Night Terrors - Langhorne,PA

It's scary...my son is a little over 2 and he has them also. He thrashes around his bed, but he's still sleeping. what I do (and I'm not sure if this is really right or not) is I rub his back and talk real quietly in his ear to calm him down. Sometimes this does the trick and other times, I have to pick him up and just rub his back and rock him a bit. He never wakes up, but it's like doing that snaps him out of whatever he was dreaming and lets him go back to sleep. I never knew if you were supposed to wake them up or not, so that's what I've done. it seems to do the trick! Good luck!

One of our twin boys went through a night crying jag at about the same age (luckily his brother seemed to not be too bothered by the screaming kid a few feet away from him). At first I tried to calm him, but that seemed to create a nightly habit. He'd wake up screaming at some time between midnight and 2:00 AM. After a few nights of letting him soothe himself back to sleep (very tough to do, I'll be the first to admit), he went back to sleeping through the night. We assume that it was based on some congestion from a minor cold he had, a few new teeth (the molars seem to take forever to come in) and just being "high maintenance". Unless there is something else concerning you, take hope that this too will pass :)

Hi J.,

My son went through night terrors. My son started them around that same age as your son and they lasted off and on for a little over a year. UGH, I understand the frustration and pain you feel during this. The main thing I found that set his off was if he was overheated. Once I discovered that (it took a while), I made sure that he did not sleep with socks on or too many blankets. Another thing I did that helped during one was that I would put his feet in cold water or put a cold washclothes over his feet.

Good luck,
L.

All three of my daughters have gone through night terrors, so I've done a fair amount of reading about them. With a night terror, the child usually appears awake (eyes open), but is really sort of stuck in one of the normal wake/sleep transitions that happens normally throughout the night. Usually they happen in the first three hours of sleep, and often they involve intense screaming, and frequently thrashing/kicking, etc. They may look right at you, but don't really see you. They do not remember them in the morning. (Just for comparisons, nightmares usually happen later in the night, the child is more asleep, and they often remember after waking or the next day.)

In many cases, night terrors are caused be a child being overtired. I know with all of my girls we saw/see the most night terrors when they go from 2 naps to 1 and when they give up napping all together. So you do want to make sure your son is getting as much sleep (and on a regular schedule) as he needs. Obviously there will be times like the nap transitions or illness where you can't help them getting a little overtired, but just do your best.

It seems that what works best depends on the child, but you do not want to wake them. It seems from the other responses that some kids do like to be held, but that always seemed to freak mine out more (again, unlike with nightmares). One of mine would respond well to you calming and quietly repeating, "It's OK, it's OK" over and over. For the others we sometimes just had/have to put them on the carpet so they didn't get hurt with the thrashing around. With one of mine, while I didn't physically wake her, when she would start winding down I would calmly say, "(her name), mommy needs you to wake up now" and that would sometimes help her come to. Generally the stop very suddenly, and then you can just tuck them back in and they go soundly to sleep.

For what it's worth, I do not think the time your son cried right when you put him in the crib was a night terror - more likely related to the cold or a possible ear infection, so I would check with the doc if that continues. A good book for sleep reference is Jodi Mindell's "Sleeping Through the Night" - it does have a sleep training component, which you may or may not agree with, but it also has some really good info to help understand sleep and sleep problems more.

Good luck!

there are two different "remedies" that my pediatrician and mother in law (who's been a nurse for over 20 years) suggest - these also can work for croup

1. if its cool enough (wont work in july) probably now it will start working - take them outside - straight from crib to outside - the cold should "jolt" them from them if they are indeed night terrors - if they are nightmares then you should be able to wake them no trouble in side - another thing aboutnight terrors to remember is ALOT of the time they will come out of them but not fully wake up - just sort of go back to a "normal" sleep pattern without being awake - they also will most likely not remember it in the am.

2. (this is great for croup - and night time stuffyness) when they wake - even if its not fully like mentioned earlier - then immediately start a HOT shower - dont turn on the fan - let the steam start to fill the bathroom - and then take your child into the shower with you - you dont even need to be actually under the water - if you are in the shower stall with the curtain pulled and the steam going (you can keep the lights off) it can clear their croup/stuffyness up - along with get them calmed down from night terrors.

another thing to do in conjunction with everything else - is start to keep a bedtime diary - there may be something triggering this that you can pinpoint - and it may not be anything you changed either - my daughter - now 8 - had them when she was little and just moving her crib further away from heating duct helped - things liek that

hopefully that helps - let us know how it works out.

S. w.

Have you tried burning a night light for him? Sometimes boys go through this at about your son's age, although I have no idea why.

My son had night terrors as well, for a while, and we solved the problem by burning a night light for him, and also by having the sort of baby monitor in his room that allowed me to both hear him, and talk to him, without having to actually go in there. Between tht two, he seemed to understand that we were near, and that he was safe and not alone.

Also, since he is sick right now, you might want to consider offering him his paciifier back during the overnight hours. He may find it very comforting, just until he begins to feel better.

Hi Leslie
My son did the same thing. Its very nervewrecking because it doesn't feel logical that we cannot really do anything for them. I would just want to pick him up and hold him but that didn't work at all. You kind of just have to let it ride out. One thing I am pretty sure was connected to at least some of them was being off his schedule. For example: getting home late where he would fall asleep in the car and then be transferred to bed always seemed to set him off.

Good luck...my son is 4 now and hasn't had one in a while.

