Night Terrors?

laynesmomma

Our 3 year old seems to be experiencing night terrors. For the past three nights in a row she wakes up about two hours after going to sleep and is angry, crying, yelling, it takes a good hour to get her to settle down and go back to sleep....took her to Dr to rule out illness. Anyone else experience this? How long did it last?

WestCoastMommy

My son did this for a year from about age 3 to 4. It sometimes went all night long and it took about 20min to get him to stop crying only to start back up 30min later. We were so EXHAUSTED for a year! Thankfully he did grow out of it but it took forever and was very frustrating and confusing for us.

I as a child had night terrors but more around the ages of 7 to 12. I slept walked a lot and had horrible dreams my parents couldn't wake me out of. I read up a lot about them once my son started to experience the them. Your situation sounds spot on with what we went through.

MamaSquishyB

My son used to have them.  I did lots of research online and did a couple things.  First, when he had one, I didn't touch him.  I sat by his bed and said reassuring things like, "It's OK, don't worry, you're going to be fine, Mama's here", etc.  When I would touch him, he would freak out more.  I think that by touching him, I became part of the terror... like I was the bad guy trying to hold him down and torture him or something.  So no touching until they calm down and you can see them kind of "snap out of it".  Once he snapped back, I would rock him and sing, etc until he fell asleep.

Second thing I did, which was the best thing I ever did, was get rid of all his pj's with feet.  It sounds weird, but I read somewhere online that being overly warm can trigger night terrors.  So I ditched all the foot jammas and he sleeps in lightweight pjs year round.  In the winter I'll give him a moderate blanket, so that if he gets cold, he has it, and if he gets hot, he'll kick it off.  Anyway, since I did that, he hasn't had a SINGLE night terror.  It's been probably 6-8 months since his last one.

 Good luck!!

hero

MamaSquishyB:

My son used to have them.  I did lots of research online and did a couple things.  First, when he had one, I didn't touch him.  I sat by his bed and said reassuring things like, "It's OK, don't worry, you're going to be fine, Mama's here", etc.  When I would touch him, he would freak out more.  I think that by touching him, I became part of the terror... like I was the bad guy trying to hold him down and torture him or something.  So no touching until they calm down and you can see them kind of "snap out of it".  Once he snapped back, I would rock him and sing, etc until he fell asleep.

Second thing I did, which was the best thing I ever did, was get rid of all his pj's with feet.  It sounds weird, but I read somewhere online that being overly warm can trigger night terrors.  So I ditched all the foot jammas and he sleeps in lightweight pjs year round.  In the winter I'll give him a moderate blanket, so that if he gets cold, he has it, and if he gets hot, he'll kick it off.  Anyway, since I did that, he hasn't had a SINGLE night terror.  It's been probably 6-8 months since his last one.

 Good luck!!

Our experience has been very similar. Ds had night terrors 2x a night for months. He would "wake up" screaming and soaking wet from sweat. Once during a pretty intense episode, he ran after me to hit, kick and bite me. He snapped out of it a few minutes later and went to bed as if nothing had happened.

After months of nightly wakings, he rarely has them now. Triggers seem to be over-tiredness, overheating and intense situations or over-stimulation. He no longer naps but he goes to bed at the same time every night. We try to keep him from overheating by letting him sleep in his underwear with his feet uncovered and, during the summer, he gets his own air conditioner pointed at his bed.