We rencently moved from michigan to texas, and we have been here for about 2 months. My son had no trouble sleeping at night with the adjustment. Just this week he has been waking up 3-4 times a night, not needing to get changed, or needing anything to drink, screaming. It takes about 4 hours to get him to calm down and back asleep. We think it might be nightmares but we are not sure. What suggestions can you give to help him get back to sleeping through the night, other than letting him sleep in our bed.
Also please give any suggestions on what else it might be besides nightmares.
Look up "night terrors" its a specific type of nightmare that happens frequently, and exactly the same way every time. My brother had them when we were really little, I felt so sad for him. Anyway-- I am rusty on the knowledge, that may be your answer though.
Hi Anne Marie, I'm not sure of what your routine is in the morning or if you have other children as well, but a lot of times we as parents turn the TV on in the morning when we are getting kids off to school or trying to get other things done and we did let out kids watch children's programs after they had breakfast and got dressed for school and our 6 year old use to wake up screaming at night and it was from watching children's programs on TV as a lot of them are cartoons and have a lot of monsters fighting each other and this was the cause of him waking up a night with night mares. We moved to our new house the end of May and we didn't have TV hooked up till a couple of weeks ago and his night mares have stopped and we don't let him watch kids programs early in the morning. We let them watch a couple of kids stations on God TV. It may pay you to see what programs are on TV in the morning or afternoon that he may watch and see what is on these programs. I hope that this has helped you and I hope that it doesn't put added stress on your day as you may need to watch the whole program or programs and see what is involved in them. Regards Ed
I would have his ears checked. Whenever my 3 yr old wakes up crying in the middle of the night and can't tell us why it's almost always an ear infection. Even if he has no cold symptoms.
I think it's night terrors too. My nephew had them at this age and it was traumatic for my sister. She pretty much just had to wait it out until he grew out of them. My pediatrician at my 3 year old's checkup said they are common at this age. Good luck - this too shall pass!
these could be something called night terrors. My grand daughter had them when she was very young. You may want to talk to his dr and see if there is anything you can do. She did outgrow it. She'll be 10 next month and hasn't had them in over 5 years, so, if that is what this is, just hang in there, it should get better.
Hi Anne Marie,
My daughter did the same thing when she was 4 years old. Hers were night terrors. The difference is you cannot wake them or console them because they are still asleep. The stress of the move could be bringing them on or it could be age and stage. The main thing is for you to stay calm. We were eventually able to coax her back to sleep. Lots of SH SHing and soft talking.
I hope you find the answer you are looking for.
My daughter had them. She's now 4 1/2 and they have stopped. They too started when she was 3 and lasted less than a year. I talked to her pediatrician and he said they are night terrors which are really common at this age. My daughter was begging to sleep in our bed and I asked our pediatrician what I should do and he said absolutely not to let her sleep with us! He said a big part of a 3-year-old's development is to learn that they can be brave and independent. That they can have a bad dream and wake up and see where they are and console themselves back to sleep. He said they start to get the hang of it that they can take on the challenges of the world from small feats like that. He really didn't offer much advice on what to "do" about the terrors though. Just that they are normal and will hopefully outgrow them soon!