If he had a cold, he might have an ear infection, you should get that checked out. If the night time screaming isn't related to the cold, then it may be night terrors.
Do you notice any kind of pattern? What happened during the day? Was he overly tired? Did something traumatic happen? I don't know if you let them watch tv or dvd's, but you might want to not let them right before bed. Something he is seeing or hearing may be frightening or merely over stimulating. Also don't give him food to close to bed time or play very active games.

My oldest dd had them. She also walked in her sleep. The only thing that would comfort her was to hold her until she calmed down. She didn't seem to be awake fully, and never remembered anything the next morning. She out grew the night terrors quickly, but still continued to walk in her sleep until a few years ago. She is now 17 years old. She never remembered the sleep walking the next day either, but sometimes she would wake up in the living room and wonder how she got there. Thankfully she never left the house while sleep walking.

I have some advice on this that I don't think I saw in any of the responses. My daughter had night terrors every night for several months. After a visit with the doctor, he recommended waking her up about an hour after she falls asleep to break the cycle. Since night terrors occur in those first few hours of sleep, this really helped. I just gently woke her about an hour after she fell asleep and let her drift back to sleep. Worked like a charm.

Night terrors often start at least one hour after falling asleep. Family members may have a history of sleepwalking. The affected child "awakens" hysterical and cannot be comforted. Often they do not seem to recognize or be comforted by a parent. If your son started crying as soon as you put him in the crib, it probably wasn't night terrors.

For the cold, elevate the end of his crib where his head is. Either the entire crib or just the mattress (a phone book under the mattress is supposed to work well). That will help a little with the congestion. Also, a humidifier and a little vapor rub (the Johnson and Johnson or Baby Vicks have worked well for our kids). Our family home remedy for the cold is an onion broth. Fill a pot with water and one peeled onion. Heat to boiling and boil until the onion is soft. Cool the broth. Toss the onion or use for another recipe. Give your child the cool broth with a little sugar to sweeten to drink. The onion broth helps to break up the congestion. (This is probably mostly things you know being a nurse but they are the things that help at our house.)

As for the night terrors... I know what you are going through. We are dealing with this now with our 13 month old and one of my best friends went through this a couple of years ago with her then 2 1/2 year old. The doctors told her to make sure they are someplace safe where they cannot hurt themselves or get hurt. You can try holding them and soothing them but sometimes you just have to put them down in a safe place. The reason for this is that they don't recognize you. They may have their eyes open and seem like they are awake and could still be asleep. When that happens, they are not seeing you. There wasn't a whole lot that they said you could do during the night terrors. They had her look at her schedule. They wanted to make sure she was taking her nap during the day and eating healthy on a schedule. They also had her move back her bedtime a little. They had told her that being overtired or not eating right could set off the night terrors. My sons are not bad most of the time but seem to be worse when we are off our schedule (like when we go visit Grandma and Pap on the weekend). I used to babysit for my friend, though, and her daughter would even occasionally have them during nap time.

Make sure you discuss it with you doctor. Perhaps he/she may have some further insight on what you can do.

Anyhow, I hope this helps. Good luck with your little ones.

if he is stuffy i would make sure to have a cool mist humidifier or one of the plug in things to help with congestion. another thing you may want to do is give him a bath before he goes to bed. this may help relax him and help with his congestion. may be he is getting teeth? i know this is usually the only time my son wakes up screaming if he is getting teeth or may be having growing pains. i know it is hard when they can not communicate with us.

Don't forget the 45 minute friend! (screaming 45 minutes after he goes to sleep) Many kids have this, my daughter had it, and now my 9 month old son is doing it. Let him self sooth, or he may develop a habit of crying more. This will pass!

Oh those night terrors! My daughter, now 3 had them frequently at that age. You have to just let them work thru it on their own. They are not awake and comforting them won't help. My daughter thrashed about so much I just had to make sure she did not fall off the bed. It was about a hour after she fell asleep. They became less and less frequent over time until they were gone. We did just have an episode when she was sick about a month ago. But I can't remember when the last one before that one was. They have to be in a sound sleep before it starts so it just sounds like your child is either uncomfortable or just wants a little "i'm sick" extra attention. When my daughter was so stuffed it inhibited her sleep my doctor told me to give her benedryl to reduce the conjestion. And a humidifier. It worked wonders. Saline nasal spray can also relieve their nose. Good luck!

My brother-in-law suffers from night terrors. He actually has a website to help people understand what night terrors are about. The website is http://www.nightterrors.org/. My father-in-law also suffers from night terrors as well. They may be inherited. I hope this helps. Good luck. Take care. G. Richards

Hi J.~ My daughter had night terrors. They are not fun. Try and watch their diet. I know cinnamin use to set my daughter off terrible. I have heard that red juice can do it too.. Plus the basics chocolate etc. Check with your ped. My office let me know of all the major foods that set it off and we figures out the graham crackers were the enemy. Good luck!

Jaime,

My son, also 2, has had night terrors for about a year now. He gets them on and off. He actually had one last night. If your son is having night terrors than simply comforting him will calm him down. You don't want to try and wake him, that will scare him even more. I usually pick up my son and hold him for a few seconds and then he stops screaming. My son's pediatrician said most night terrors are caused because my son is overly tired or overly stimulated during the day. I have realized that when the night terrors occur he has either missed a nap or has been extremely active and excited. After my mother-in-law left to go back to IN my son had night terrors for about a week. Make sure he gets naps and enough sleep. My ped. did say the worst thing you can do is wake a child during a night terror. Good Luck!!