I have a 4 almost 5 year old son who starts to cry about 1.5 - 2 hours after he goes to sleep. He is still asleep when he does this. He cries, and almost seems panicked and we cannot wake him - although we haven't tried too much as I have heard it is not good to wake them. This can last from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. We do typically take him to the bathroom and he usually always goes. My husband thinks he is "waking" because he has to go to the bathroom - but I don't understand the crying and panic behavior. He has said a few times that he was having a bad dream - but typically he does not remember crying at all. We do take him to the bathroom before he goes to bed and sometimes wake him to take him before we go to bed.
This sounds like night terrors. you can research this on the internet. My daughter does the same thing and it is so frustrating, as there really isn't much you can do but let them fall back asleep eventually. i've heard others tell me they have used Benedryl before bed and it has helped, but i havn'et tried this. i'm waiting till she outgrows this!
I have a son who did the same thing. However, my son also was sleep walking during the crying spell. We went thru this until he was in the 2nd grade! He would even carry on a conversation with us and never rememember any of it. I eventually got tired of being scared to death during MY sleep every night, so I took him to a sleep clinic. They told me he is just a "worrier" (just like his dad) and it is stress related. They believe it started just before school started, and the stress of a new atomosphere is what triggered it. It seemed crazy at the time they told me, but we started watching what was going on, and they were right! Once the school year would start, he would quit. However, once we were on Christmas break, it would start again right before we went back! Have no fear, though, he will grow out of it as mine did. We just tried to make school sound "fun" but that didn't always work obviously, because he did it for sooo long. Hope all works out in time!
He is having night terrors. My son had those when he was that age . They are very scary because you can't do anything & they don't remember them. I would hold him & tell him I was right there & that God was too. I'd whisper to him to look for God & some how that would eventually calm him. He is nine now & rarely has one but sleep walks all the time! My pediatrician gave me some info on it. There are things you can do if it gets worse! Hopefully he will grow out of it soon!!!
My son used to do that when he was 3 years old. He would actually start screaming, and there was no waking him up out of it. We just had to wait it out until he would stop. I found out it was a "night terror" and related to other behaviors such as sleepwalking or talking in your sleep. It is very common in child ages 3 to 6 and they usually outgrow it. It took a few months, but he finally stopped doing it and now he just talks a lot in his sleep. In my research, it is really more related to his dream cycle (which is why it occurs shortly after going to sleep) more than anything else. I hope this helps.
Hi L.,
I've been in your situation with my older daughter. When she was from about 3-5 years old, she, too, experienced what my doctor called night terrors. They are not fully awake when this is happening. At first I tried to console her, but to no avail. Then I learned that it was best to let her cry, and hold her if she wasn't thrashing around. Like you experienced, sometimes she would go back to sleep within seconds, other times it took a few minutes.
The good news is that not only will he probably not remember any of these night terrors (my daughter definitely didn't remember anything), there is also no emotional impact afterwards. It is like they are dreaming. It is also better that these are happening within an hour or two after he goes to sleep, so you can at least anticipate them more around that time. My daughter usually never had one past 10 or 11 o'clock, which was before or right at our bedtime.
My daughter's pediatrician told me that they usually outgrow these by the time they are in Kindergarten or not long after that. My daughter is now in third grade and is a very sound sleeper and rarely wakes up at night except to occasionally use the bathroom.
L.,
My son (now 6 yrs old) has done the same thing in the past, and I think he was almost 4 the first time it happened. He never remembered crying either, and sometimes he would be absolutely sobbing and inconsolable! At first I tried waking him up, but it didn't seem to help and he never fully woke up anyway. After talking to some friends (one of which is a child psychologist) I found this is fairly normal around that age, especially for boys. Apparently its an age when they are starting to understand more and more about the world around them and pick up on dangerous and scary stuff they see and hear (never know what they are paying attention too on the TV or adult conversations!) Since they are still too young to fully understand some of this stuff, it can cause their dreams to be a little more vivid and active. I found the only thing to do with my son was hold him and use my best 'calming mommy voice' and repeat over and over that 'mommy is right here, you are ok, mommy won't let anything hurt you, etc.' I guess he was having a bad dream about ME one time because he did not want ANYTHING to do with ME when I went in to comfort him! He didn't want me to hug him or touch him and the more I tried to talk to him, the more upset he got. When I left the room to get him a sippy cut of water (that sometimes helped to re-focus him) he stopped crying and went back to sleep before I got back with the water! He only did it a half dozen times or so, and hasn't done it in long time. If your son is exposed to any TV at all he may have seen something that is sticking in his subconsciousness and showing up in his dreams (could be something he is not even aware of or doesn't remember at all). My son also went through a period where he didn't want to go to bed because he thought someone was going to break into our house and hurt us...turns out he saw a commercial at his grandparents house for an alarm company where someone breaks a window and tries to break into a house with a woman and her children at home! Try asking your son if there is anything that scares him or he wants to ask about (but don't do it right before bedtime!)I wouldn't worry too much about it, but it is a bit stressful watching your child so upset and you can't do anything about it! Good Luck, I'm sure your son will soon grown out of it!
