Night Terrors - Omaha, NE

S. -

I hate night terrors! My 23 month old has been enduring them for weeks! They are harder on me then they are on him!

Everything I've read about night terrors is that they don't last long (my son's are about a minute)and that you should not wake them up. Just stand by and be prepared to comfort if they wake up. What I've read is that night terrors are very different from nightmares and that with night terrors kids don't wake up, but after the eposide they go back to a peaceful sleep and don't remember anything - I however live with the memory of the screams and thrashing...

If he's actually waking up screaming then you have a nightmare situation...I think you're on the right track with comforting him - it might help for him to have a security object in his crib with him too...

Best of luck to you!
K.

I actually have a great "cure" for night terrors! "Blow" them away. Seriously, put your lips together and blow air out, thus, blowing them away. Tell you child to help you, and have them blow with you. A child psycologist told me that something in the child's dream sequence associates with this technique. In their half-awake state, they will quite literally see whatever is frightening them blow away like in a wind storm. It also empowers your little one, so they don't feel quite so helpless and terrified. It's quite remarkable and really works!

Good luck!

My only thought is are you sure he is having terrors? You mention that you are picking him up and consoling him and giving him water. Could he be growing? It can be very painful. Also, our daughter did it because she was having health issues and when we changed her position and gave her water we were actually helping her stomach. She has G.E.R.D. and was in pain. Not trying to worry you but perhaps a quick trip to the pedi and observations during the day and when he wakes up to be sure he is just having terrors and that he truly feels ok. Good Luck.

My middle son went through that, what worked for us was to take him to the bathroom a sip of water and a hug and back to bed. Later after going through it a little more we started to give him lavender baths before bed and that helped a little also.

Hun my daughter went through the same thing at that age! My drs said that stress can trigger these terrors. See if you can pin-point where the stress is coming from and try to make bedtime a relaxing event. Lead into it about an hour before hand(bath, snack, reading, tv) anything that will relax him. When they do happen try to stay calm yourself, use a very low tone voice to let him know you are there & he is ok. He doesnt even know this is happening!
My daughter went through them for about six (scary) months but now hasn't had one in about 3 years!!! GOOD LUCK

There was a previous question about night terrors and I had had a website that I was given by my doc to talk more about them, but I can't find it now.

I know that generally, night terrors occur in the early to middle of the night, whereas nightmares occur earlier closer to wake up time when you're in REM/dream sleep. And that if you can console him, then it's probably not a night terror. Generally speaking, if their having a night terror, then you won't be able to soothe them back to quite. My doc said it's actually scarier for the person watching.

If you can find that earlier post, there were lots of good comments.

S.,

I know what you are going through. My two year old is having night terrors. He wakes up screaming at 11:00 and again at 11:15 or 11:30 every night. Then he sleeps soundly the rest of the night. I went through this with my 5 year old when he was 2 also. It is so frustrating, mostly because there is nothing you can do to help them. In my limited experience, it seems children grow out of them pretty quickly. Good luck!