Is it a night terror? or something else?

rachuwrf

Hi all, thanks for reading. Our 19 month old son is having what I believe to be night terrors. He had a few sporadically but now has had them the past 3 nights. They last about an HOUR! He is screaming bloody murder and then crying huge tears with his eyes OPEN and saying "mama" and "dada" but if we pick him no out of the crib it seems to get worse and he just flails around. I thought it terrors were just screaming and not actual crying or talking, so I am confused about what this could be,  really thought they were night terrors, but with his eyes open and crying big tears, I am not sure. Any advice, tips or tricks are welcome.

vvvvvfee

yes, that sounds like a night terror. they are awful! their eyes can be open during them but they seem really out of it and won't respond when you try to comfort them.

one thing you can try is to rouse your LO a little about 2 hours after he falls asleep- just gently jostle him so his sleep is slightly disturbed. this disrupts their sleep cycle and generally prevents a night terror from happening. DS had them for a while and this worked for us.

dufferoo

That does sound like my understanding of a night terror. I have no advice, but mad empathy for you. I'm sure it must be scary, frustrating and tiring to go through this, and I hope this passes quickly as a phase, and more peaceful nights are ahead of you!

cedenton

This happened to us one time. The only thing that finally calmed him was giving him a sippy of warm milk, but he refused it at first.  I was >this< close to taking him to the ER he was so hysterical.

LSU628

Oh man- DD went through a phase where she would have them. She literally looked like she was demon possessed. I videoed her to show her in action to the pedi. She would scream, thrash, get out of her bed, roll around the floor, some times eyes were open, sometimes they weren't. We were instructed not to touch her, just quietly shhh her and let her know we were there for her. Touching her seemed to escalate things and frighten her even more. She was having them with such intensity multiple times a night for days in a row the pedi finally had me give her a dose of Benadryl before bed to try to get her through the sleep cycle where she was waking.
We noticed it happened right before she would get sick, or the days where she got overly tired. It still happens every once in awhile, but I call tell it is a terror b/c her cry is different. It's more like an animal moaning sound. It can literally make your hair stand up on end when they really get going. :-(