if child is having a bad dream -your touching could be directly associted to the nightmare and you could be the bad person or "monster" child is dreaming about.--Could be a Charlie Horse, but I doubt it..if it is charlie horse make child stand on legs, esy fix to charlie horses. Could be growing pains while he sleeps too. hang tough
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350867 tn?1208242009
i remember being little and doing something similar at night... I couldn't explain to my mom what was wrong w/ me.. your question/post really made the memory re-surface.  It was a charlie-horse... you know that leg falls asleep feeling that turns painful if it has gone-on too long...  I don't know if that's the problem, but thought I'd throw my experience into the mix.
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Avatar universal
Hi my son does this.  It is called night terrors.  They are inconsolable and nothing helps.  They are actually in a state where they have no clue what is going on nor do they even remember the next day.  The best thing to do is ust wit it through, stay there just to make sure he does not get hurt fall etc., and it will pass.  Im so used to it I have a 2.5 year old son and when it happens I just watch him and try to rub his back which usually pisses him off, but he will fall back asleep usually within 20 minutes or so.  I t4ry to talk to him, but they are not in a wking state so they will not talk.  Strange huh?  Dont worry hopefully he will grow out of it, I hope my son does too because  you feel so bad cause nothing helps.  You are not alone.   Jess
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Avatar universal
My son does this about once a month.  It's scary to watch but it isn't a real problem.  What it probably is is called a night terror.  The can make eye contact and seem like they're awake but they truly are not.  If you ask him the next day, he won't remember a thing.  My son will literally shake and moan.  Same thing...inconsolable for quite a few minutes.  His dad usually will just pick him up and talk quietly in his ear and he will finally go back to sleep.  I cannot imagine a child wakiing up to have a tantrum so I don't thing it's that.  Good luck and hang in there.
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Avatar universal
My daughter did the same thing.  It wasn't a tantrum.  I'm still not sure what it was, but she eventually grew out of it.  There was nothing I could do to console her, I just had to let her "let it out".  I hope you get it figured out, or he just grows out of it.  I notice this happened to us when she was overly tired.
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Avatar universal
He might have a sleep disorder and may not be fully awake.  You can ask your pediatrician about sleep tests.  Or, he may just have growing pains.  I had them when I was little so I can sympathize with the little fellow.  They hurt.  Good luck.
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Avatar universal
Nobody?
Another thing about these episodes, is my husband believes this is a tantrum, and I believe it's pain or a bad dream.  It's very frusterating, i've been looking at similar post, and it does seem most likely leg cramps, or "growing pains" -which is odd that my husband thinks it's just bad behavior, considering _his_ first suffered badly from growing pains,
Anyone have any suggestions, or thoughts?
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