Our 16 Month Daughter Has Night Terrors! HELP!!!

Hello M.,

It sounds like she still has an infection in her ear, or liquid that isn't draining.

Take her in to see the pediatrician.

Lots of Love,
Linda
www.RivieraPlaySchool.com
http://RivieraPlaySchool.blogspot.com

ask doc/sleep center...16 months is pretty darned young and if she's still sleeping, then it's not anything I can help with.

there is homeopathic remedy called Stramonium. it helps with most night terrors. the problem with it:
1. you'll have to order it online - don't think Whole Foods or any other holistic store have it as routine supply;
2. too strong of a potency may bring ear infection back - the theory is long and convoluted, but long story short - you've used suppressive therapy for ear infection - the body did not get a change to "work" on it. If it does come back, select something more natural to treat it. You can start by reading ear inf. archives on this website http://askwaltstollmd.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html the guy who started it and who is answering many of the questions himself in an MD.
Good Luck
V.

My son had them too. We found that the only way to break the cycle was to wake them up before it happened. If she is having them every night after 5 hours, wake her up at 4 hours in. Just a little shake to get her out of the sleep cycle she is in. They typically happen during the first round of REM sleep. My son would have them a few nights in a row -we would wake him up for 2 nights, it seemed to break the cycle. Also, if they are overtired, it seems to bring them on.

Did you also give her Dimetapp? (a decongestant that is often used for babies and children). I have often heard that Dimnetapp causes nightmares in children. (I was a preschool teacher before I had my own children.)If you think it was the antibiotics, though, then you need to make sure you build up her intestinal flora again. There is a good product called Jarro-dophilis that comes in baby strength. It is a bland tasting powder you can sprinkle on foods like yogurt or applesauce. It is available at Sprouts Health Food Store, in the refrigerated supplement section, the staff there is very knowledgeable about everything. It does need to be kept refrigeration to keep the little good bacterias alive. If you think she is sick or genuinely distressed about something, the rules about not picking her up (her learning to put herself back to sleep, etc.) don't apply. If you have to, after the problem is resolved you can spend a few nights training her again, but if she is sick or terrified, she needs you. This may not apply if it is truly night terrors, I don't know if I have experienced that. My older boy used to wake up and scream, but he sure seemed to be awake, he walked around, came into out room yelling about needing to learn to write when he was 2 (always an over-achiever, he is at West Point now!), swore he did not need to go potty, but would pee a gallon when we put him in front of the potty. It was pretty awful, and the only thing we could do that didn't make it worse was hold him on our stomachs and say, "oh, you are having one of those dreams again". We did learn later that he had a digestive problem that was causing him a lot of pain. He never said he was in pain, he just said he was hungry all night. So I always say, err on the side of caution before you try to make her tough it out alone.

I remember my older dd going through this and you're right, waking them up just creates problems. Try to be patient - she'll get through this and you'll all sleep again.

M.,

Check out:

http://www.lullabyluna.com/search?q=Terrors&x=0&y=0

I just wrote a few posts on this topic. Let me know if you have more questions about them. If you decide they are for sure sleep terrors, since she is in a crib it may be best to let her be- stay awake for the duration of the terror and then go to sleep yourself. She should just go back to sleep, since she isn't really awake.

If you question if they are sleep terrors after reading these posts, you may want to consult a doctor.

C., mother of 3, sleep consultant, sleep blog writer www.lullabyluna.com

HI M., I am a Sleep Consultant and Parenting Coach. Sleep Terrors have a strong genetic component, meaning it runs in families. If you or your husband sleep walk, talk, or have terrors yourselves then that could influence yor daughter. Also, one of the biggest reasons for sleep terrors is being over-tired and over-stimulated like some of the other posts mentioned. Make sure your daughter is going to bed early and getting good naps. Also keep things at home calm and mellow for a while, no malls, baby classes, TV, and see if this helps. Some babies are very sensitive to being over-stimulated.
Hope this helps,
K. Smith
www.theindependentchild.com

I completely feel for you, my son had night terrors as well, he's now 20 months old and hasn't had them (thankfully) in a few months. It broke my heart to see him that way, and after a ton of online research, I read a father's post that running cold water on his daughter's feet helped calm her down. We did the same thing, and it worked like a charm. Nothing else would get him to stop crying, but running his feet under cool water sort of helped him settle; from all of my personal research it seems like the babies get stuck between light sleep and deep sleep, and thus aren't fully either awake or asleep when having the night terrors, so running the cool water sort of helped transition him out of that limbo sleep state. We also stopped putting him to bead with socks, he just had on his pj's and a sleepsack and that helped eliminate future occurrences. He had one or two isolated incidents after that, but on those days it appears it was due to overstimulation right before bedtime. Try sticking to a consistent bedtime and bedtime routine, and keep your daughters feet cool. Good luck!

