Nightmares?

I remember my son doing the same thing. He did it on 2 seperate nights and let me tell you he woke up screaming and shaking to the point where I couldnt calm him down and I was so scared I almost called 911. About a week later we noticed his first teeth poking through. To this day we think his teeth were bothering him but we will never know for sure. Does your son have teeth yet? Maybe try some motrin before he goes to bed and see if that helps. If they are nightmares hopefully it stops for you but all I can think of is to just get up with him if he is scared and hopefully they will stop. Good luck

Babies that young can get both nightmares and night terrors which are different. I would look in your baby book, whatever you are using for info on your child's ages and stages and they should talk about the difference. The "terrors" are scarier because the child seems totally out of it and doesn't even recognize you. They don't fully wake up when you go to them and it is just strange. My child had some of each. I also had nightmares my entire life so I get it. Your child is probably going to be the highly imaginative type who visualizes easily and may be a bit more sensitive then your average person. He may be experiencing some extra stress and this is how his little mind is processing it. Keep in mind that stress for a baby that age could be anything from changes in his environment to sickness or teething or just the pangs of growth and development. Also if you are stressed out he may be picking up on that. Just keep calm and sooth him and help him feel safe. If is is a night terror don't try to wake him up. Help him feel safe and put him back to sleep. (I got mine over his by putting him to bed with me and they quickly disappeared...I was getting zero sleep and he needed the security. That may not work for you but it might help if you are willing to go that route.) Best of luck.

I agree with the person who told you about night terrors vs. nightmares. My oldest had night terrors - generally, you can't comfort your child when he/she has terrors - they appear to be awake, but they are frantic. It's super hard as a parent to not be able to comfort your child.

I recommend that you jot down details and call your doctor. Could be nightmares, emerging tooth, gas or something else. Keep asking if the answer doesn't seem right and this continues. Good luck!

Hi V.. It's so hard to really know what's going on, since he can't talk yet. Nightmares don't typically start until close to age 3. That's when children start to "fear" things...and their imaginations take over from there! As for night terrors, I'm attaching the information I have learned from my own research. My daughter had episodic night terrors when she changed rooms at 14 months old. But since your son is waking like this every hour to two hours, I would speak to your Pediatrician and rule-out phyiscal issues (teething, acid reflux, etc.) That seems too frequent to be night terrors...but you never know.

The difference between a night terror and a nightmare is that a Night Terror only happens during non-REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. We do not dream during non-REM sleep (it's our "deep sleep"), so a child having a night terror is NOT dreaming. Research indicates that Night Terrors happen during the first third to half of the night, when the majority of non-REM sleep is occurring.

Since you can't really tell if a child is in REM or non-REM sleep, you'll have to just judge his behavior. Personally, I think it sounds like a night terror. Since he is not dreaming during a Night Terror, there will be no memory of the event from the child -- he is in deep sleep. The only person who is scared during the Night Terror is the person/people watching the child have the event!

Even though it is very unnerving to see your child in such a bizarre state, there is nothing dangerous about Night Terrors and there is nothing you can do about it (except make sure that your child doesn't accidentally hurt himself by falling down the stairs or things like that). If it really is a Night Terror (and not a bad dream), he is deeply asleep...even though his eyes are open and he is moving/walking around. I was told to NOT try to wake the child. Just let the event end on it's own and your son will go back to sleep.

I hope this helps in some way. Don't be overly frightened. We went ahead and picked-up our daughter and held her, but she seemed to be okay with it. However...it didn't make a difference for her -- the Terror continued until it was done.

Your baby is having what is called "Night Terrors" I have 4 children and only my 3rd child had these. He would really be asleep when he was screaming but his eyes were often open too....we would have to wake him up before he could calm down. I would just go into his room and hold him tight till he finally woke up. I have had friends whose kids have had these too....it is very common. My son grew out of them by the time he was 4. He didn't have them every night. I don't know if it worked but to try and avoid him having them I tried to make sure he got to bed on time and was getting enough sleep. Your baby is normal...my son who had them is an awesome, gifted student. He's 14 now.

