Why does my child get up in the middle of the night and start crying?

Q: My son is 10 months old with good health. Since one week we are observing the following problem at night. He suddenly gets up at midnight and starts crying. He will cry for nearly 2 to 5 minutes and then sleep. This is happening daily. Otherwise there is no problem with him during day time. Please inform why he is doing like this.

A:There must be something making him uncomfortable at night. You may be over dressing the child and he may be hot or too cold, or he may be having discomfort due to colic, wind, blocked nose or other such problems. Sometimes children wake up crying if they are having bad dreams. If he settles down easily after waking up it is more likely to be some form of transient discomfort.