STM+ maybe? Toddler advice - night terrors?

TXmamatobe

anyone have a toddler that has gone through night terrors? I suspect my 2.5 year old is having them - they happen maybe once or twice every other week or so and usually 2-3 hours after she goes to sleep. She starts screaming at the top of her lungs and when we go in her room she is hysterical but completely unresponsive. Almost like sleepwalking. She doesn't respond to anything we say and then eventually, she kind of snaps out of it and goes back to sleep. It's terrifying to my husband and I but she never has any recollection of it and seems completely normal in the morning. 

She just had one so I'm still uneasy - anyone been through this? 

juliemay623

juliemay623 said:

Klittle779 said:

Figured I throw this out there-- anyone dealing with night terrors? DS is 21 months and woke up 2 times last night in what we believe to have been night terrors... He was screaming bloody murder shaking and didn't seem fully awake. He was nearly impossible to soothe back to sleep. It lasted both times between 15-20 minutes. Awful. Of course I cried too because I felt so bad. anyone else go through this with their kids? If so, any advice??

DD is 2 1/2 and has been going through this for the past 3 months. From what I've read and from our pedi's advice, since she isn't awake during the night terror (even though she is crying hysterically and eyes are open), she is confused and scared by us trying to console her and she can't respond to anything logical or rational. What we do when it happens is just to go into her room, turn the light on low, and sit on her bed with her and wait until it's over. We don't talk to her, touch her or interact with her until she initiates it (she usually ends up waking up and asking for some milk and then we know it's safe to interact). The episodes tend to be much shorter if we do this, as compared to when we didn't know what they were and would try to console her which just made it 100x worse. The other thing pedi recommended was that since they tend to happen around the same time each night and are related to transition from different stages of sleep, if you gently rouse them (just enough so they turn a head or shift their bodies a little bit, don't fully wake them up) about 15-30 minutes before the terrors tend to happen, you can interrupt the sleep cycle enough for them to be able to successfully transition to the next stage of sleep without the terror. This works for us most of the time. Good luck! I know it is terrifying to see your child like this!

update: we went to the dentist this week and she said the last of DDs molars is done erupting and that could have been causing sleep issues... so hopefully the night terrors and other middle of the night wake ups will end for us soon?!

Stuck in the box... The above was my response to a similar question in the Toddlers + Newborns thread from @Klittle779

kbrands7

Like PP, I've found it best to let it run its course, but keep him safe amd cuddle him when he's ready when DS1 has had them. He's only had a couple (nightmares have been much more frequent here). Our pediatrician said that both night terrors and nightmares are more common when toddlers are stressed and/or dealing with change. 

TXmamatobe

Thank you both!! I should have looked at that thread first but I completely forgot. 

JessicaB0627

DD1 went through this for a couple months around that age as well. I think it's pretty common for that stage of development. I read it has something to do with their imagination going kind of crazy and them not necessarily being able to distinguish their dreams from reality yet. She was getting them at least a couple times a week and it was scary! I would go in her room and rub her back until she was better, or if she wanted to cuddle I would do that. I tried talking to her about her dreams and explaining to her that they're not real but they can be scary sometimes. It was interesting to ask her what they were about though! One time it was fish?

josie12367

I've read that putting them to bed a little earlier helps easy the frequency of them. So maybe give that a try? The LOmight just be stressed and overtired with a new baby around. Good luck!