Night Terrors - Frederick, MD

my son also had these and the ONLY thing that we found to help was to pick him up & gently tell him that Mamma/Pappa is here & we are going "home", or "You are safe. Let's go home."

This subconscious reminder that he is safe & is going to a safe place was enough to settle him down & he would almost always immediately go limp & fall into a deep sleep.

I hope this helps. - L.

My son is now almost 2 1/2. He started night terrors around 18mo. or so. By that time we were transitioning him into a big boy bed, however we were scared he'd fall out of bed, so we just had a twin matress on the floor. Anyways, what helped and still helps (he has a twin bunk bed (sleeps on lower)) is if we lay down with him and tell him "It's OK, Mommy and Daddy are right here." Anything that will comfort them. Though we did have some bad nights where we would end up putting him in bed with me (hubby works nights so it's not so bad). He has finally, slowly but surely, growing out of them. He has them about 1 to 2 x's a week now. She will eventually grow out of them, but it will be okay. I hope this helps you out.

Christa,
I'm sorry to hear about your little girl's night terrors or whatever is happening to her at night. My son has gone through these many times. They may last a week or so and then are gone for many months. He is three now and we haven't had any since January. They are terrifying to listen to and so sad when you can tell they are totally disoriented and not responsive to you.

I got information from "The Baby Whisperer Solves all Your Problems" book. She has a chart that tells the difference between nightmares and night terrors. Below is verbatim what is said reg. night terrors. I hope it is helpful. Hang in there.
K.

Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems
Night Terrors:

What is it?
Called a "confusion arousal" in toddlers (a true night terror
happens in adolescence and is rare) it, like sleepwalking, is a physiological experience. Instead of making the normal transition from deep sleep to REM the child gets caught between the two stages. His body is active but his mind is not.

When does it happen?
Usually in the first 2-3 hours of sleep- the first third of the night

What does it sound and look like?
Begins with a high pitched scream. Child's eyes open, his body is rigid and possibly in a cold sweat, and his face might be flushed. he may not recognize you when you come to him and won't remember anything about it later on.

What to do when it happens?
Don't wake him; it will only prolong the episode, which typically lasts about 10 min. (it could also be as short as 1 min or as long as 40) This is more upsetting to you than to him, so try to relax yourself and ride it out by offering only verbal reassurance. Protect him from banging into furniture.

How do you prevent future episodes?
Try to keep his routine consistent, and avoid letting your child get overtired. If these episodes occur frequently, or if a tendency toward sleepwalking runs in your family you might want to talk to your pediatrician or consult a sleep specialist.

Stick with response from kerry k and the baby whisperer. Night terrors are completely different than nightmares. My first daughter experienced them. She never remembered anything happening to her at all. The hardest part is not doing anything and letting it run its course. We had to move our daughter from her room because she shared it with her little sister and she was loud. once we made that move we just left her in our bed and talked to her to remind her that we were there. Any effort to touch her or get her to talk to us was fruitless and would often make things worse. They will pass.. just keep her safe during the episode. Good luck!

My son started night terrors at an early age. Every doctor and book told us the same thing, "he will grow out of them". My son is now 13 and if he is feeling unusually stressed he will still have a mild version of a night terror. Through out age 4 to 7 was the worst.(although thats when his father and i were separating)His normal terror would wake us up with him screaming, he was very hard to wake and we learned it was easier to coax him back to calm sleep by singing to him then it was to try and wake him. As he got older he would sleep walk as well. I would wake to him "trying" to find the bathroom. My son seemed to process things inside and wasnt someone who showed alot of emotion on the surface. My advise would be to not worry. Respond in a soothing way to the night terror. DOnt try to wake the child. Dont take it personally.
As she grows up talk about her feelings with her, what stresses her. My son never remembered ANY of his episodes and it only seemed to frustrate him more as we tried to help him though it. One advise I would avoid, someone advised waking him halfway through the night, this only resulted in a sleepy nervous child. I hope this helps.

Christa,

There is nothing you can do! My daughter had them regularly from about 18 months to almost 2 1/2. She will be 3 in November. If you look up night terrors on the internet, you will learn that you just have to let them go through it. Even her pediatrician was no help at all. Night terrors usually occured when she was over-tired, which is a trigger. When the spells ends, they just go back to sleep, with no memory of the event. If she has a nightmare, she will awake frightened, and want you to console her. She will eventually outgrow it.

S.

My husband has these(diagnosed by his dr.) and as a matter of fact had one a few minutes ago. It's no big deal to me anymore I'm used to it. My husband has learned how to make himself snap out of it by heading for the bathroom and turning the light on. Sometimes he snaps out before he gets there or while he's still in bed. Most of the time from what I can gather is someone is trying to get him. I know it doesn't sound like it but he's actually had some hilarious episodes that he will never live down. He doesn't do anything dangerous, but when he was younger his roommate found him climbing outside his bedroom window that luckily was on the 1st floor.

As for my son who is 3, he does a similar version of this sometimes as well. He doesn't talk during it and won't tell us what's wrong. He will wake up and be crying horribly. I know I've heard your not supposed to wake them up but I don't know why. So we just hold him if he lets us or take him into our room and put on a cartoon he likes to watch and make sure we have his sippy there or maybe a favorite toy. Now I know you might think that's alot to be doing in the middle of the night but it works for us. It gets him to come out of it on his own and slowly.

Could it be something outside her window that is waking her up at that time? Like are the neighbors slaming their car door when they get home or is someone letting their dog outside and it's barking? Maybe try one of those sound machines to drown out other noises in the house. We have one and I love it.

And I think you will find this is pretty common too in young children and may not necessarily be considered a night terror maybe just a nightmare.

My son had them when he was not quite a year old. It was a result of what was going on with him at the babysitter's. Until I figured out what it was, he slept with me. Once we changed babysitters, I literally had to hold him down in his crib and let him scream himself to sleep but once he was asleep, he slept through the night again.

You might want to investigate what is happening to her during the day.

Hi Christa, I'm sorry to hear about the night terrors. My mother used to have these and I did too for a little while. With me, it felt like someone was either trying to hold me down and I couldn't get away or someone was chasing me. But it was like the person was scary to me. Never saw a face but felt the pressure of being held down or running. Sometimes it seems like a presence is there. You can feel it but won't see it. I don't have anymore of these night terrors anymore. One of the things that works is if you read the Bible before going to bed with your daughter or with her being so young, have her pray that children's bedtime prayer..."Now I lay me down to sleep..." Then place a Bible on her night stand and keep it open to Psalm 27. One of the things that I used to do as an adult was say the name "Jesus" and the weight or the presence went away. Please keep us updated. I'd like to hear how this works. May GOD bless you!

What is happening during the day that could be giving your child nightmares? Children have active imaginations so things that are not scary to adults are very scary to kids. AF