Baby Nightmares - Beverly Hills,CA

Is she really awake when she's screaming? If not, it could be night terrors. My son used to get these on days when he was especially active and/or didn't nap enough. "They" say that you shouldn't wake up babies/children who are having night terrors, but that was the only way we could get him to stop screaming. We would just hold and rock him, and he would usually go back to sleep after a few minutes.

If it's not night terrors or nightmares, it could be teething. Or she may be about to hit a developmental milestone. I remember going through a definite sleep regression at eight months.

Good luck!

Hi C.,

I know what you're going through and I agree with Cai. The only way I could snap all three of my kids out of that kind of crying fit in the middle of the night was to carry them into the hall or even living room where there was a little more light. At first, we were afraid that they wouldn't go back to sleep afterward being taken into a lighted room, but they are so sleepy that they do. It was actually easier to put them back to sleep then because they had calmed down. Good luck! It won't last forever!

My son experienced what are referred to as night terrors (first time was when he was 14 months old). The first time it happened I had NO idea what he was going thru and nearly took him to the hospital after an hour or screaming and crying. It was so scary for me. After talking to my other mommy friends they suggested that he may be experiencing night terrors. Please look it up and see if it sounds familiar as they are different from nightmares and need to be treated differently. I hope that you and your little girl find a solution that is right for you both ASAP!!

Sounds like Night Terrors. Type it in on Google & you'll see how it sounds very similar to what your baby is experiencing.

My daughter started having nightmares at about the same age. The quickest way to end the nightmare and get back to sleep was to wake her up. I picked her up, walked her into the living room where there was a bit more light and patted her back, saying, "It's over, it's over, it's over," like a mantra until she was calm again. Only after she was fully awake and out of the dream did I try to get her back to sleep. I do think the dreams were related to teething pain because it doesn't seem to happen now that she has all of her teeth. In some ways those dreams were the easiest night wakings to deal with because the cry was so clearly an urgent, terror cry that I felt no resentment at having to wake up to calm her. It put me into a much more instinctual, rescue, animal-mama mode. You might try Hyland's teething tablets before bed while she is going through this phase and see if that helps. Best of luck, and hopefully, sweet dreams!

Hi I feel for you and your husband. I have 2 year old b/g twins and we went through that with our daughter. When she was younger she would do the same thing. It would happen about three times a week. The Dr. said they were night terrors and the best thing to do was to let them lay there and cry it out.That was too hard we couldnt do that so we would hold her also and go the same reaction as the two of you. The only advice I have is that they really do grow out of it . Sorry to say it didnt happen till about 1 year of age but now it may happen once every few months. I wish I could of been more helpful, but know youre not alone.

This happened a couple of times and we read her books to get her into a different frame of mind before putting her down again.