Night terrors

Rachel&Brad

So, DS has yet to sleep through the night and he is 11 months old. He usually will go down on his own with no problems and sleep 2-3 hours and then up crying to the point where he is only comforted by nursing. I know he is not hungry and should not need to eat at night. We've tried to let him fall back to sleep on his own but it doesn't work. After nursing, he falls asleep when I put him back in his crib only to wake 2-3 hours again and we repeat the process again and again until morning time. I'm wondering if this could be night terrors he may be having or just looking for comfort throughout the night in nursing. I will discuss this with his doc at his next appointment. I was just wondering if anyone can relate.

 TIA,

Sleepless in Michigan!

sme14

This really won't answer your question, but will your LO take a paci?  Try using that, it worked wonders for DD.  Also, there is a difference between night terror and a nightmare.  A nightmare is very mild and you are able to console the baby whereas a night terror, you are unable to console the child.  DD has had two night terrors, and they were horrible.  She looked like she was "awake" but she was still sleeping, she screamed and screamed, was kicking rolling arching her back, her cry was like nothing I had ever heard from her before.  It lasted for about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.  I thought something was seriously wrong with her, and I freaked and called my mom in tears and she came rushing over.  I described what happened to the pedi and he said it was a night terror, and the best thing to do is let her be and do not try to comfort/wake her up, because it makes it a lot worse. 

Rachel&Brad

Thanks for replying. Nope, no pacifier. Every night it's the same thing. Stands up in his crib calling out. If I go and check on him, pat him, etc..and walk out, he gets more ticked off and cries louder. So, maybe its not night terrors..I have no idea. Like I said, the only way to console is to nurse him back down. It's definitely becoming a pattern now.

Thanks again!

Pelusa214

Rachel&Brad:

Thanks for replying. Nope, no pacifier. Every night it's the same thing. Stands up in his crib calling out. If I go and check on him, pat him, etc..and walk out, he gets more ticked off and cries louder. So, maybe its not night terrors..I have no idea. Like I said, the only way to console is to nurse him back down. It's definitely becoming a pattern now.

Thanks again!

My DD did that for almost 10 months - that was her way of not sttn, she would wake up, stand up & call for me & if we didn't come she would start crying & it would get worse & worse.  We tried everything short of leaving her to cry alone (even laying her back down, patting her back, walking out, laying our head on the crib rail & "pretending" to be asleep until she laid down on her own & went back to sleep).  It was at least once, sometimes twice a night, each time she was awake for over an hour.  We stopped feeding her at night cold-turkey, and nothing changed.  We finally decided to go back to just picking her up & sitting with her in the rocker because it was getting ridiculous standing there awake in the middle of the night every single night for months straight.  Soon after, she started sttn.  I don't know why, and I'm sure this doesn't help you much, but maybe you can try just holding him or rocking him but not nursing him?  It would always take an hour or so for her to fall back asleep, but she wasn't crying as long as we were holding her.  At least in the glider we could get a little bit of rest, even if we weren't actually sleeping.

Also, DD sometimes has what we think are nightmares.  I don't think they're night terrors, because she doesn't really look awake & doesn't scream but rather cries so hard & sadly I would call it wailing.  Sometimes I have to turn on all the lights to get her to calm down.  She's always very groggy when I pick her up because the crying starts while she's still sleeping, but I pick her up, wake her up, then sit & rock her & sing or something.  She'll sob for about 20 minutes & fall back asleep.  Could it be nightmares instead of night terrors?

Rachel&Brad

I guess it could be..I dont know, though, every night? UGH..I will try the rocking in the glider and see if that might work. He does seem to calm down a bit when the lights are turned on. I wonder if it could be that he's scared of the dark? Who knows!! Thanks so much for your input. I really appreciate it.