Night Terrors - Verona, PA

Hi, S.,

This same thing happened to my son when he was around 8 months. It lasted about 4 weeks. There was no consolling him. He would scream, roll around, arch his back, fling himself all over the place, climb around, etc.--all while still asleep. We could not wake him up. It also happened to him early in the morning--around 4:00 usually. It was exhausting for us, but he was always happy and well rested during the day. Then it stopped as quickly as it started. One thing I noticed is that he night weaned (himself--I nursed on demand until then) after this phase. He started sleeping all the way through the night without nursing. I also think this all happened during the time he was starting to crawl well and pull up a lot. We figured it wasn't night terrors, but instead that he was going through so much developmentally that he couldnt' turn it off at night. He sleeps very well now, although it is sometimes hard for us to get him to sleep at night.

I hope your baby is over this soon. Good luck!

S.

you may not think this is very helpful, but the reason you can't wake him (if it is in fact night terrors) is because night terrors occur during the deepest phase of the sleep cycle (i forget what it's called). while they often cause violent thrashing and crying, the good thing is that because they occur in this deep state of sleep, they are rarely retained in memory. we remember nightmares because they occur when we either have just fallen asleep or are just waking up, when our sleep is the lightest. it is probably more traumatic for you than it is your son.

Dear S.:
My 8 mo old son I believe also has night terrors . His have been happening for a little over a month now. At first I thought he must be hungry but he never wanted to nurse, then I thought perhaps part of his body was "falling asleep" and the pins and needles feeling was painful or scary to him so I tried going into his room every so often and repositioning him but that didn't seem to help either. I even got so frustrated that I started a whole new bedtime routine for fear that something I was saying or doing before putting him down was giving him bad dreams. Finally I realized that his bedroom window faces our next door neighbor's garage and every night that my son woke up seeming terrified, my neighbor happened to be working the night shift and her spot light was shining right into his room. I got darker drapes and it seemed to help. Perhaps something in your child's room scaring him when he wakes up. Try assessing what you see in the room when he wakes up, strange sights and sounds and the such. My girlfriends son woke up crying everytime the furnace kicked on. Hope it helps, i know that scared little cry is heartbreaking.

S.
are you sure he is going through night terror, the reason why I am asking my son did this when he was 10 months old the same time in the more around 6:00am I went through this for months. I changed doctors because I moved, he notice a situation with my sons nose and ears. He did not notice the fluid in there but send me to the ear nose and throat doctor who found that fluid was not draining properly and was lying in the bottom of his ear where is connects I believe to the other ear. My sons ear passages were really tiny and no doctor every noticed. Tubes were put into both ears and he has never had a problem since. He used to thrash himself so bad I was afraid he was going to hurt himself. Have that checked by a specialist, because I family doctor may overlook it. And if its truely night terrors then there is other options to do.
thanks
C.

My twin sons got them when they were like 2 months and then a couple of weeks ago at 18 months the one had them. The doctor basically said the best thing to do is to let them cry themselves out of it because trying to wake them makes it worse. I would call your pediatrician to see what they recommend. Good luck, I know how frightening and horrible they can be!