Night Terrors - Vancouver,WA

Night terrors have nothing to do with what a person watches or sees. It's a sleep disorder that occurs during the transition of sleep cycles. A child having night terrors would start screaming, crying, be inconsolable, may fight you touching him/her, may appear to be awake but isn't truly awake. It's not at all like having a nightmare. The episode can be very scary to watch but generally doesn't harm the child unless he/she strikes out and hits something or scratches him/herself. The person having the terror won't remember anything about it once fully awake.

Hope that helps you some!

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You have already been giving some good advice....I just want to back up a few things! They are not caused by tramatic events or watching something scary. If they are truly night terrors, then your daughter will not remember them. DO NOT try to wake her....just let her work through it and be there to make sure she stays safe. It may be scary for you, but it isn't for her. (This was the advice given to me from my son's pediatrician when he had them). Also...I noticed they would happen more when my son had a super busy day or was overtired. Good Luck!

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It has NOTHING to do with watching tv.

Night-terrors, if you research it online, is a developmental based occurrence. It is NORMAL. Almost all kids go through it at a certain age... it has nothing to do with one child being better than the other, or smarter or not, or healthier or not, or problematic or not or naughty or not. It is a normal, phase they go through.

To get the full understanding of it, read about it online.

It is NOT the same as a "night mare." The two are very different.

Night Terrors do not traumatize the child... nor harm them, nor damage them. They really don't remember it.

All the best,
Susan

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You need to pray over their sleeping space and at bedtime. Place an open bible in the room and smudge if you know how (burn some sage to clear the room) My 9 year old son goes through this badly and even sees spirits...these things can help. Bless.

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Night terrors are most closely related to sleep walking then night mares. Your daughter should not remember a thing in the morning...if she does...it is NOT a sleep terror.

My daughter went through these when she was about 2 1/2. We eventually went to a pediatric sleep specialist...nobody in the family had slept in over 3 weeks and counting. The solution was so very simple for us. These terrors happen in stage 4 of sleep...should be around the same time of night if you put the kiddo to sleep around the same time of night. The specialist said that this is happening because they are not fully into rem when they get to stage 4, not quite asleep enough to be there. His solution was to arouse her while she is in stage 3, maybe an hour or so before the terrors usually happen. I would wake her to say I love you, try to get her to go potty, or just give her is little snuggle....the theory is ...that this will bring them back to stage 2 of rest, but not fully wake them....this stimulates the sleep cycle again, giving the child a little more time to get into stage 4 with enough sleep hormones to shut off that overactive little brain!

I thought it sounded crazy....wake the kid before it happens?? What? I knew that waking during it was a terrible idea... but I have to tell you...it REALLY worked for us. We continued to wake her a bit every night for about 3 weeks....alas no more night terrors. And by the way...they are also very congenital...my husband and most of his siblings had them.

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It's a sleep disorder, nothing to do with what they see/hear. My middle child had a few around the age of 2 and a half, and it was SCARY! Not at all a regular bad dream, she woke up shrieking, trembling, eyes wide open but she wasn't seeing me at all. Believe me if it happens, you will know! I held her/rocked her for several minutes before she went back to sleep, in the morning, she remembered none of it (thank God!)

Hi T.!
When my daughter had them, and doctor told us about possible cause, I did a research on this topic. First, we were not sure, and tried to give her Tylenol, tried to calm her down - but she used to become even more upset and loud. :( They say, night terrors happen quite often among children, and they have nothing to do with watching scary movies, or something similar. Supposedly it is some process that happens in the brain during sleep (usually first or second hour) which makes you "wake up" - well, not really even wake up... Anyone - children or adults - can get them. Usually person does not recall these episodes, but some do. Episodes appear and then suddenly go away. Like in my oldest daughter's case, when she was about 2, terrors lasted only a couple of weeks, maybe 4-5 episodes total, and not every night.Then everything was gone. Now she is 5, and terrors never came back. One of the possible reasons (although nobody knows for sure) could be being overtired, stress during the day, irregular bowel m., or late dinner. There is no specific treatment. But if it becomes VERY bothersome and frequent, and if you notice WHEN your daughter wakes up, how soon after going to bed, you may try to wake her up BEFORE that time, to interrupt her sleep cycle where night terror happens. The main thing during an episode of night terror is to stay calm, and if your child seems "out of it" and cries, don't get upset too much. She will go through it!!! Hope this helps. Sorry that you have to deal with it. Good luck!

