Night Terrors.....Terrifing!

Courtney - posted on 10/30/2009

My son is 4 and still goes through this. It normally happens if we have had a busy day and was very tired. The one thing I was told was not to over stimulate him. Just observe and make sure she can't get hurt if she is moving around. I wanted to pick him up and rock him and that seemed to make it worse. I do tell him softly that mommys there and that eveything is ok. Hope this helps!

Jaimie - posted on 10/30/2009

My son had night terrors for many years. i couldn't even touch him or he would freak out even more, he would scratch himself screaming for me and look right at me but he was not all there. the doc told me to have his window cracked a little so the cool nights air could come in and it helped, but i also found that if he took night time medicine with MAOI's in it it made the night terror worse!!! she will eventually grow out of it, it's just scarey while it happens.. best of luck

Tam - posted on 10/30/2009

Some people are just prone to the "night" troubles. I have always been a sleep talker, walker, eater, and have never grown out of it.. people tell me about the sleep talking, and walking. I know I sleep eat because I wake up with a bowl next to my bed during times of high stress. I have also had night terrors, and nothing seems to calm me down when it occurs.. I am lucky to have an understanding spouse who tries to calm me down, however I must admit that nothing really calms me down besides time and waking up..When i was a child I had a night terror that my mom was beating me(she never did) so I screamed out what my dad got her for christmas. My dad vowed to never take me holiday shopping again since I told my mother she was getting a silver watch..I also sit straight up anytime a human enters my bedroom door. My daughter thought when she was little that I never slept because if she came in needing me I was already sitting up. Recently I had been lacking sleep and I slept walk during the day, my daughter was home and i was walking the house naked, completely unaware until she yelled at me really loud, what are you doing? I walked staright back to bed and fell back asleep.. Now they are afraid I will sleepwalk out of the house, and im an adult. My grandma always put screen door locks up really high on the doors to prevent me and her grandkids from escaping while asleep. Her biggest fear was one of us sleepwalking and geting hurt or freezing to death in the winter since the person is really unaware and usually fall back asleep in another place.. I think stress and sleep deprivation really feed the night problems.. When i feel safe and secure it does not seem to bother me as much.. I hope this was helpful. I have never found a remedy for the problem, i have just adjusted my life around it..I never use OFF so I dont think that is a culprit with me. It probably bothers you worse than it does your child. I did have a surgery recently and the anesthesia made me have terrors for a few weeks after that the doctor said was normal following anesthesia..good luck

Erin - posted on 10/30/2009

Yes, my son has them sometimes as well. It's awful to watch your child go through it, but apparently they are none the worse for it. My son never seems "off" the next morning, so I guess there is truth to it. But it's still awful...



What to do: I've found that it's best if I don't pick my son up; the night terrors seem to be over faster if I just let him lay in his bed. I usually rub his back, talk to him (e.g. "Mum's here, it's okay"), and wait it out. As for prevention, trying to keep to a routine as much as possible is good, since stress can be a trigger. I also do everything I can to make sure he gets enough rest, since being over-tired also triggers them.



Since your daughter is only 6 months old, you don't have to worry about sleep walking just yet, but apparently night terrors and sleep-walking are connected. So, we installed an extra lock on our front door, too high for my son to reach...just in case. We also keep a gate across his bedroom door (though he could probably climb over it now, he'll be 3 in February). Hang in there! :)

Sunni - posted on 10/30/2009

I do my oldest son had them til I discovered that he was reacting to the ingredents in OFF. Even if I bathed him he would still react to it at night. So I started using essential oils for mesquito repelant it worked. If he had been around OFF with other adults and kids I put lavender oil on his feet. just a drop and socks and it seemed to help a lot. I don't know if this is causing your child's but it fixed his. Good Luck.