Hey Moms!.

Angie - posted on 11/26/2008

I'm wondering if this is what is going on with my 2 year old (not night terrors but maybe nightmares). He has been waking up during the middle of the night calling for me. He only settles down after I sit in the rocker with him or lay him down with me for a little bit. After I do one of these, I put him back to bed and he goes right back to sleep. Last night was the first night this week he didn't wake me up! Thank goodness - I finally got caught up on some sleep!

Kaylie - posted on 11/26/2008

hey ladies thanks so much. thats what everyones been saying is that you cant do a whole lot. Its very scary, she lets out the blood curling scream. the only thing its hard telling the difference between Nightmares and Night Terrors. because for night terrors they say shes still sleeping, but when i walk into her room she almost jumps out of the crib at me. and with nightmares iv been told by all my drs and pedis and who ever else that has a Degree of some kinds say a 13mth old is to young for nightmares. But shes got all the sings of Night Trrors. I donno.The warm blanket idea sounds like a great idea! i hope it ends soon. Shes been having then every night to every other night between 8-11pm. its hard and very scary.



Thanks Guys :) :)

Katie - posted on 11/26/2008

Hey Kaylie. My 8 year old had night terrors until he was almost 5. They are scary and uncomfortable just because you feel like you can't do anything to help them. And the truth is, you CAN"T do anything to help them. This is what my ped. told me. Sleep Terrors are much like sleep walking. Your baby doesn't know she's awake. That's why holding her, talking to her, etc don't seem to work. Whatever you do, do NOT try to wake her up. This will only cause more trauma. Just talk very softly to her, calling her name, telling her it's okay. Try to comfort her by rubbing her back or holding her, but don't push the issue is she doesn't want to be touched. Unfortunately, all you can do is sit and wait for it to pass. It's hard, I know first hand. Just be calm. If she has a favorite song that you sing to her sometimes, that'll work wonders. There's something about music that does incredible things. Good luck with the next one and know there is nothing you are doing wrong!

From one Sleep Terror Mom to Another,

-Katie

Wendy - posted on 11/26/2008

after reading other comments i truly believe it is stress of some form (quite natural in society today even for children)

Remember that the senses are powerful. Perhaps pick a certain activity that she finds soothing (a tv show? story time?) and burn lavender oil at that time. So her brain connects that smell with calm; safety; happiness.

Then burn lavender oil as she goes to sleep or if she's having night terror.

It's amazing what the brain can do.



Another thing many ppl today don't do is to give the child due respect for her own body/mind intelligence....ASK her why she thinks she's screaming at night. Even if she doesn't remember it, even if she's non verbal. you never know, you might get the answer. Kids are amazing and very intuitive.



best wishes :)

Wendy - posted on 11/26/2008

I had them. When I was 4 I spent my first night away from my parents...in a hospital, for having my tonsils out. Back then (the 70's) they didnt' let the parents stay.

My first night home I started screaming in my sleep (sore throat and all) and it continued through my life until around pre-teen age I think. I would wake up fighting against my mother as I would also sleepwalk....I'd always wake up feeling like I was searching for something, once I remember waking up ruffling thru some posters behind my toybox. frantic.

My mom would try to restrain me from running and that's when I'd wake up and be real frantic to continue then suddenly realize i couldn't remember what I was doing. Then i'd just be grumpy and go back to sleep in bed.

This began from the trauma of the hospitilization (where i woke up after surgery in a room with about 7 other kids, the kid next to me in a oxygen tent...very frightening for a 4 yr old) ((they also, despite my parents demands they NOT do this, WOKE ME UP every four hours to give me a needle in my leg to PUT ME BACK TO SLEEP! argh!)



ANYHOW. I never could have sleepovers at friends houses, I'd get nauseated at sunset and eventually throw up from a panicky type episode.

THis lasted till i was about 16 when my mom left home and there was no "home" to be "homesick" for...



My point is, I outgrew it (despite continuing anxiety and eventually panic attacks at sunset which I also overcame in my late twenties LOL)



My REAL POINT is, is it possible it began from a trauma. Hypnotherapy from a spiritually inclined, gentle (not invasive) practitioner to get to the source and plant some seeds of calm and rest in the mind might help.



I think what my mom did was good...sort of snapped me out of each episode so i could go back for a restful sleep.

They told me sometimes my screams would wake the neighbourhood LOL I never remembered it of course.



I'm thinking they start from a trauma which could be as subtle as anxiety separation which happens in the toddler years or even the stress of beginning school .



We act out our inner thoughts during dreamtime and night terror is just sorting them out. I'd wake the child up and then offer reassurance and maybe stay with them for a few minutes till back asleep.



Meditation with the child , along with a significant tool such as a new stuffy that represents "safety"....also just before sleep perhaps saying a mantra with your child as they fall asleep so it gets implanted into the subconscious as sleep takes over such as : "I am safe and ready for a good sleep" over and over.



feel free to msg with any comments



ps sorry if i scared you with my story....my particular trauma was continued into adulthood , perhaps because it was chalked up to "homesickness" or whatever and never dealt with in a resolving fashion?

Tracey - posted on 11/25/2008

My daughter started with night terrors before the age of one. She had them just about everynight sometimes two episodes. She is now 6 and they have calmed down to about once a week. I find it best to just sit by her and not even to speak...speaking i find makes it worse. She sometimes screams for me and when i say that mummy is here next to her i then get her arms and legs attacking me. So, for me the best is just to sit close by and not to say a word. It is heart breaking. People just dont understand and some think that she is just a very naughty child at bedtime. I felt i was the only one around with a child with night terrors until right now. Sorry to say that i find nothing works but fortunatly they do seem to lessen with age...good luck!