They are basically VERY intense night mares.

My daughter had them from about 18months-2years old. She would wake up screaming and crying. She was completely inconsolable and any time my husband tried to tend to her, she would only scream harder. Sometimes she would let me hold her or sit with her, sometimes not. As hard as it was, sometimes it was best for us to just let her be. She would cry and scream for a little bit, but not as long as if we tried to wake her. Sometimes I could nurse her back down, but that was hit or miss. We do not believe in crying it out. My daughter is very verbal but when she was having night terrors, we couldn't understand anything she was trying to communicate. We talked with our ped about them and she assured us that while they're hard on the parent that kids don't remember them. I was skeptical of this until I tested it on my daughter and she really didn't remember them the next day. If you google night terrors, there's a fair bit of info about them online.

My daughter doesn't watch tv and we don't read her books with scary characters. From what we discovered, there's nothing in particular that causes them. We found with our daughter that it was normally 2-3 hours after she went to sleep that she would have them. She's been on a pretty consistent schedule so we don't feel like that was an issue. Our ped did suggest that kids who aren't getting enough sleep might be more prone to them.

T.,
I didn't read all of the post but the few I did read didn't offer how to help.
According to Marc Weissbluth, sleep researcher and author of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, the best thing you can do is to have a regular consistant bedtime. This means the same time every night of the week. All 3 of my older kids had night terrors. They are very deeply asleep and often they become more aggitated if you try and wake them. A night terror is not a nightmare. It is more like sleep walking. My daughter was never very upset, just seemed to be sleep walking but her brothers were frequently very aggitated. So the reaction varies tremendously from child to child. It helped my middle son to lie down in bed with me until he calmed down. His night terrors lasted until he was 14 or 15 because he did not sleep well for about 5 years due to an unrelated medical condition. Usually they only last a few years.
We were staying in a condo once while on vacation and my daughter had a night terror which I did not hear. In the morning, I found her asleep on the couch with the living room door ajar! Fortunatly, I had put the chain on the door or who knows where she would have gone. If you are a heavy sleeper, use a baby moniter turned up loud enough to hear any night time stirrings. To the best of my knowledge, they walk as if they are awake, we never had to worry about them falling down the stairs.
The very best thing that you can do is to make sure they are getting to bed at the same time every night- even on weekends. Yes, this is a pain in the butt and yes we didn't ever stay out late and they rarely went to sleep-overs. Practically every time that one of them stayed up late, the next night, they would have a night terror. Any kind of disruption to their regular schedule from vacations to being sick would cause a night terror. They almost always occur 2-3 hours after they go to bed as this is one of the times that they are in their deepest sleep cycle.
In case you are concerned, night terrors have absolutely nothing to do with stress, they are simply a sleep issue.
My kids have never remembered any of their night terrors, even when they have a coherent conversation, which ocassionally happens.
B.

When my son had Night Terrors as a baby the doctor told me it was equivalent to Sleep Walking. I was told that even though his eyes were open and he was screaming I was not to pick him up until he was truly awake (same as sleepwalkers). The Doc said he would not remember the sleep terrors.

My son has had night terrors since he was about 9 months old, he is 23 months now. The first time it happened we were out of town and it was the scariest thing. He basically screams, cries, and flails around, but does not appear to be awake (cause he is not). His cry is different so I know when he is upset and when it's a night terror. I have never linked his night terrors to trauma or nervous system development. He has them from sheer exhaustion. When we have been unusually busy and off his nap schedule I can expect them. I just sit next to him on his bed till he calms down. He doesn't remember them at all. My understanding is they are pretty harmless, at least in our case they are.

