night terrors

Beth - posted on 11/14/2009

my daughter is the same age, and every month of so she has 2 -3 nights of doing this. she cries and screams like she's being killed, but doesn't seem "awake" and is impossible to console...we take her from her crib and pull he into bed and when she stops crying, she isn't awake, she falls asleep like she'd never been awake, and we put her back in bed, like it never happend. my doc said it was sleep terrors, just from the brain developing so fast, it can do weird things

Melissa - posted on 11/14/2009

My son went through a very similar situation starting at age 9 months until recently. He would wake up in during the night screaming and want us to pick him up, but then when we would he would want down and act like he was scared of us. He acted completely out of it and like he didnt even know us. This went on several times a week and we just didnt know what to do honestly. At that point he had been sleeping through the for months and in his own crib. Usually after 10-20 minutes he would calm down and go back to sleep. Some nights this would happen more often. We finally called the Peds office and got right in. They said he had night terrors and didnt really give much reason of why this happens and was occuring. I was telling my mom this and she said that I also did the same thing as an infant and even often as I got older, often not remembering what occured in the night. I know this wasnt much help but it might be reassuring that it is happening to others. Sorry that you are going through this. My son hasnt done this in a few weeks, so many she will grow out of it. Dont hestitate to ask your pediatrian if it keeps happening.

Rebecca - posted on 11/13/2009

yes, they can start that early. My brother had night terrors for 2 years and it was terrible. I slept in the same room as him as a child so I remember the endless nights. I feel for you. I would talk to your doctor about it. Ask his/her opinion about the healthiest way to approach night terrors but I wouldn't let her just scream for hours. I do agree that you should lay her back down and walk away. Do it again and again. It will be exhausting, but eventually, it will work. Also, do not pick her up. My daughter went through a phase like that, but it turned out that she was cutting molars, and we would go in there, lay her back down, cover her up, (NOT SPEAK TO HER) and leave. She got used to that really fast and soothed herself to sleep.

Sarah - posted on 11/12/2009

My partner had very bad night terrors when he was little. Apparently you should not wake them during one, thats what the dr said anyway. :)

MaryBeth - posted on 11/09/2009

my son is 16 months now and he has night terrors about as much as your daughter i let him cry it out normally he isnt even awake until i go in there and wake him up and that just seems to make it worse i also leave a sippy of water in his crib at night so he has something to help comfort him because he doesnt want me.

Sara - posted on 11/09/2009

night terrors are a lot different than nightmares. If she seems incoherent and doesn't realize you are there while you're trying to put her back to bed, it's probably night TERRORS. However, if she knows your there, she probably just had a bad dream. Night terrors can start as early as 9 months..there really isn't a whole lot that can be done, it's best to just let them cry. Nightmares are a different story, give lots of hugs tell her she'll be ok and if you normally close her door at night, leave it open. But number one thing to remember? Don't stay in the room with her until she falls back asleep! That's a hard habit to break!