Nadya

I don't think I've ever felt so helpless and desperate.

Since she turned 9 or 10 months old, Nadya has never been a good sleeper. I consider it very good if she only wakes once a night. And we have had many very good nights so far. 

In recent weeks though, she's taken to waking at least 2-3 or even 3-4 times a night. This started when she fell sick. She was also cranky and irritable during the day. The PD attributed it to her taking a new type of medication (Fedac). He switched it out to a different medicine. 

I also spoke to her teacher in her childcare to find out if there was any underlying cause for her crankiness, besides her sickness. There was nothing. 

Her day-time crankiness abated after a week plus. But the bad nights continued. She would wake fussing and crying and sometimes seemed inconsolable. 

We checked the Net and found out that it could be due to night terrors. There was no cure for it except to "wait it out" and that the child would "grow out of it". 

It has been 3 weeks already, at least. 

She's now perfectly fine during he day but in the middle of the night, she morphs into a small monster. 

There has been a lot of frustration for me, mainly because she only wants me to be with her and rejects K at night. She insists on me sleeping with her in her room as well. Woe is me because there is only that much space on a foldable mattress on the floor. Anyone who has ever slept with a toddler next to them will attest to how capable that toddler is of pushing them off the mattress. It gets rather trying as well when you get a kicking thrashing toddler next to you who can't calm down and tell you exactly what is wrong. I've lost count of the number of kicks I've received already. 

Now, since 3-4 days ago, whenever she wakes at night, she is still fussing and crying and kicking badly. But she has also started to complain of pain in her right lower arm (from the elbow onwards) and in her right leg (from the knee onwards).

It is 1am now. She has woken 2 times since she fell asleep at 930pm. She just complained of pain in those areas again and also in her left ankle. I had to alternate between threatening and carrying and scolding and cuddling her. 

In the end, I had to massage her limbs, those which were apparently painful. And I massaged her for some 10-15mins till she fell asleep. 

K says its child rheumatism. And that he had it when he was young as well. 

I hope it's not. 

And I am desperate for a solution as well. 

I've been trying to function on an average of 4 to 5hrs of sleep each night. 4 to 5 hours cobbled together, and not in one single sitting. 

It's affecting my mood and my brain function. I even spelt my own name wrongly on a piece of form I had to fill in. (Yes, like wtf??) 

I hope to find a solution soon...and at least find out if she's medically ok or not....