Any suggestions - 22 month old and night terrors????

~Jennifer - posted on 05/28/2009

When my son was having them, they always happened at about the same time each night. Our pedi suggested going in and moving him (turn him on his side, rub his back a little) just enough to rouse him slightly, but not completely wake him up about 15 minutes before the time that they usually happened. It seemed to stop the cycle and prevent the terror. He's 4 now, and hasn't had one at all in over a year.

I was also told not to try to wake him up in the middle of one, but to make sure that he wasn't around anything with which he could hurt himself.
They should go away on their own in time. Kids rarely remember having the night terrors at all the next morning, but it's hard on us as parents to watch them go through it and feel so helpless.
I hope you find what will work best for you. There have been a lot of good suggestions thus far. Good luck!

Melissa - posted on 05/28/2009

The over tiredness is so apt here, so far tonight he has not had an 'episode' after I insisted he have a BIG sleep this afternoon! Fingers crossed, now time for my BIG sleep, last night was horrible!!! Thanks xx

Mary - posted on 05/27/2009

My five year old gets night terrors and has for about 3 years. We realized he gets them when he is over tired. So if he has had a huge day, we can anticipate that he will have night terrors and we give him tylenol before bed that night. This has worked for us. Good luck!

Melissa - posted on 05/27/2009

Thanks so much everyone! WHAT A NIGHT! I am so tired! I knew about the coloured dye, we actually found out quite earlt that he had a bad reaction to medicines with that in so he now does have any of it. I wonder what tonight holds, hopefully not a repeat performance. My mom actually mentioned my sister suffered from night Terrors so maybe he is partial to them??? I will definately try changing the bed time routine from tonight and see if that helps, try the soft music. Thanks for all of the advice!! Really appreciate it!! Melissa xxxx

Heather - posted on 05/27/2009

think about what the bedtime routine is like. for my two i shut the tv off about 30 mins. before, lowered the lights, calmly talked to them as they went of to bed. now, sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't. sometimes if the day was too crazy nothing would work. but also know that they will grow out of it, the intensity will lessen. and natalie is correct, do not wake them up or attempt to wake them - it'll prolong whatever the child is going through. if they are in a crib still, make sure there's nothing they can grab or toss and turn into if they are physically moving during the night terror. if they are in a bed, just make sure there isn't anything around that could hurt them. it might take some time but it will pass....good luck.

Joy - posted on 05/27/2009

The previous post about Tylenol & red dye was pretty interesting. Anyway, we struggled with night terrors when our daughter was 3 and our doctor reccomended a consistent bedtime routine that you start an hour before your childs actual bedtime. Such as,taking a soothing bubble bath after dinner & reading a story etc. Other reccomendations were a white noise machine & aromatherapy. Unfortunately the machines are expensive so we went with soft, nature sounding music instead. Bath and Body works has an aromatherapy line and they have those plug in oil burners. I used the one with a relaxing lavender scent. With in three weeks time they decreased and then stopped. I know its hard to watch, but the doctor did say during the night terrors it is best to let it take its corse.Hope that helps & Good luck!

Karen - posted on 05/27/2009

Both my sons had night terrors, as did their father, who had them terribly. I never found anything that helped. I had friends who said making their kids eat something crunchy snapped them out of it, but I never could even get my boys to eat anything, because they were in such a frenzy. Sorry. Eventually, they both stopped having them. I will add this though... my husband and my boys seemed to have night terrors most when they became overly tired or if their sleep schedule was interrupted. I tried to get them to bed early and make sure their sleep was uninterrupted throughout the night. That they got up routinely at the same time, etc. Hope that helps!

Debbie - posted on 05/27/2009

Are you by any chance giving your child tylenol with red dye in it before bed??? or anything with red dye....for years i told my family and friends about my daughters night terrors and even my Dr. thought it was crazyBUT>>> just a little while ago i reas an article about that red/orange dyes causing night terrors!!!! Finally after 20 years...i KNEW my MOMS instinct was correct!!!

Teresa - posted on 05/27/2009

My oldest son, now 15 went through the night terrors also. I know from experience how frustrating and sad it can be when you want to comfort your child and they just scream louder and push you away. I never tried the Mozart approach but my son did eventually start listening to music or story tapes before bed and he grew out of it, I don't know if the listening before bed had anything to do with it or not. For him he would have them 2-4 times a week for almost a year. My youngest son now 4, had one several months ago and did it ever bring back some sad memories. I know it will be hard but maybe not trying to intervene is the only thing to do. I never tried it but maybe I should have. Peace be with you Mom!

Leslie - posted on 05/27/2009

Rides in the car helped to lull my son to sleep! Also took my son to a sleep clinic they suggested no pacifiers, no bottles, and to allow them to learn how to go back to sleep in a gradual step by step process. Hard on moms but it did work after 6 weeks.

Natalie - posted on 05/27/2009

My soon-to-be 3 year-old had & still has night terrors. The only thing that shortened them was just leaving her alone. I used to try to pick her up & hold her or wake her or rock her & other methods I had heard. Once I started just letting her be, they didn't last nearly as long. I know it's probably hard, but sometimes that's the only thing you can do. :-(

Athena - posted on 05/27/2009

I noticed when my youngest son went threw that and I put a CD like Mozart on when he went down for a nap and bedtime. It seemed to help out alot.