My boys are as different as night and day. One of the two just had his first ear infection and is currently on an antibiotic. He's had a cold and is in that irritating stage where you just can't stop coughing. Twice this past week, he has awakened from night sleep screaming uncontrollably. It's almost like he is in an altered state. The scream is guttural and very steady. There's no soothing him or distracting him. He stiffens his body. He acts like he doesn't want me to touch him, then he streams if I put him down. Last night I walked him outside into the cold night air hoping it would jolt him back to reality. Finally, after about 30 to 40 minutes, he settled into my arms and feel asleep. He slept the rest of the night with occasional bouts of coughing. Now maybe this is a combination of a lot of things -- sick, just turned 2 yr old., medication. Or could this be a sign of something else. Guess I hope to hear that this is not uncommon for a child his age who has been sick. Any thoughts on how to break through when (if) this happens again? We are scheduled for their 2 yr well baby visit in two weeks. So I will definitely be discussing this with his pediatrician. Thanks for any insights you can give.
Oh my word! I've been an avid reader of Mamasource for about a year now. I've never submitted a question until now. I'm so grateful for all the responses. So practical and SO caring. I feel like I have a new network of friends. Thank you so much. I roused my guy about an hour and a half into sleep last night hoping to break the night terror cycle, and low and behold, he didn't have an episode. I think I'll do that again tonight. He seemed rested this morning. You guys are amazing. Thank you for taking the time to help me. I am so grateful.
Night terror very common just comfort him that's all you can do.
Do not try to wake him up! Good luck this will pass
Dear M.,
I am thinking it could be the medication. Ask your Doctor about it. Infection are terrible on anyone. When we get sick and take meds. they seem to make us feel different.
You take care.
And your loving children.
May God hold them in His Holy Hands.
And give them good health in mine and soul.
Amen
Vicki W.
Let there be peace for all our Children Lord.
M.,
This is a horrbly frightening situation for a parent and we have been through this. Our son did this at the same age. Without being sick. His Pediatrician says it is night terrors. You cannot wake them, and do not try wake them up during these. This is really important. Just makes sure that they cannot hurt themselves and eventually they will go back to a deeper sleep. These will pass with time. If you are still concerned call your pediatrician.
Best,
S.
Some of my sons had night terrors at about this age. You can look it up. As you described, the child wakes up screaming, terrified really, but for no apparent reason. Sometimes it was because they were overstimulated or overly tired. It depends on personality too. My calmest son never had night terrors.
The only advice I can give is to be there when he needs you during the night and be comforted by the fact that this will pass. You also might want to make sure he gets enough "down time" during the day--not necessarily a nap but just a quiet time to relax. I wish I could help you more, but it's been a while. (My oldest is 26 and sometimes gets exasperated with his own three-year old, who is energetic and precocious like he was.)
Poor baby, how soon after taking his medication is the screaming occuring? I'm sure he takes the med during the day??? Any reactions to it other than this? It could be simply night terrors. My oldest daughter had them when she was 6 months until about 6 yrs. She would scream, and cry and be unable to wake her up...just comforting and telling her mommy was there helped, it seemed...after she started potty training, I would take her to the bathroom, let her potty and then back to bed and she would sleep the rest of the night. It also happened when we would stay at someone
else's home. Something about not being in her own bed...anyway, it could be that or just the pain associated with the earache. If he's almost finished with the antibiotic and still doing this, certainly let the Dr know. And make sure he takes the full schedule of meds! It will help to make sure the bacteria is completely killed off. Good luck and I hope he feels better soon!
Just a thought, what antibiotic is he taking? My son had a very bad tummy pain from erythromycin. If he is taking it on an empty stomach it could irritate the tummy.
My daughter is 21 months old and just did the same thing last week. Very scary screaming in the middle of the night and could not be consoled as quickly as usual. Her spell only lasted 3 days (I think she was fighting off an ear infection) and it's been over a week since she's done it. I didn't figure out any tricks to calm her down but I just wanted to share that our experience was linked to not feeling well. I hope it passes soon.
It does not sound unusual but something caught my attention. My little brother gets really crabby when he is on an antibiotic. He is an adult now and MR/DD and still is on the grumpy side when he takes them but not to the same extent as when he was younger. He was hospitalized when he was 2.5 or 3 y.o. They gave him an IV and put a board under his arm when he first arrived. After blood test and x-rays they gave him an antibiotic. A few hours after that he had an episode of behavior like you described. They could not get him settled down and ended up calling the DR. and giving a tranquilizer and holding the antibiotics. They changed his antibiotic and he was better but still grumpier than expected. If it continues I would call the DR. Good Luck and God Bless!
My daughter did something similar to that. Her pediatrician told me it was night terrors. He told me that when she woke up screaming and crying to keep her up for about 20 minutes. Maybe turn on the TV. Then let her go back to sleep. After a couple of days of that she would eventually stop. She is better now. I never cut on the TV though. I just held her and talked to her and then let her fall back to sleep. My sister in law when she was young also had night terrors really bad. There is a web site about night terrors at www.pediatrics.about.com type in night terrors.
My sister's little boy (19 mos) has had chronic ear infections and lately he has started doing something that sounds like this. He has had night terrors in the past and my sis said these were different, so she was in a total panic on her way to the emergency room when he snapped out of it. I'm not sure what the difference was, but her doctor told her they were a perfectly normal thing that sometimes happens with ear infections.
