Night Terrors - Myrtle Beach,SC

My daughter (now 2 1/2) has had a similar sleeping problem. They would probably be called night terrors although I never took her to a ped. I read everything I could on sleep problems though (nothing of which helped). She goes through phases that involve waking up screaming and being very distraught. I've always gone to her and comforted her whichever way was needed (ie, holding, walking, rocking, sometimes watch a short Barney episode). Once she was calm (about 15-20 min) then she goes back to bed with no other problems. She was hospitalized a couple of times in her 1st year of life, but I know of no other reason for her behavior. It usually ends after a couple of weeks. All I can say is you will be incredibly sleep deprived, but just when you can't take anymore - they usually stop and give you a break. Hang in there!

My daughter went through the exact same thing. She would wake up crying and screaming. There was nothing that I could do to calm her down. I found that she outgrew it...maybe around 22-23 months of age. Good Luck!
A.

My son (now 5) had night terrors off and on mostly when he was 4 y.o. Rarely has them now. We'd just go in and comfort him until he calmed down again. He didn't remember them in the morning. Usually at the same time of night (around 10:30). Very scary and creepy for the parents. Hopefully it will pass.

I wouldn't let my kid cry it out, either, no matter what my pediatrician said. Sometimes you gotta recognize when your pediatrician is giving advice outside his or her expertise, i.e. having a degree in medicine doesn't make one a sleep expert. The National Institutes of Health recommends "In many cases, a child who has a night terror only needs comfort and reassurance." If that's all they need, it would be a pity to withhold it.

According to Wikipedia, the episodes may recur for a couple of weeks before subsiding - the recurring factor is (sadly) one of the characteristics that distinguish night terrors from nightmares.

There are some websites devoted to this issue that may help: http://www.nightterrors.org/
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/night_terrors/article_em.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror

You mentioned that you snuggled your baby on the couch, which is fine as long as you don't fall asleep, (which you can't always control). Your own bed is safer, (assuming you follow safe bedsharing guidlelines). Or you can snuggle next to her on her toddler bed if you can squeeze in it. Either of those are safer than crashing on the sofa (and I know how close you are to crashing when you wake up like that).

hello cheryl i went thru what u are experiencing when my daughter was around 13 or 14mo. she would wake up screaming and crying for no reason and at times she appeared like she didnt know who me or her father was. It scared me all the time cause i didnt know what to do for her so i eventually called her pedi and i was told the same thing that it was night terrors. He told me to leave her alone and dont try to console her cause it will only make it worst.

this went on for about 2weeks. Eventually they stopped on their own. I started monitoring what she was looking at on tv just in case she was looking at scary things without me knowing.

I hope this helps you some.

Hi Cheryl,
My son, who is almost 8 now, had night terrors pretty frequently when he was younger. We noticed that they occurred more often when his schedule was thrown off, though. When he missed a nap or went to bed late, you could almost be certain that he was going to wake up around 11pm crying inconsolably. I'm not sure if this is the case with all children with night terrors, but try putting her to bed a little earlier and see if this helps. It's no consolation now, but I think it is something they grow out of - my son only has them rarely now. Hope this helps and good luck!
E.

I have a son who is 10 and still experiences night terrors. I remember when they first started and I was worried that they may be seizures. Once I read up on them, I realized that they were night terrors and not seizures. He typically will have one if he plays REAL hard and falls asleep REAL quick. We have noticed that if we wake him up about thirty minutes after he falls asleep he is less likely to have one. There really is nothing to do while he is in the middle of one. We just stay with him and make sure that he doesn't do anything to hurt himself. As a mom, its really scary to see your child SO scared while they are going on. However, he has never remembered having one.

Another thing we have had to deal with related to the night terrors is him spending the night off with friends. We haven't let him spend the night off...because I wouldn't want another parent to have to deal with the episodes (it's pretty traumatic for me and I can't imagine someone else who is not his parent having to go through it). There have been some other parents of his friends that have said they have been through it and are willing to let him stay over...We haven't tried yet.

Our doctor told us that he should grow out of them...we're still waiting for that to happen.

Just be patient:)

My son had night terrors when he was about 2. At first I didn't know what it was, but accidentally ran across an article in a parenting magazine about them. They usually happened when he was too tired. Before I knew what they were I would try everything to comfort him and they would last for a longer period of time. The article explained that even though they may look like they are awake they aren't and suggested making sure they can't hurt themselves but otherwise not to touch them or try to wake them up. After I started doing that they didn't last as long and weren't as bad as before. I would just go in the room and make sure he was o.k. and wait till it was over. He grew out of them in just a few months time. Hope this helps and good luck.

