2 year old wakes up With Severe Night terror's

Shannon - posted on 05/28/2011

One of my daughters has had night terrors (3-5 times a night) since she was about 18 months. At first we thought it was an adjustment thing as she had moved out of a crib and into a toddler bed, but moving her back into a crib didn't help and she actually ended up hurting herself from thrashing and banging against the crib. Reading the posts above there are a few things I've tried already such as waking her up before they normally happen. I found that very effective when I was doing it, but as soon as I stopped the terrors came back. However cutting dairy out of our bedtime routine (no glass of milk before bed) has reduced the frequency of attacks, she currently only has 1-2 a night and some nights none at all. so I would recommend keeping a log of what your son eats.

Kendra - posted on 05/28/2011

Mom said when I was little. I used to scream in my sleep. And cry in my sleep too. She found out that if i had any Dairy Products before bed. I would have bad dreams. She quit letting me drink milk before bed. It stopped the bad dreams and the screaming too. I don't know if thats helpful.

Shannon - posted on 05/28/2011

My son has night terrors. They started about 6 months old (young for night terrors) but when brought up to his doctor thats what she said they were. He will sit straight up and scream. As a baby I woud try to give him a drink and he would not even acknowledge I or the drink was there. They have gotten worse and are very frustrating for me as a parent.My father also had them as a child. There is no cure or hep. Most children outgrow them by puberty. The best you can do is keep them safe as most will begin sleep walking. If you can tape one and take it to your doctor they can give you a better idea.

Katie - posted on 05/27/2011

we thought my daughter had night terrors, turned out to be growing pains in her legs, but in the mean time I did quite a bit of research one of the biggest things is creating a quiet calm bed time environment. reset their sleeping schedule. Move bed time by half an hour.

Brandy - posted on 05/27/2011

years ago before i had children i had an apt with a friend of mine and she had a 4yr old daughter who started having night terrors it was really frightening, we didnt know what to do and it looked like she was awake but she was completely insane and she really was asleep and could never remember them in the mornings, but eventually she stopped having them on her own. i hope things get better

Stacey - posted on 05/27/2011

My 8 y.o sleep walks, my 2 y.o has night terrors and I think my 15 month old has them as well (but who knows with all of her health problems exactly what's going on in her little head!). I am usually the only one who can truly calm him even though he sleeps with my husband every night. I just talk to him in a calm voice and reassure that he's is in a safe place. He'll go to sleep eventually. There's nothing you can do, really. It sucks but most kids will grow out of it. Don't try to wake them! I did that to my 8 y.oi when he was 4 (he was [peeing on my mirror & I freaked lol). Scared the crap outta him. And he didn't remember in the morning anyway so you're just stressing him out. My 8 y.o. can't speak when he sleep walks so I know when he's truly asleep. Used to be freaky waking up to someone staring at you in the middle of the night but now I'm used to it. As for my 2 y.o. I've tried melatonin and it doesn't work. Then I read it can make them worse!. Good luck and breathe deep. I hope you both get some rest soon!

Jacqui - posted on 05/27/2011

I just heard a suggestion from the Dr's (that tv show) ... keep track of the time the terrors start ... wake your child up before it happens, give them a snack, send them back to bed. Do this for a week and it should break the cycle. My nephew had night terrors and I wish we had thought of this before!

Sumanda - posted on 05/27/2011

All three my kids had night terrors, I've written an article about it as well. There are a few things that you can do:

What can I do to help my child?

Night terrors are more frightening to the parents than the child. During an attack there isn’t much you can do. You can try to comfort your child, but since they are not aware of your presence, it might not make any difference. If they do get out of bed, try to keep them from hurting themselves. Don’t restrain your child as this can make things worse.

As a preventative measure you can ensure that your child gets enough sleep. Also implement a quiet ritual before bed time, like bathing and reading a story. If your child does get out of bed, make his sleeping environment as safe as possible. Watch out for power cables on the floor that can trip them and if necessary close off part of the house so that they won’t be able to hurt themselves.

Night terrors usually occur in the early part of the night. Should it happen frequently, you can wake your child about an hour after they have gone to sleep or about 15 minutes before the attacks usually occur. Interrupting the sleep pattern can help prevent it. Keep him awake for 5 minutes and then let him go back to sleep. Do this for a week.

If the night terrors are very bad, you can consult your paediatrician for medical advice. Try to keep a sleep diary for two weeks before the doctor’s visit. Make note of bedtime rituals, behaviour patterns like food consumption and medication taken. Also write down all the questions you have for the doctor.

I hope this helps. If your interested here's the link for the rest of the article:

http://www.parent24.com/Toddler_1-2/deve...

Jennifer - posted on 05/26/2011

Sorry to hear that....unfortunately don't have anny advice to offer, but I do hope it gets better for you soon (:

Brigid - posted on 05/26/2011

This happened to us with our 2 yr old daughter lasted almost a year... mostly on nights when she was way over tired but happened often! sometimes we'd take her in our bed and turn on a calming show...she'd eventually snap out of it... watch a bit of TV and fall back asleep really scary I know.... She did outgrow it.... Good luck

Angela - posted on 05/26/2011

How does he behave during the day? Is he tired a lot? Have you seen him every fall asleep? I am narcoleptic & I experience night terrors frequently. It's SO important to try & get them diagnosed early if they have any signs other than just the night terrors. If he doesn't than I would say it's just a phase, as scary as that seems. It's always good to monitor the rest of his daily behaviors though so you can tell your dr. of anything out of the ordinary.

Nicole - posted on 05/26/2011

Night terrors are scary my son has between 3 and 4 a night we have done 2 sleep studies and have found nothing neurological wrong. So we have just learned how to deal with them......1st DO NOT WAKE THEM! Ir gets worse just make sure they are in a safe spot, they usually have no idea who are so by trying to hold them makes it worse. 2 dont feed your child to close to bed time. 3 remember that normally they will eventually grow out of this. 4 make a journal every time he eats and what he eats we found that when he ate more dairy in a day he had more night terrors that night.

Hang in there! I know how hard it is!

Amanda - posted on 05/25/2011

My son was actually asleep cause when he woke up he was all calm he laid down in the Recliner for a bit & Fell back to sleep on his own...He wasn't even responding to me saying his name...He has done this since he was a baby...I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to find out

Carly - posted on 05/25/2011

my son was waking up to and screaming and kicking but it turned out to be leg cramps (i figured it out myself, dr also said night terrors) he was kicking because of the charlie horse (you know how bad those hurt) and screaming in pain, then was scared to go back to sleep for fear it would happen again. i just happened to give him a banana close to bedtime and he slept through so I started giving him something potassium rich near bedtime and he's back to sleeping like a log. I usually go with orange juice now. Can't hurt to try it!

Maggie - posted on 05/25/2011

My daughter has this too. Our Dr. has told us that they are in fact night terrors. Becky will throw herself around on our bed. The only thing that you can is make sure that they are safe when they are having a terror. I have tried to comfort her but it only makes it worse. Our doctor told us that she will outgrow the night terrors but that it may take a while. There are some things that you can do to minimize the chance of your son having one. If you usually give him a bath at night then switch it to the daytime. Try not to let him get over tired or over stimulated. We have done this and the number of times that Becky has them has gone down drastically. Hope this helps.