Hi L.,
My daughter was doing something similar for awhile. She would start crying and sometimes screaming in her sleep. I've even gone in there and she's sitting up or acting like she's trying to get away from something, but in the morning she wouldn't remember. It really scared me at first, because she would have her eyes open but I could tell she wasn't really awake. A friend of mine told me that those are called night terrors and when they get them just hold them close to you until they calm down and let then lay them back down. I honestly can't remember how long that lasted with her but she hasn't had one for a long time (thank God).
Hopefully it will pass for your son soon too.
B.
Take him to a nurologist. He may be having epealeptic seziures. He may have to stay over might and his head hooked up to alot of wires but they don't hurt and its to measure brain waves while the crying is happening. Please don't wait too long as this can cause brain damage. I hope it is not but you do need to rule it out. Good luck
A 4-yr old boy in our family had night terrors as well, and in his case he had very large tonsils that were blocking his airway at night and disturbing his sleep. He sounded like he had sleep apnea, so there were other symptoms of problems in his breathing. In this case his tonsils were removed (poor little guy!) and the sleep problem went away. This is probably more rare than a full bladder or some other disturbance, but it is another possibility.
My 5 year old son does this and his doctor has said it is called Night Terrors. He has been doing this for about 2 years. Every month it gets less and less. I have learned that when he starts to shuffle and panic in bed that I better get him to the potty quick because he has to use the bathroom. I am not sure what is causing this in your child, but I know for mine it was stress (from school, at home, from his brother and absentee father, etc.). It's like it would all build up and then release itself during his sleep. Children are not always able to express their emotions to you, so my advice would be to comfort him as much as you can during these episodes and let him know it is okay. As a side note - I have noticed that limiting TV/Video Games/Computer use before bed also helps, because their brain is not too overstimulated. GOOD LUCK!!
It sounds like he may be having night terrors. You can google it or stop by the library or bookstore for more info. You may also want to give your pediatrician a call to let him know what's going on.
my daughter use to do this also. The first time was the scariest for me and it was always a little unsettling anytime it happened. I thought she was possesed. I do believe it was related to having to go to the bathroom. I would carry her in there and she would always go and then she would return back to sleep and be fine. She hasn't done this in a while. she is almost six now. But she does love to sleep maybe this is just there bodies way of knowing they should wake up because they have a full bladder but really not wanting to.
J.
I've heard one suggested way to break the "night terror" pattern is to wake the child up from sleep BEFORE it begins. So, since you know it's about 1.5 hours into sleep, try to wake him after an hour for a bathroom break. Do it for about a week and I've heard the pattern will break. The way we helped our son (who also had the panic/screamin/kicking is by making his bedroom MUCH cooler at night. We heard that people sleep much better in a cold room as opposed to a typical "room temp" room and it worked for us. We put a fan on full blast, it keeps his room colder and he sleeps great now (he's just turned 4 in July) Good luck, this is a common phase for young children ESPECIALLY the 1.5-2 hour time period, I've heard that from a lot of mom friends that I have. If all else fails, call your Dr., they have great suggestions for this kind of stuff :)
This is probably Night Terrors (a.k.a. sleep terrors) and is nothing to worry about. Around 5% of kids have this, and it usually resolves in adolescence. The kid doesn't remember the episode upon waking (or not much of it), and as hard as it is to watch, you really don't need to do anything for it. By definition, it's hard to comfort these kids while it's happening. If you must do something for your son, watch to make sure he doesn't get up and hurt himself.
Yep. Night Terrors. My daughter has had them since birth. She is alost 5 in Nov. and has one every now and then. In the beginning she'd have then about 11:00 a couple times a night. Some lasted 15 min. some lasted almost an hour! BUT it was because i was trying to comfort her and taking her out of her room. Later I learned what was triggering them and leaving her alone and then they lasted a minute or two. Seemed longer but still intense. For her if she gets overly tired, hot while sleeping (we keep it 68 in the house), goes to bed upset, or does not go potty before bed she'll have one still. But now i can tell when they are going to start be the way she'll wine in her sleep and i can get up there and head it off sometimes. And I also know she has hers about 11:00-2:00 so I bring her out of deep sleep be rubbing her back or covering her up about 10 minutes til 11:00. It has helped a LOT! Well hope this helped some. There's nothing a parent can do once the terror starts. It's hard on the parent but the child remembers nothing. Just waked up tired (or mine did). Good Luck.
V. (SAHM of Two)
www.CraftLister.com/ValerieAltman
(Unique Candle Creator)
Yep, night terrors. They don't usually last too long. We used to turn the light on in our daughters room and runs a cold wash cloth over her face until she woke up. Than we would comfort her because she was confused when she woke up.
Does your son seem kind of violent (flailing arms, etc.)?
L.,
Sounds like your son is having the 'night terrors'. This is very common and he should eventually outgrow it. It took my daughter 2 1/2 years but I have step grandchildren that went through it for only a couple of months. It depends on the child and there is never any way of knowing how long it will last. The only advice I can offer you is patience is the key. Try gently to wake him and keep reassuring him that you are there holding him and love him. That was the only thing I could do with my daughter. I wish you the best with your son.
E.