My son is 15 months old. This week, out of the blue, he had night terrors two nights in a row. (I recognized them because my oldest child, now 11 used to get them when he was around 18 months old.) They are very scary and frustrating. With my children, night terrors usually last twenty minutes and involve the child screaming at the top of his lungs and thrashing about like he's having a full-blown temper tantrum. The child does not recognize anyone and any interaction from us has always made it worse. We'd probably all be better if I just left my son in his bed to ride it out, but that's so hard to do as a parent. Honestly, he's probably safer and better off in the crib. Two nights ago I had to put my son back in his crib (after unsuccessfully trying to wake him up, comfort him, etc.) because he was jerking around so much I was afraid he was going to get hurt. When I try to rub his back or snuggle him he gets even more hysterical and pulls away. It's like I'm the 'bad guy' in a nightmare. The one thing that always reassures me is that the child does not remember the night terrors and is not in any way psychologically or emotionally scarred by them. Once it was explained to me that it's like the brain short circuits while switching from one stage of sleep to another and gets stuck in panic mode. No one knows for sure, but it is likely the child is not even dreaming, just having a sort of panic attack that he will never remember. My oldest son outgrew his night terrors in a matter of months, I believe. He didn't have them very often either, although they were always dramatic when he did. With nightmares, children remember them the next day. With night terrors and sleep walking (also something we deal with), the child does not ever remember any of it. This makes me feel better. We've tried lots of ways of waking up a child during night terrors, but none of them work. When the night terror is over, the child wakes up, wonders why we are there, and then peacefully falls back to sleep. The only thing that has helped is making sure the child gets to bed plenty early and gets naps so he won't be over-tired. Good luck. P.S.- I'd be interested to know how long the night terrors last and if she's had any stresses or changes in her life or schedule recently. Feel free to message me if I can be of any help.

HI,

My son went through this, he would cry out I would go in and he was asleep. If I tried to comfort him he would get a little combative. Once I figured out it was night terrors I just left him alone. I would check on him just in case, but I did not talk to him or try to comfort him. One thing I was told to do and it helped a little is to wake him up about an hour after he falls asleep. Just enough to arouse him, he did not get fully wakened. It has something to do with the stages of sleep. It actually seemed to work. In time it passed. Same thing happened to my nephew, he is getting over it as well.

J.

One thing is to make sure she isn't watching something she shouldn't be watching. One of my children couldn't handle Scooby Doo when he was really young. Who knew? But I don't believe that it is due to something she is watching.

A terrified child needs to feel the love and security of her parent. Some friends of mine went through the same thing you are going through and it helped to calm them down especially at that age.

The following was suggested by some friends of mine:

One friend took her children (both of them had night terrors and she didn't figure this out until #2), but taking them to the potty when this happened got them out of it. She would explain to them what she was doing and where they were going (even though they didn't remember the next morning) and that ended it, but the night terrors continued until her children were around 5yo.

Another said that she noticed her daughter did this every night until she figured out that she was thirsty and hot. She made sure that she got enough to drink throughout the day, but said that she would continue the terrors when she was hot in the middle of the night.

Actually a few people whose children had night terrors were able to keep it down if their children weren't too hot at night. One of them kept hers in a onsie and it helped out a lot!

One thing you can do is play soft, soothing music when this happens in the room to calm her down.

Bach flower remedies. I would look at white chestnut and check out the others for different fears. white chestnut is the sovereign remedy for nightmares.

Another thing, night terrors are there for a reason, but you just have to find out the reason why. You could use a different approach called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).

That's all of the suggestions they and I had. Good luck and comfort that little one! :0)

Both of my girls now 3 and 4 went through this at around the same age. My 3 year old still has them on occasion. Don't make yourself crazy by checking on her all the time, she will be fine. The amazing thing about night terrors is that the child rarely ever wakes up and is usually not comforted by your rousing. The only thing I found to help soothe them is to sing a familiar song, it won't make the terror go away but I did notice that her breathing slowed and her heart rate started to come back to normal. This is something that many children go through and the good and bad of it is that the child doesn't seem to suffer, just the parents. Try to understand that there is nothing you can do to prevent night terrors and try to get some sleep, your baby will thank you for it in the morning when you have more energy to play. Good Luck this can be very frustrating.