I have a grandson that just turned 30. When he was a baby until he turned 5 he had a babysitter.It was a lady and her husband. He had night terrors really bad. We found out 15 years later that he was being molested by the husband. My grandson had suppressed it in his mind. It came out when he was 19. He hit a fence post and broke he hand when it came out. It has changed his whole life. He has a good wife and beautiful baby girl and is very happy yet we can tell it is still in his mind.This Probably isn't what is wrong with your child, but if it was me i would check somehow to be sure.Don't let this scare you, it is probably me thinking the worst but it wouldn't hurt to check this out.
R.

Hi, our son gets night terrors. He's now four and his last one last summer while were tent camping. It was horrible. But the thing is the more you try to calm them, the worse it gets. You just have to let them ride it out and try to keep them from hurting themselves. They don't remember anything. It's not like a nightmare. Our son gets them after a very stimulating day. When we first started taking him to Disneyland he would get them after going on dark rides. So we stopped doing that for a while. And last year, camping was a new experience and we did a lot that day.
This is normal and many kids go through it. It's tough on us because we feel so helpless, but like i said, it's worse if we try to stop it.
However, if it does continue and she has a lot of them. Check with the doctor, there could be some underlying issue.

My daughter had night terrors for about 5 months. The only thing we could do was to hold her during it, and wait for it to be over. Scared me to pieces at first, and one night it lasted for 3 hours! It is very un-nerving. They went away as mysteriously as they arrived. Hang in there, and try to nap when she does. I spent many a night sleeping on the floor next to the crib.

We used the Sleep Lady book: Basically what we do is if he is having a terror we don't interfer unless he is going to hurt himself or wake his brother, we do try to sooth him a bit if he asks us. She also recommends since this is a pattern to slightly wake the child up 15 mins before you know there going to have a terror, just enought to have them rouse and maybe roll over for 2 weeks. This did help stop the terrors in our house. He only has a terror every now and then if he is over tired/stimulated from the day. Good luck and hang in there.

Our youngest daughter had this until she turned about 7.
I read everything and couldn't come up with a reason other than she is unbelievably imaginative and stubborn and I think was just working stuff out in her sleep. I had to get up with her 3-4 times a week, 2-4 times a night for years. Yes, It totally sucked. After about 3 or 4 in the am, she was more awake after an episode and would insist on me staying with her till she fell back asleep. I was WAY too tired to argue. She's an amazing, happy child (always has been) and she just outgrew them. I'm tired but grateful that this stage is passed. You'll get there. But don't worry. It's not harmful and she won't remember any of it.

My son hasn't developed these yet, or he may never, but I get them. I get them if I am too tired or if i have seen something on TV that is disturbing to me. I don't watch a lot of tv, in fact i only allow my son to watch sesame street and baby einstein because i don't want him suffering like I have. I stick to G or PG rated movies for myself and i'm 31! My bf used to laugh at me because of my movie choices until he saw me go through a night terror and had to try to hold me down to keep from losing my mind. He doesn't tease me anymore!

Antibiotics are very strong drugs. Most ear infections can be treated holistically with a garlic oil compound. Oh and vaccines also contribute to the ear infections... just a thought.

Hello M.,

My brother (who is now 28yr) had these when he was a baby. As my son (who is now 3yr) has had these. When my son had is first one, I knew right away what it was (I totally remember my brother having them, we are 4 1/2 yrs apart.) My husband totally freaked out and tried to wake up our son, that is a HUGE NO, whatever you do DON'T try to wake her.

All you can do is make sure that she can't hurt herself in her bed. One thing that we did do, what gently pick up our son and walk outside or stand by the front door while it was open. For some reason the cool air gently wakes them up naturally.

We also spoke to our son's doc about this, hoping that since my brother some research has been improved, but nothing has. Our son's longest terror lasted 2 1/2 hrs. A normal terror starts about 1 1/2 - 2hrs after they fall asleep, so one thing our doc recommended was to gently wake him about 1hr and 20mins after he fell asleep to break up the pattern.

I wish I could give you more advice, but there is really nothing you can do. But, she will grow out of it, but it could be some years. Our doc said that they can last till they are 5-7yrs old. Thank goodness that my son has outgrown them, we've moved on to growing pains in the middle of the night:) So, try to sleep when you can and remember a new phrase is on its way.

Best of Luck,
M.

She could be cutting molars??

Hi M.,
I know what you are going through, my son at 18 months had gotten Pneumonia and was hospitalized, and when we got home is when the night terrors started. Nothing would help calm him down, we were tired and frustrated as well. I asked his doctor about them and what we could do and she told me that it is something that they just grow out of. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, ours was after he turned 4, and he will be 5 soon. They are very random now, and I do what you do, gently rub his back until he calms down, sometimes it works other times it doesn't. Each child is different, and hopefully you won't have to wait as long as I did. Good luck, I wish the best for you!
~ C. ~

Dear M.,
I suffered from these as a child too. Here is my suggestion... since she does this about five hours after falling asleep... try waking her up just before that point. Just getting her out of that mode of sleep may help. I am sorry she is having these and know they are just as terrifying to you.
Love,
J.