My 18 month old screams at the top of her lungs in the middle of the night and wont wake up?

Kichael - posted on 05/07/2010

Thanks ladies! I kind of assumed it was some sort of nightmare but I wasn't sure it was possible for babies to have nightmares. She's my youngest out of three and I did not have this issue with any of them as babies. She hasn't had one for a very longtime now so I am assuming the phase may have passed.

Amy - posted on 03/02/2010

could also be OVERLY tired?? now i think about it, it happened when my lil lady had FULL days. maybe if there isn't a nap, or the day is busy she just can't relax fully. sorry, i just keep trying to think of something else that would help.

Amy - posted on 03/02/2010

my daughter did that twice - went to a homeopathic consultant - over the counter calms forte by hylands and she stopped having htem. but she wasn't screaming, just crying lower in her sleep. i only gave it to her for a week. that's just my kiddo though. may not work for you. ??? i hope you both will be able to get more restful sleep - whatever the cause. i've heard it can be a side effect from some OTC meds like cough syrup, benadryl, etc. i read once that air moving decreases the severity of the terrors and so does a cooler room. [ had a relative have this and was worried my kids would too] i think the only other thing they used was lavendar aromatherapy and a noise machine. then slowly took out machine & stopped putting lavendar in the room. he doesn't have them now.

Sarah - posted on 03/02/2010

Definitely night terrors. Luckily I know quite a bit about them as nearly all the females in my family has them, all in varying degrees. We have found that there is usually a trigger. Not always! But sometimes. And, in our family anyway, are mostly psychological.
My mother has them the most, atleast once a week, sometimes every night for a week. Her trigger is when somethng reminds her of her past, which was bad for her.
When i was younger, I was really bad wth the night terrors and sleep walking. Now though I only have about 2-3 a year. My trigger is when I'm anxious or overly worrying about something.
My daughter, nearly 20 months, has had a few and the trigger was when something changed, i.e her father basically being a prat, thinking he could come in and out her life whenever he felt like it.
Usually it is hard fnding the trigger, it can be anything from psychological, certain foods, feelings etc.

When we do have one we find that having a drink of milk and watching telly or reading a book for about ten mins calms us down then we can go back to sleep. When my daughter has one I just watch over her while she is having it, and sometimes she will just calm down while she is still asleep. If she wakes up after it I give her a little drink of whole milk or water, milk is usually best, sit her in my lap and soothe her back to sleep, read to her or sing softly, which usually drifts her back off. One time though when it was a really bad one I had to put her in bed with me, constantly holding her but it is best if you dont have to do that as they might get too comfortable n mummy's bed.

It can be very distressing for all involved. Hope this has helped and good luck with it. Hopefully it is just a phase and not a long-term thing like it s for my family. And try to keep calm eh

Jocelyn - posted on 03/02/2010

Yup sounds like night terrors. My son had them for a short while when he was a couple months old. But he grew out of it. There's not really anything you can do while they are having them (just make sure they don't flail around and hurt themselves. I have heard that waking them up just before they have one will "bypass" it so to say. But that would only work if they have them at the same time every night (like my SIL did when she was little, my MIL said you could have set a clock by her lol) Good luck, and they will grow out of it :)

Jessica - posted on 03/02/2010

It sounds like she is having night terrors... like baby nightmares :[ My sister had these when she was very little... about the same age. I would talk to your doctor about it as well. There is really nothing you can do but wait it out.