I'm sorry I didn't get more info than that about them from her. The only reason I'm tell you telling you that they might not be night terrors is just so that you make sure to tell the doctor about them when you go back in, since they might be related to the ear infection and he should know about that. But my sister said they were nothing to worry about, just like night terrrors. More scary than anything else. That sounds frightening, I hope you don't have to do that again soon!
It sounds like one of your sons had a traumatic effect on his atlas....his head was distended from the spine and dislodged the atlas, probably. Any Upper Cervical doctor can tell by specific tests they do. You can look for outward tell-tale signs:
1. Does one shoulder drop lower than the other?
2. Is one eyebrow or ear higher than the other when he's looking straight at you?
Either would indicate a misalignment of the atlas.
Blessings! I raised three boys and loved it!
R.
M.,
This sounds like the 'night terrors'. It is very common for children his age to start this. Sometimes it lasts only a few weeks sometimes it could only be when he is sick. There is really nothing you can do but what you have been doing which is hold him, comfort him and talk soothingly in his ear. He will eventually calm down.
My daughter went through this every time she was sick. It is like the sickness is attacking them in their sleep and they don't know how to combat it on thier own. It takes a while for mommy's soothing voice to penetrate the terror and they realize they will be ok and they calm down.
I hope for your sake it doesn't last long.
Good luck.
E.
Hi M.,
I know you've already had responses that have suggested this, but I thought I would put my two cents in as well... it sounds like night terrors to me too. Both of my boys have had them (one is 2 1/2 and the other is 15 months). They are horrifying to go through - but the doctor assures me that my boys don't remember anything afterwards. My 2 year old doesn't have them very often anymore... usually only after a really over-stimulating day (big family reunion party, or something out of the ordinary). My 15 month old has had more of them... I have no idea what causes them for him. My pediatrician said if they happen around the same time at night, you can wake the child up about 20 minutes prior to the time, not so they are fully awake, just to disrupt their sleep cycle. This will put them in a different sleep cycle and they'll usually skip the night terror. We haven't tried this yet, but it's worth a shot if your son is having them regularly. Hang in there - this too shall pass! :-)
-D.
M.,
All three of my boys have had those occurrences at about 2 years old (my youngest will be three in July and he still has this happen every few weeks). I finally figured that maybe they are starting to have dreams, not necessarily bad dreams, but just dreams. It didn't happen every night, but when it did - it would startle me. We finally realized the BEST way to handle it is exactly what you did, wake the child up all the way. At first it seemed counter productive - but the faster my kids woke up all the way, the quicker they would settle right back down to sleep.
If your Mommy Instincts are still worried, though, absolutely discuss it with your child's pediatrician at his upcoming appointment - regardless of all the advice you receive on Mamasource or from friends and family members.
Good Luck,
T.
Sounds like it could be night terrors. There's lots of info out there on that if you Google it.
My older daughter has woken up SCREAMING and stiffening and wailing since she was born. Augh. Didn't know what was wrong with her, took her to the ER twice, thinking there was something really wrong, but always, by the time we were seen, she was calm and happy again. sigh This one ER doc told me it was night terrors, and I said "No, it's not. It's not like they say night terrors are." She then said, patronizingly, "Is this your first baby?" I said yes, and she went and got a book and opened it to Night Terrors and gave it to me. It was rather insulting, actually. So fast forward a few years. When she was about 4, she finally was able to TELL me that her legs were hurting. NOT night terrors, but leg pain. So HA on that doc! It wasn't night terrors! She still does it to this day, but it's pretty far between times. The pediatrician said it was growing pains. Told me that sometimes, kids' bones grow faster than their muscles can stretch, and that causes leg pain. Now, I give her a dose of kid's ibuprofen when she wakes up crying, and in about 15 minutes, she's ready to go back to sleep.
So I said all that to say this: everybody will probably say it sounds like night terrors, but if you study it and it doesn't sound like what your kid is doing, look for something else! Mother's instinct is usually right.
HUGS and I hope you get it figured out soon!
Friends of mine whose son has night terrors (I know this may not be what your son has) use the frozen push up ice pops (colored water in plastic tube) to help wake him up easily when he is in that state.
based on the info you provided, it sounds like night terrors, which are completely normal in kids this age.
Here are a couple of good links on night terrors... you can read up on them and see if it sounds like what your son experienced.
It is sooooo awful to have an earache~ see if he will sleep with his head propped up a little more than usual, when a child or adult lays down with an earache it only gets more painful, due to the pressure it is putting on the ear~ I hope this helps.
A.
stayinhomeandlovinit
Sounds like night terrors to me too. My daughter did that for a while when she was about 18 months old. Our pediatrician said it usually happens around the same time in their sleep cycle and can be caused by a disruption in their sleep pattern, i.e. staying up past bedtime, being overly stimulated prior to bedtime, etc. So, I would think the medicine could do it too! We were told that we could wake her if we wanted or just let her sleep through it. He said that she wouldn't know the difference, it would basically be whatever made me feel better. I always knew when it was a night terror because like you said, the cry was different. It was like a deep sobbing - way different than any of her other cries.
I wish you luck! Hopefully as he feels better and gets off the meds they will subside.