My daughter had night terrors until she was 8 years old and one day they stopped. All you can do is comfort them until they go back to sleep. She got over it quickly if I woke her up slowly and held her.

Hi C.,
I went through the same thing with my oldest daughter who is now 6. When she was maybe three she started night terrors and it was horrible. She would wake up within the first three hours of falling asleep and she would be screaming and had a fright in her eyes. Some times she would say I want to go home and if I tried to talk to her or touch her and hold her she would scream more. I to went to the pediatrican and they said it was common and they will outgrown it by school age and she did. She hasn't had a night terror in almost 2 years!!!! This happened almost every week for us, most often if she was coming down with a cold she would have it several times a week. It was very trying for our family. My husband didn't understand and would yell at her telling her to stop screaming but they are really asleep and don't know what they are doing. I would just sit there with you child until it is over and help them lay back down. Don't worry it doesn't last forever. Good luck and have lots of patience!

Hi Cheryl: My 4 1/2 year old suffers from night terrors also. She usually has them when she is really tired. If she has one it is usually about an hour or 1 1/2 hours after she goes to bed. She will wake up crying, shaking and sweaty and come in the living room with us and get on my lap. She will generally fall right back asleep once I have her. I can usually let her sit with me for just a few minutes and wake her up and tell her to go back to her bed. I will walk with her and she is usually fine. When I ask her in the AM if she remembers getting up, she doesn't. Her MD told us that you just have to make sure that she is safe. It is like sleep walking. They are not awake when they have the night terrors. My daughter will not stay in the bed when she is having one. She will fight you to get up and will go get on the couch. Just try to make sure that she is getting enough rest at night and during the day. If you read online about night terrors it states that they can be caused by exhaustion and stress. I hope that this helps. My daughter will have at least 1 a week and then some weeks none. She had one Sunday night, but hadn't had one in several weeks.

I think your doctor is correct. Sometimes my 18 month old wakes up crying in the middle of the night. Believe me, I understand how painful it is to hear your baby crying however I think taking the child out of the bed can turn into a routine that is very hard to break as well.
My daughter stopped waking when she realized we were not going to rush in and pick her up and cuddle her.
It becomes a dependence thing where they expect it every night. I hope this does not sound "mean" but it worked and our baby is back to sleeping through the night.

My son had night terrors. He was screaming and trembling, but unaware like sleepwalking. I would hold him, rub his back to see if I could gently wake him up and kept telling him where he was and that he was safe with me. They eventually subsided, but it's heartbreaking to watch. What a great mom you are and wise to check with the ped. We also changed the bedtime routine to include more cuddly time, a song, a snack, a prayer. Michael Card had a CD of lullabies that were beautiful. I'd leave those playing as he went to sleep. i wish you well.

My daughter went through a phase of this early on, around 15-16 months. We just left her in the crib because pulling her out of the bed seemed to make it worse. It was the worse feeling because their was nothing I could do to help her. She'd just run in her crib and then she'd lay back down and go to sleep like nothing had happened.

Hi Cheryl! My son had night terrors when he was very young, about 7 or 8 months. He had terrible reflux as an infant, and he had just started a new medication. I did some research and found out that other parents had children who experienced this when they were on the same medication. We immediately took him off of the new meds and the night terrors went away.
I feel your pain...my husband and I were felt so sorry for our son because there didn't seem to be anything we could do. Has your daughter started any new meds? Reactions to food might also contribute to this, but I don't have any experience with that. I know there are several websites you can research that might help you out.
Talk to her pediatrition and see if he/she has any insight, too. There might be something you haven't pinpointed yet.
Good luck!

My daughter gets them every once in awhile. She does wake up and tell me she is scared, so I am now wondering if she is having a bad dream and not a night terror. I hold her because she does wake up. having read the entry with the woman who's son did not even wake up sounded terrifying. I am so sorry you are going through this, be there for her though... these are the moments that being there is special and why she loves YOU so much!

all the best!
C.

Our daughter, now 9 yrs old, has suffered from night terrors since she was a baby. We were told for years by several physicians that she will out grow it. Well, she didn't and they got progressively worse until we finally got a referral a year ago to a sleep specialist. He said since it has been going on so long & every night (literally) that she probably will not out grow it until she is well into her teen years. Her terrors were always 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours after she went to sleep everynight & consisted of everything from crying, walking, & talking ( which rarely made any sense) all of which she was in a state of complete distress. There was no consoling her, we just would walk her back to bed & try to keep her in it until she was settled again. This was very hard at times because she was so upset you just want to fix it. What the doctor said is that since it is happening the same time each night usually within the first hour of her sleep is that it is affecting a certain phase of her sleep. He prescribed medication for her to take nightly. She has only missed one night & that night the terrors were back. I know how you feel being so sleep deprived. My doctor did prescribe Ambien for me when we were first going through the terrors so that when I did have to get up with our daughter I could get back to sleep easier. I do not know how early they are willing to consider meds for a child, but you may want to see a specialist just to get them tracking on her case. Also, it might be a good idea to have some tests run to rule out any other possible conditions she may have. I wish the very best for you and that she out grows these terrors soon.

