I'm a first time mommy with a question about night terrors. Recently, my son has been waking up in the middle of the night or during his naps crying. Yesterday he was napping and I heard a loud pitched scream...then he started crying (hard). At first I thought he had been bitten by a bug or pinched by the crib rails, but there was no evidence of either. It then dawned on me that maybe it had been a bad dream. Can children this young have nightmares? What could he be dreaming of that scares him that bad? Can I stop them? He's also had a yucky nose the past few days (allergies or a cold???) I haven't given him anything for it. Could that play a role in this? Any advice could help. Thanks!
Hi, I have a 7 month old son (child #3 for me) and I was having some issues with night/nap time for a week or so. He was having terrible cold symptoms, gunky nose, cough, but no fever. I ended up taking him to the dr. because I just felt like something was not right. But his temperament was good, it was just at sleep times, being an experienced mom, I thought I had eliminated all other possibilities of ear infections, etc. I was wrong, poor lil guy had a double ear infection. Never would have known, my other kids were very prone to ear issues, tubes---all that fun stuff, so I thought I would have picked up on it. Anyway, 2 days into the meds and of course, he is sleeping, no waking screaming/crying. So, maybe if the cold symptoms persist you should take him in. Or you could give him some motrin at night and see if it makes a difference, and then that may give a clue that something could be causing him pain......good luck.
My daughter is also going through this at 20 months old. Although they CAN have night terrors at this young age, it more likely an ear infection because of the cold for the last few days. Please call your ped at schedule an appt for today to have his ears checked. If they are ok, then ask them about nightmares/terrors in young ones. They have some great ideas for helping with them.
Good luck!
PS: I am also a R.N. who has had two kids with A LOT of ear infections :-)
Nicole, a lot times when they wake up like that, its ears. Or could he possibly be cutting molars? When my son cut his, it was terrible!
Good luck!
Hi Nicole! I'm a second time mommy and have experienced this both times, it is totally normal. It could have been a bad dream, or it could have been growing pains, teething, or even gas. My 14 mo old son has been waking up almost every night yelling like that recently, and I looked in his mouth and his eyeteeth are coming in. Poor things, it never ends does it? I just soothe him back to sleep and it only lasts a couple of minutes. Once I knew it was teething, I started giving him a bit of Motrin if it seemed bad. It also might be dry if you don't have a humidifier going, I've been running mine every night in the bedroom or both kids wake up coughing and crying with dry throats.
Hi!! Night terrors are complete screaming and crying for up to 45 minutes where you cannot console the child and they do not remember them in the morning. They are literally asleep while doing this and you can't wakew them up. If this happens, just hang back and let the episode pass. This doesn't sound like night terrors at all though. My son who turns 2 today wakes up 1-2 times a night calling "momma" or just cries for a minute and then he goes right back to sleep. I don't even have to go in there. He also wakes up from his naps crying sometimes. Maybe a body part fell asleep, maybe he had a bad dream as this is totally possible. Since they don't know the difference between real and fantasy, the Pinocchio doll on the dresser might be fine when its light, but might look like a horrible monster in low or no light. . . . who knows. My doctor says its all normal. Dominic hasn't slept thru the night without making noise at least once since he has been alive. As long as he seems fine when he is awake, I am not gonna worry about it and neither should you. :>) Good luck as I know it can be concerning!!
Lisa
My nephew started having night terrors at about a year old. My sister talked to her pediatrician about it and she advised that they be sure to have a calming before bed routine. Other than that, there wasn't much she could do. On a funny note, my sister too has a furry Ziggy - a 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever. Small world!
Hi Nicole,
My name Christina and I have 2 boys, 7yrs old and 4yrs old. They both have them as well. My pediatrics dr said there are night terrors and nightmares. There is no difference to me which one is worse. But just to let you know my oldest son started having them when he was around 2yrs and let me tell you, it scared the crap out of me and I was crying because I was so sad and scared for him. I felt usless, so all I did was hold him and told him how much I loved him and made him look me in the eyes (with the lights on) and just tried to wake him up. That worked-he yawned and went back to sleep. But my other son has them too(how crazy). But when I was little I had the same thing my mom told me. She babysat one night and my oldest had a dream (when he 1st started) and I came home and she told me "he reminds me so much of you" I could not believe it. So I have been dealing with this for about 5 yrs now and they still have them, sometimes at the same time and thats very hard to handle. I could go on forever I have lots of stories, but maybe try the lights being on and calming him down. But the worst thing to do is yell and get furious, and by the way being sick does play a big role in this I've noticed. Good Luck
Christina M
Hey I wanted to thank everyone for the great advise. I ended up taking Landon to the doctor (just to get checked out) and low-n-behold he had a DOUBLE ear infection. YIKES! I put him on antibiotics and after the first dose he slept through the whole night without problems (and has every night since). Looks like we have some pretty smart cookies on this forum. Thanks again for everything!