Feedback about Night Terrors

TunaTown

Since last week, LO started waking up crying in the middle of the night. She's usually a good sleeper.

When I walk into her room, she may or may not be standing. If she is standing, I give her a hug, tell her "it's ok," and then she lays back down. Sometimes she's laying down with her eyes wide open. Again, I'll tell her it's OK, give her her baby, and then snuggle her in with her blankie.

Is that night terrors? I'm also not exactly sure what night terrors are (my next stop is google). But how can a LO have a nightmare? They are so young and innocent. Are they having nightmares about a friend stealing their toy?

Anyone have experience in this rhelm? 

LovesMM

I don't know but we can't even get LO to lay back down in her bed. She's got the Vulcan Death Grip on me screaming bloody murder.

We resort to bringing her to bed with us when it gets that bad. 

 

I'm no help but boy does it suck. 

TunaTown

LovesMM:

I don't know but we can't even get LO to lay back down in her bed. She's got the Vulcan Death Grip on me screaming bloody murder.

We resort to bringing her to bed with us when it gets that bad. 

 

I'm no help but boy does it suck. 

Bringing her to bed........whatever helps the household get some sleep :-) We did that so often with teething. 

j_luvs_r

I experience night terrors as an adult.  I never had them (that I recall) as a child or even in my 20s.  This started only in the last few years.

I don't really know how to describe it, but I often scream, talk, yell, jump out of bed, sit bold upright, etc while still "sleeping".  My husband has at times had difficulty actually waking me from this.  Sometimes I just go back to sleep but when I do wake up fully, I'm terrified.  My heart is racing and I can't go back to sleep.  Sometimes I remember them and even have a vague recollection of what was "scaring" me, but usually I don't have any memory.

My situation is atypical.  Mostly night terrors affect kids 4-12 years old.  And when adults are affected its usually in their 20s.  This is according to the research I've done on them since I started having them.

 I think little ones even as young as ours can have nightmares.  I think it upsets them more than it upsets us because they don't understand what it is like we do.  If that makes any sense.

I hope it's just a little phase your LO is going through. 

klondikebar

I have a child that experiences them. His eyes are open, but he's sleeping while screaming and crying. Nothing I do wakes him up or soothes him. I just sit in the room and wait. They seem to come in phases that coincide with major growth spurts (for us anyways).

blowfish11

DS is going through the same thing. Except he clings to me with his death grip and doesn't let me leave the room.  We have JUST gotten him off the bottle, that was a huge battle.  And he will ask for it when he wakes up after a nightmare.  Can't give in, so I stay with him or bring him to bed (which my husband hates cause DS always kicks him off the bed.)

I'm going to talk to his pedi soon if it doesn't let up.   

dpdw

What you are describing sounds like just a nightmare.  Night terrors are inconsolable screaming fits where they don't respond to anything you say or it sends them into a crazier fit.  My DD has the occasional night terror and it can last hours.  Truly horrible.

If your LO is responding to you and settling down, that's a really good thing.  You might just have to keep doing that until the stage passes.  Good luck!

 

 

klondikebar

dpdw:

What you are describing sounds like just a nightmare.  Night terrors are inconsolable screaming fits where they don't respond to anything you say or it sends them into a crazier fit.  My DD has the occasional night terror and it can last hours.  Truly horrible.

If your LO is responding to you and settling down, that's a really good thing.  You might just have to keep doing that until the stage passes.  Good luck!

 

 

I just wanted to say that I agree with this. My mom was watching my son and she tried to hold him during a night terror. He started kicking her and got so upset he threw up.

synchrosally

From my understanding, children cannot be soothed through night terrors. DS often wakes up screaming and can be easily soothed and put back to bed (usually). I think this is nightmares, rather than night terrors. Not that it matters much when you have an upset child in the middle of the night.

TunaTown

From your feedback and little bit of research with Dr. Google, it doesn't seem like night terrors. More like a nightmare or agitation from over stimulation. I'm thinking back to when she experienced these instances, and I'm starting to think it's connected to being overtired. Or cutting her last i-tooth.

Thank you for the feedback and sharing your stories. 

mulkyann

Our son started having night terrors when he was about 1.  Before we knew what they were, we would pick him up out of his crib, but we soon realized it wasn't very safe because he was kicking, screaming, and fighting us.  We learned to leave him in his crib.  He only had them for about 6 months, but it was a very long 6 months.  I agree, don't try to wake her up.  Just stay in the room with her until she is calm.

grr_aargh

The brain's a freak thing - it goes into overdrive and they have a nightmare.  Boom.  Our kids had nightmares like that around that age mostly because they were exposed to so much and their little brains are overwhelmed. 

 

Night terrors were different.  We had them for a few months with my son. They were HORRIBLE.  Awful. Very bad. It took quite awhile to get him back down and when he screamed it was like someone was removing a limb w/a butter knife.