Night Terrors are very normal and common for children during stages of development. They have nothing to do with bad things or watching scary shows or experiencing scary things.
They are very scary for adults, but children never remember them. It is not a nightmare and the child will not be tramatized. It has to do with development, you can research it online. My daughter had them a few times and they were always around the time she hit major milestones, like walking, etc.
Your child may appear to be awake and freaking out(crying, failing, screaming) but in fact they are very much asleep. They are inconsolable. Best thing you can do it just make sure they are safe and let it ride out. Some last a few minutes, some up to a half hour.

You will certainly know if your child has night terrors - they are unforgettable! My son (almost 5 years old) has gotten them regularly since he was less than a year old. They happen about 30 mins to 90 mins after he falls asleep. He starts screaming and sobbing - calling for mommy and daddy. Sometimes he sleepwalks during these, and he always appears to be awake - sitting up or standing, eyes open. Even though he appears to be awake, he is in a sleep state and it is impossible to wake him up. Attempting to do so usually makes it worse, so we just gently encourage him to lay back down and close his eyes. These used to last a long time but over the years it has gotten easier to get him to settle down and go back to sleep, they usually last 5 mins or less.

Funny enough - he just had one as I was typing this response - the fourth time in 7 days. That's a lot, even for him.

My daughter suffers through these, and we were told that they are usually due to being overtired (not from TV or whatever). In her case, they are due to PTSD. In any case, they are different from nightmares or bad dreams, and sometimes have no cause at all.

In a night terror, people don't wake fully, and they come to partial consciousness they can be moaning or screaming. Then they usually settle back into sleep.

Look them up on Wikipedia to get a good explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror

I think night terrors are caused by stress or attack on the nervous system, from heavy metal poisoning, or severe infection, fungal, bacterial, parasital.
Possible nutrition deficiencies are in play as well.
Look these up online.

Hi T.,
My 4 year old also occaisionally has a night terror. She is not a good sleeper and a night terror typically occurs after approximately a 3-4 week period of nights filled with little sleep. They occurr about 30-45 minutes after she falls asleep. I've been told that this is when she is in Stage 4 sleep. I discussed these terrors at length with her ped and he assured me that they are not anything like a nightmare and are not caused by watching or seeing anything scary or by any event that has occurred. He did mention that they can be caused lack of sleep or by certain medications. Here is a pretty comprehensive site that might help explain night terrors further. Best wishes!
http://www.nightterrors.org/mot.htm

Waking up very scared, not just I'm sad scared, some kids scream & can't calm down easily. My friend's son had these & she used homeopathy to help him & they went away within 2 days.

Even being protective about what they watch, they still pick up things here and there that can turn into a scary dream. Even seemingly innocent things from books or cartoons can morph into something scary while asleep. Even Finding Nemo and things like that have "menacing" parts (sharks anyone?). Night terrors are perfectly normal and will usually pass as time goes on. My daughter has them once or twice a week and I just go in, turn on the light and gently try to wake her. Sometimes it takes 5 or 10 minutes for her to finally respond and settle down, then I give her some milk and she goes back to sleep. I find it helps to talk to her about it once she wakes up, we call them "sleep stories", just so she can begin to understand what dreams are and that they are not real (she's 2).

Even when we shield our children from the media and the scary things it shows, life still has its scary elements for children: a dog barking at them, not knowing where mommy is for a few seconds, a crash of thunder, a fall from a bike. Our children are so small and the world is so BIG! They are bound to have fears no matter how much we try to protect them. Luckily, children know just how to shed those fears, by crying and trembling or shaking. This process is very healing when they have a supportive adult listening to them and offering love and confidence. Here's an article on Nightmares and Night Terrors and another on Helping Children Conquer their Fears, that talks more about this. Hope you find it helpful!

http://www.handinhandparenting.org/news/165/64/Nightmares...

http://www.handinhandparenting.org/news/45/64/Helping-Chi...

My son had night terrors when he was little. They are like waking nightmares...where the person is asleep, but they look awake and are stuck in their nightmare. It isn't fun to watch, but should this happen, my son's pediatrician informed me NOT to touch him and use my 'soothing' voice to comfort him. It was hard, but eventually it went away on it's own. I hear ya about being protective of what your children watch. I'm the same way, so when he started getting these, I didn't know what could've jump started it. Is there any new changed in your life that she's around? Sometimes that could do it. Hopefully this helps. *hug* Good luck! :D