My son began having night terrors at about 2 years old, and still has them occasionally now that he's almost 5. The piece of advice that we received that seems to work the best is to cool him off quickly, especially the feet. I go in and pull his comforter off him; I've even heard some people say that they put a cool, wet washcloth on their kids' feet. The cooling off seems to pull him out of the cycle of the night terror somehow. Sometimes singing to him (the ABCs, which was his favorite when he was 2) helped calm him quicker, too.

As far as preventing them goes, they do seem to be related to being overtired. If he is up late, hasn't had a nap, or has had a particularly big and exciting day, we can pretty much count on his having a night terror. When he is well-rested and on his normal schedule, they are much more infrequent. Oh, and I would never let him go to bed with socks on or too many blankets; the overheating thing really seems to exacerbate the problem.

Good luck!

H. J.

I feel for you. I know how horrible it is to hear your child cream in the middle of the night. Fortunately though, she probably doesn't remember it in the morning. Night terrors aren't like nightmare, thank goodness.

When my daughter had them, the doctor said just leave her alone. You can't do anything about it, and she'll go back to sleep. He also told me they'd last until she was about 5 or 6 years old, and they did.

The only thing I had to watch out for was when she would sleep walk. Just keep her safe and she'll be ok.

hi cheryl,
i have 2 yr old daughter that suffers from these also. just hearing her scream like that is something else. (which im sure that you already know). but what ive always done, is that i just hold her, ill rock her, sing quietly to her, and just pace around the house, until she goes back to sleep.
from what her doc said, is that kids go thru this at this age, and she will grow out of it.
how i think of it is, i get to spend a few more moments with her. before long she will be too old enough to want to cuddle and hang out with mom.
dont worry, they wont last forever.

hello...two of my three children have had night terrors on occasion...and i will tell you that it ALWAYS happens when they are low on sleep...if they get to bed too late a few days in a row, for instance...on vacation, or just when they've gone a few nights with little sleep. from what i remember being told by my ped. , they don't even know it's happening, and will not remember it. frustrating, and scary for the parents, though...you don't want them to hurt themselves, fall out of bed, etc...i'd just make sure she is getting plenty of sleep...naps during the day, and to bed at a decent hour for a few nights, and i think you'll see it go away by itself. hang in there...and nap when she does! it helps.

Hi Cheryl,
I am a teacher and a 4xmother so I have been through this many times. It never is fun. If this gives you any consolation; the brain is developing and becoming more mature and aware that there are things to be afraid of in this world. Children during this stage may replay an incident at school or a conflict with another child they may have had during the day. These events-real or imagined- are played out in the growing and maturing mind in order for the child to begin to develop better coping skills. Children go through these more aware stages many times in their lives (as do we adults) and each time you become better at coping with the "night replay" and dealing with real life situations. A young child versus an older child needs to cry out for reassurance from the adult caregiver for comfort. Once secure they usually go away. And each time we learn and face a new conflict we play it out at night; but we also learn there is no need to always cry out once we are assured our crying is being met with supportive love and comfort. Just wanted to assure you this is very typical and completely positive normal development. No need to feel anything is wrong everything is growing and developing. As exhausting as this is it does have a purpose.
I hope they end quickly, but do not expect them to resolve in just one week.
C. P.

