Nightmares - Conyers,GA

Whenever we thought my daughter was having nightmares or terrors when she was this young, a tooth would appear soon afterward. Give him some Motrin for one night and see if it stops.

My daughter went through the same thing & we didn't know what to think. After the long process of insurance & doctor referrals, etc. we finally got her in to see a sleep specialist. After a consultation & some testing, it was confirmed.... night terrors. She now takes medication each night & has no problems. We were told she'd eventually outgrow them, but maybe not until her teens because of the frequency. Good luck!

My son was doing the exact thing. He is 18 months. It is Night Terrors. They happen within the first 1.5 hours of going to sleep. They usually aren't truly awake... and don't recall what it is that has happened. It happens frequently from a child being over tired. Try putting your child down a little earlier... My son kicks and screams when he is fighting sleep when he is overtired. When I get him down and he is not OVER tired, he simply says Bye Bye and goes to sleep. Try moving the bedtime earlier... and if it makes you feel better,after a terror episode, take him into your room until
he is able to fall back asleep, then move him back to the crib. Make sure you have a good bedtime ritual, and just start it a little earlier. Good luck! (Our night terrors stopped when he started getting a longer day nap)

I would say watch what sweets your baby is having before bed and eliminate them if any and see if this issue change

Hi R.,
Night terrors have been linked to gluten sensitivity, but I am not sure your little guy is having night terrors or is having what my son had, dairy allergy. I took him off milk and after 4 days he slept like a baby all night, every night. It had been 1 year of no sleep. Everyone wants to go for the medical cure....why not solve the problem instea? Try it, you have nothing to lose. If you find that it makes a difference, you can start solving the root of the problem (why did his immune develop these issues?).
Feeling for you, J.

My daughter use to do this too when she was younger (she's 3 now). I just use to sooth her and put her back to bed. Is he still in a crib? If so the best thing you can do is lay him down at the SAME time every night. Of course he will be mad about it or try to fight his sleep (as all babies do) but eventually the crying will get shorter and the tantrums will decease. It took me about a week to get my daughter on a schedule (which is one of the best things you can do for such a young baby) and she did very good with bed time. Even when I switched her to a toddler bed she was still very good with laying down and going to sleep because I had her on a fairly strict schedule.. well not strict really.. I woke her up between 9 and 9:30, had breakfast within the hour.. she took one nap a day so that happened at 1 PM. Then we'd have lunch when she woke up around 3. Dinner was at 8, bath at 8:30 and bed by 9. This happened EVERY day. It was the easiest time of my parenting life. Now that I have another baby (she's 1) I don't have them on any type of schedule and its far more hectic.
As far as the nightmares, does he have a night light? A security blanket or stuffed animal? The only thing you can really do is trial and error because every child is different. As I said before, my daughter use to have the "nightmares" too. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming her head off. I would hold her a bit, tell her it's all okay, rock her a bit and when she calmed down I'd put her back in her crib.
That's about what is recommended when getting your kids to go to sleep by themselves anyway. You put them in bed at a specific time every night and only check on them if they're still crying after 10 to 20 mins. !Don't pick him up tho! Just rub his back, tell him it's okay, give him a kiss (or whatever sooths him) and walk out. Every time you check on him make sure the "check-ins" get longer and longer apart. Ex: Check on him after 10 mins, then check on him after 15 mins, then check on him after 20.. whatever you feel comfortable with. It is very heartbreaking to do this, but it usually works out after a few days, a week or two (at the longest hopefully).. but it will happen! Patience is definitely the test of time..

Night terrors! Very familiar. My daughter had them when she was his age once in awhile. Not suggesting this becomes a habit, but maybe let him start sleeping with you & then move him into his bed. Sleep in his room for a night or 2, when it happens mommy is right there so no more fear. He will eventually realize it's only a dream, but for now I think cuddling with him while he's sleeping will make him feel safer.

It does sound like night terrors. They are not truly awake and will not remember them in the morning. They should pass, I would google "night terrors" and see what you find about them. I am pretty sure they are harmless even though they seem awful at the time. You could try varying your bedtime or nap times to see if it helps just the break the cycle. I think you are not supposed to wake them though.

Hold your child close to you before putting them down and then stoke them softly and pray over them as they go to sleep. Pray that the Peace of God will prevail in the room and that His angels will watch over them as they sleep.

My son and daughter had this too. It went away after they finished teething. I had to let them sleep with me when the nightmare came. I would put them in their bed and give them tummy rubs, read a story and tuck them in. When they had fallen to sleep I would wait for the nightmare to happen then take them to bed with me.

When teething stopped this stopped. It only came back if they had gas/tummy troubles or were fevered / sick.

Hoped I helped.

Talk to your pediatrician about night terrors. My niece and nephew both had them and they vary in severity. I don't think his have been to frequent or terrible, but hers were awful. If it's not that, it can be a phase. My 3 year old wakes up screaming and having a meltdown every once in awhile -usually from a nap instead of at night though.

Could be a medical problem. possibly acid reflux. try raising 1 half of the bed so your baby is on an incline.
if that doesnt help you should contact your ped.

Hi R.

What I did was play the tickel game with my daughters to kind of wear them out a little; I would then give them some warm milk and a nice quick warm bath. Do the milk before the bath to help more when potty training time comes around. Lastly read to your child in a atmospere that is soothing such as deam lighting and no noice other than your voice. Remember to softly but firmly caress him while you are rocking and reading. Always pray for for sweat dreams.

I would suggest a nightlight and soft music at bed time. and make sure he's going to bed before he his over tired, as soon as he starts rubing his eyes or starts getting droopy start the bed time routine. Maybe a cup of warm milk with some honey and cinnamon in it. My son,4 yrs, was having nightmares and didn't want to go to sleep , he asked me if we had a magic quilt ( he'd seen an episode of little bill where he had nightmares and his grandma gave him a "magic quilt and they went away) and I told him no but we have a magic teddy bear and I gave him my bear from when I was a kid and that has seemed to solve the problem for us.

I don't think it's night terrors, with a night terror a child will look awake but not really be awake, and will fight you if you try to comfort them. They don't really know where they are or who you are. They are still in the dream. My 7 yr old still has them sometimes, she's had them since she was very small and her father had them.

When he wakes up hold him rock him , tell him everything is going to be ok and put him back to bed. rub his back or head which ever he likes, if I rub the bridge of my sons nose it forces him to close his eyes and he falls asleep pretty quickly.
I wanted to add that if you've had some kid of change, ie new jog, move, different work hours, etc it can trigger this.

I agree with Beth. I used soft lights and music to encourage my children to go to sleep and stay asleep.
P. S