They could be what my pediatrician calls "Night Terrors" and they are very common. My son has them on occasion and his cry is as you described, not the normal "needs something" cry. As a matter of fact, we can tell he is screaming but not awake, so we actually have to try to wake him up before we can soothe him back to sleep. Im not sure why they happen, but I have asked other family members if this has happened to their kids, and some yes some no. My doctor says there is nothing you can really do to prevent them, and that in time they usually stop. Ask your doctor at the next check-up and google it for some more info.

Hope this helps.

Do you think it may be new teeth coming in? Both my boys started to teeth at 4 months. There were times I felt the teeth woke them up at night.
Another thought is that he could be overtired. If he is sleeping around 3 hrs a day, he should be sleeping 12 hours at night. If nothing else works, try putting him to bed around 7:00. I follow Dr Weissbluth and his rule of thumb for bedtime is between 5 and 8 pm.

Hi V., Everyone keeps saying "Night Terrors" which Iam not saying everyone is wrong in anyway at all. And yes they do happen to children of all ages and it may be what is wrong with your son. And to other moms if this is what is going on with your child/children may I suggust a lavendar candle or spray. Anything lavender helps your child relax. We use this in our family and works very well. My sister used this for 5+ years on her son! But for you V., your son also might be having growing pains. Which if this is the case, pick up your son to get him to stop crying and put him back down in his crib and put some lotion on your hands and rub his legs/arms and see if this helps him go back to sleep. Dont let him fall back to sleep in your arms. Just pick him up long enough to stop the "screaming". If he stops crying to the rubbing of the legs/arms, then you know it is growing pains. Good Luck.

Hi V.,
I have 2 girls, my oldest did this really bad, for quite sometime. Everyone told me it was night-terrors. I would go in her room, even when she got older-around 3.5 and she would be awake, but not really awake, it was like she was looking right through me, and she would be franticly crying/screaming. It was a scary feeling for me as well. I would just hold her, and finally she would be ok. She no longer does this, she is 5 now. I don't remember the exact time she stopped, but it seemed like forever when we were going through it. :(
I don't really have any advice for you, just wanted to share my experience with you, and let you know your not alone. (although it's over for me now) I know what you are going through.
Good luck,just rememeber this to shall pass....

Blessings,
J.

I think I would see the doctor about this. It may be something inside him that is waking him up. i mean physically.

S.

I have two girls and a boy and my boy gets these. I've asked doctors and multiple friends and they are very normal. Not all kids get them, but some do. My doctor said that they are not anything to worry about and they will grow out of them. My son had them when he was tiny, like 9 month or so. He still has them occasionally and he just turned two this week. My friends that I have talked to all said that their doctors said they are normal too. I just hold him tight until he stops shaking or crying and then he will go back to sleep. At first they terribied me. I thought he was having a seizure or something, but he is a totally healthy and smart and normal little boy. But if you want more I thought the advice about google-ing night terrors was a good idea. Hope that helps a little.

It is reflux burning call your dr

V.,
I honestly don't think that 9 month old babies have "nightmares" in the same sense that a toddler might have a nightmare. I have a 3 yr old & an 10 month old & when my baby is screaming in the middle of the night (hysterical scary crying) it always turns out to be a new tooth. Good luck.

V., I don't think anyone could document that an infant has nightmares. It is much more likely I think that he is having seperation anxiety. He has the ability to know now that when he cries he expects you to come in and he can also be very persistent. Perhaps he is teething and has a spontaneous gum pain or an ear infection?? If he medically checks out. he needs a consistent behavioral approach by you to this sleep disruption. I would go in after 5 minutes (watch the clock because it goes slow!). If he is screaming then just go in and pick him up and calm him down(for a minute or two) then leave while he is awake. Keep repeating this cycle. He will eventually give in and figure out you are going to be there but he needs to sleep alone. You are just sleep training and it is tough. I remember. I has one kid who slept easily and another who didnt. They are 26 and 23 and the 23 yo still has trouble sleeping!! I don't think you