Laura - posted on 11/25/2008

Yes, all of my children went through it, and it's like they are having a bad dream and I can't wake them up. My baby now does it every now and then and when he does I just pick him up and cuddle him until he calms down. There isn't much really that I have found that works. But I really like the warm blanket idea...

Diane - posted on 11/25/2008

My daughter has night terrors. They started when she was 2 and she still has them occasionally at 4. She usually runs around in circles slinging her hands side to side and screams at the top of her lungs. The only thing that helps her is letting her run around for a few minutes keeping her from running into anything, then I take her to the potty, then lay her down in her bed. If I rub her back for a while she will usually relax and go back into a deeper sleep.

Megan - posted on 11/25/2008

My Neice and Nephew had them she was about 2 and he was 4 when they started the doctor told us theat they start when somwthing big has happened to the child good or bad... but hers were not that bad she would "wake up" (only not cus they are asleep when this is happening)and cry for like 10 mins and go back to bed. but his were really bad like he would make me cry cuz there i was nothing i could do for him he would "wake up" and point and yell and kick and ifyou tryed to got clost to him he would freak out. the doctors said that there was really nothing to do you have to let it pass.... good luck

Kate - posted on 11/25/2008

I called my friend who's son went through this. There's a difference between night terrors and nightmares. Night terrors are when the baby is asleep and screaming - running around and can't be woke up. She said if this is what is happening - just make sure she doesn't get near the stairs or hurt herself on furniture.

If your baby wakes up and interacts with you then she's having a nightmare. Comfort her and just be reassuring.

Good luck.

Anne - posted on 11/25/2008

hi , our daughter had them bad also...they just hit one night and we didn't know what to do..our DR told us all we can do is sit by her to make sure she doesn't hurt herself .and just let them ride it out..its rough , i do feel for u. i found that if i just rub her back and let her know that i was in her room with her they wern't as bad..but she didn't relize that she was asleep...and thats what it is , during her sleep..and they don't remeber the next morning.I found that one of her shows she was watching might of caused it because as soon as i stopped her from watching it the terrors slowed down. and if she was to warm at night that also brought them on so now i keep her room cool..not cold but cool...hope this helps...

Laura - posted on 11/25/2008

Night Terrors are terrible. My youngest had them very bad. He would wake up screaming and screaming and wouldn't recognize us and we could not wake him. We would just have to sit there trying to hold him until he came out of it. Sometimes a drink of water would help a bit to bring him out of it and calm him down and then we would just hold him until they subsided all the way and he feel back asleep and then put him back in bed.

Shareka - posted on 11/25/2008

My daughter had them bad (night terrors)at 3, she is 4 now and seems to be better but I tried a variety of things like others mentioned ...what they see before bed ( quiet time to get ready for bed, no tv atleast 30 minutes we also dont give any sugar after 6 pm because it seem like when we would have special treats my husband and I figured out it would flair the night terrors..I also found online that they are not fully awake sometimes you have to call their names, try to wake them up and say are you awake maybe ask a question because they said its almost like sleep walking where you look awake (but if you look at their pupils it can show if they are truly awake.) I notice the change in my daughter from one year to the next and when something does bother her we talk about it and I let her know that Jesus is with her always and that I also as an Adult have had disturbing dreams that I just wakeup and look around " ok that was a dream" she says really ...she is happy that she is not alone.I am so happy that God showed us some relief and hope this helps somebody:)

Jennifer - posted on 11/25/2008

My son had terrible night terrors.. something sweet to help raise blood sugar before bed is the key.. we found out my son also had some sleep apnea which contributed to it.. we saw an ENT and got his adenoids & tonsils removed as well..

Emily - posted on 11/25/2008

my son has terrible ones and my doctor said have 30 mins of quiet time before bed, keep a bedtie routine and dont let them eat or drink for and hour before bed besides water. also the biggest thing is not to talk about it the next day they have no idea it happened and it will scare them and cause the to have more terrors.

Stephanie - posted on 11/25/2008

My 7 year old had terrible night terrors when he was 2 and 3, but thankfully he grew out of them (although when my daughter was born 3 months ago he had a few again--and a 7 year old's night terror is that much worse). Unless you've experienced a night terror there is no way to understand how horrible they are, and I didn't find anything that worked (as said below, our presence made them worse). The only thing I noticed is that if he was overly tired he would DEFINITELY have one, so we made (and still make) a consistent, early bed time a priority.

Jennifer - posted on 11/25/2008

My just two year old had terrible (TERRIBLE) night terrors right before our last move. She would scream and cry for over an hour at a time, and nothing could comfort her. Usually our presence made them worse. The best advice I found was on a berkeley parenting site: http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/sleep...
After the move it went away, and even before, we found a few things helped. One was having a really good "debriefing" of the day right before bed. Even though she won't be able to verbalize herself, you can talk her through it (oh, it was scary when you fell off the swing wasn't it? But now you are okay, and tomorrow you'll be fine), and talk about how safe and peaceful your house and her bed are. We also chose to have several very activity free days (not easy with two other kids) so that her days were peaceful too.
Hope this helps!

Suzanne - posted on 11/25/2008

put a small b;anket in the dryer for about 20min.. then place it on her chest just as she goes to sleep it will comfort her.. this may help.. i hope.. good luck!