My daughter had occasional night terrors between 4 & 7. When she was afraid at night, I gave her some milk and a large (clean)pipe wrench to hold on to. Did holding the metal cool her down and help as others have found out about cooling a child?
Since she firmly believed the terrors to be real, did holding that pipe wrench while she went back to sleep empower her enough to control her own dreams? I told her that if a monster came back she could whack it with the wrench. (*I would NOT suggest doing this in a house with more than one child!*)
I myself had night terrors from age 2 to 13 and I vividly remember many of them. It was like a nightly struggle of evil forces and extreme images of horror. My parents chose to let it ride out, which may be why it lasted so long. I remember feeling alone and powerless against these terrors in the dark. I learned to not scream, but the lack of sleep affected my school work and early social developement.
I think if a child can feel empowered, loved and comforted,that their own self esteem boost will help. I like the idea of the banana before bed. The potassium can't hurt and the interaction with the parent and reassurace at bed time has got to help.
Active children burn calories like crazy, so a bit of nourishment before bed (not sugary snacks) can keep them from having hunger pains in the night that trigger some bad dreams. 1/2 a banana sounds perfect. Warm oatmeal is another good one.
Can you make some sort of routine to "banish" the terrors, and assure the child that they can make them go away? It has to be better than hiding under the hot covers in fear and alone.
Looking back, I think that a spritzer bottle full of water with a dash of vanilla would have been comforting by her bed. If she had been able to wake up and spray away the bad things, I beleive it would have been as effective as that pipe wrench, which in reality she could barely lift.
Good luck. Give that baby lots of love.

There's really nothing you can do about it. One parent told me that her pediatrician said to wake the child about 90 minutes in to sleep, before the terrors begin, so their sleep cycle starts over again. My son is nine and still has them when he is sick or feverish. It's exhausting and you feel terrible for them because frequently they are afraid of you / half asleep / half awake, but they don't remember it in the morning. Good luck, and hopefully they'll go away as she gets older. D. D

I can't imagine anything worse than being a baby and waking up terrified, and having no one come. It's your job to comfort her.

My daughter now 6.5yrs has been having night terriors for 6 yrs now. they are scary and frustrating , cause you really CAN'T do anything about them. They are much less now then they used to be She is more likely to have them if she is over tired or is getting sick. So I try to keep her heathly and sleeping well ( not always easy with B cause she's never slept well ). The only thing you can do is hold her so she dosen't hurt herself , and talk too let her know you are there. She may not recognize you or acknowledge that you are there but once she calms down put her back to bed say good night rub her back maybe if she needs that, then go back to bed your self. They will lessen as she gets older. I dont believe making her go through it alone is a good idea. It could make it worse.

Hugs and hope that helps send me a message if you like, I have deffinately been there.

Best medicine is to comfort her period. She has no idea about the mind and it's only a dream she's only been here for 20 months so I think she's still just a baby and should be treated like such. Pick the little darling up and let her know she's not alone she's safe and you love her. Ask yourself if you had a bad dream and you are older would you like your hubby to tell you it's ok?? why, sure anyone would. Kiss her little angel head and tell her you love her, you'll be better off in the long run and both of you can go back to sleep and maybe she can get through this stage faster with your help.

Cheryl,

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. The one thing that I wasn't doing cocsistently, and found that I needed to were daily naps. For your daughter, that is! Somehowm without a napm these kids sleep so soundly at night that when a nightmare happens, they are all the more vivid and frightening, and impossible to wake from, due to their heavy sleeping. So, try that, if you aren't already doing this.

Also, if you can manage to wake your daughter roughly 10-20 minutes after she falls asleep at night, somehow this disturbs the REM sleeping pattern, which I believe is when night terrors are most common.

Other than this, just be patient. Or try to. I know it's hard. But they do pass.

E.

My son who is now 6 use to wake in the middle of the night screaming and i understand how you feel. He would go sometimea a week and then it would stop. This happened twice a year till just recently. I gave him a banana and water everynight for the pottasium. He was really just haveing growing pains. I limited his television content before bed and read childrens bible stories or something soothing. This helped a lot. My son still sleeps with me. I put him in his bed and he always ends up in mine. To me thats ok as long as he feels comfortable and safe. After all they only stay little for so long and they start pulling away. I am expecting another baby so this should be interesting. They all grow out of it eventually if its nothing chemically that is disrupting thier brain activity. I would certainly keep an eye on what she is eating and watching and make notes to take to her ped.
A little about me: Mother of 3 teenagers 14,15,17 and a 6 year old boy with one on the way. My younger teens are girls oh boy- Good Luck and God Bless

My nephew had this same problem, although he was 3 at the time. His doctor suggested a completely different approach to the "cry it out" method. He told the parents to wake the child up one hour after he fell asleep, then let to him go back to sleep on his own. This somehow affects their REM cycle and prevents the night terrors. The doctor said do this every night for a week and it will cure the problem. From their own words, the parents said it worked like a charm and he has had no problems with night terrors since. One last note, the doctor emphasized that the child must be woken up one hour after falling asleep.

Have you asked her what she was dreaming about, and is it the same dream every time?