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Yon's Talk

Why does my child act like this
every single night?

Hello. This is Dr. Hong Ji-yeon of Yon Oriental Medicine Clinic.

Seeing children sleeping soundly brings a smile to my face... but today, I want to talk about the children who make life difficult for their parents by staying up, crying, and fussing every night.

Well... I don't have to look far for examples. I experienced it myself.^^; Let me start with my personal story.

My child used to cry and not sleep at night just like that. Like many other parents, I comforted myself by saying, 'It will get better when they turn one... it will improve with time,' and I just endured it.

Child's sleep
My Experience

Instead of getting better,
the nightly war only escalated

When I went to the pediatrician for a vaccination and poured out my heart, the doctor told me to give them a little coffee in the morning—I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.^^; It usually gets better around the age of one, but from that point on, it actually got worse.

Of course, there was an incident. As all mothers know, as children approach one year of age, they have many vaccinations, especially a high frequency of live vaccines. The interval between live vaccines must be at least 4 weeks! This is the absolute basic rule. I went in for the vaccinations on the days I was told, but the staff member had given me the wrong schedule.

There should have been a 4-week gap between the MMR and the Japanese Encephalitis vaccines, but they told me to come back in 1 week, so I got them done. After the vaccination, my child started to run a fever. (This was a child who had never even had a fever from standard vaccinations, which are infamous for causing them.) My child suffered from high fevers for two whole days over the weekend, and from this point on, they would stay awake almost every single night. I lost so much weight from sleep deprivation. I couldn't wait any longer, so I eventually decided to try herbal medicine.

Causes

A common issue in Pediatric Oriental Medicine,
4 causes of nocturnal crying

Cause 01

Heart Heat
Heat accumulated in the chest,
causing discomfort

Cause 02

Spleen Cold
Coldness in the abdomen,
leading to indigestion

Cause 03

Oral/Tongue Sores
When mouth sores or
stomatitis occurs

Cause 04

Sudden Fright
When something startled them
during the day

Clinic Care

Cooling the heat, finding comfort,
a customized prescription for your child

It sounds unbelievable, but they slept through the night starting the very day they took the medicine. I even remember the date: October 1st! From then on, my child took herbal medicine regularly.

In my child's case, they originally had a bit of Heart Heat (children are 'pure Yang' entities, meaning they always have excess Yang and insufficient Yin), and receiving live vaccines just one week apart caused heat toxins to accumulate in their body, preventing them from sleeping at night.

Giving them herbal medicine to clear the heat toxins and replenish what was lacking allowed them to sleep that night; it was truly amazing, and I felt so sorry for how frustrated they must have been. I regretted just waiting instead of taking action sooner, but in any case, the result was a huge success.

Close observation and diagnosis

Close observation and diagnosis

When a child cries and refuses to sleep, it's because something is uncomfortable. (Note: In newborns, there is a possibility of infant colic or intussusception, so close observation and accurate diagnosis are necessary. Do not judge it on your own.)

Don't just wait blindly

Don't just wait blindly

Instead of waiting blindly like I did, I hope you get a diagnosis from an expert to make your child comfortable and find peace for yourself as a parent.

"May you and your child have
a peaceful good night tonight~^^"