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Night Terror? Nightmare?

aorgadaorgad
in D.C. Area Babies

Hi Ladies,

My understanding of night terrors is that eyes are open, is this correct? Two nights ago, about 2.5 hours after going to sleep, I hear screaming coming from my LO's room. I run upstairs, he's quiet, on his back, unmoving. He starts screaming again - I pick him up, try to wake him, walk up and down the hall, rubbing his back, saying his name, gently bouncing him in my arms, turning on the lights, but for about 2 minutes he's screaming/crying (he never does either!) with his eyes CLOSED, in my arms, in a very stiff position, almost like he was possessed. It was like it wasn't even him in there. Eventually I got him to open his eyes...briefly - laid him on our bed a bit, changed his pj's and diaper, and put him back in the crib - he never fully woke, which is really strange - he's such a light sleeper. I did get a little smile out of him - but then he continued to toss and turn in his crib for an hour. I was so scared and am still thinking about it today. He's been acting normal otherwise. Thoughts??

Thanks!! 

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Re: Night Terror? Nightmare?

  • ArtslvrArtslvr
    I'm going to go with nightmare.  I think night terrors are when the person opens their eyes and still don't wake up or recognize you.  Sounds like the poor little guy had quite a scare.  I'm so sorry!  Sad
    Wife, Musician, Fed, WW-er, and Mom of three little kids - not necessarily in that order.
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  • SofkaSofka

    wow that is scary! how old is he? I thought night terrors happened when kids are older? 4-5 yrs old

    I'd call the pedi just in case, I hope he's OK!

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  • MrsKLSMrsKLS

    Sounds very similar to our experience...Pedi told us a night terror. Ours happened a few days after we got back from our 1st vacation away from DD. Whole thing lasted about 1/2 hr and scared the crap out of me. There is not much you can do for them while they are having the fit...dr told us not to try to hold them or pick them up..usually makes it worse. Just try to make sure there is nothing around them that could hurt them while thrashing around.

    I read that sometimes they come from stress...our obviously because we left her. Thankfully she has not had another episode..so hopefully yours is just a one time occurance as well.

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  • SofkaSofka
    imageMrsKLS:

    Sounds very similar to our experience...Pedi told us a night terror. Ours happened a few days after we got back from our 1st vacation away from DD. Whole thing lasted about 1/2 hr and scared the crap out of me. There is not much you can do for them while they are having the fit...dr told us not to try to hold them or pick them up..usually makes it worse. Just try to make sure there is nothing around them that could hurt them while thrashing around.

    I read that sometimes they come from stress...our obviously because we left her. Thankfully she has not had another episode..so hopefully yours is just a one time occurance as well.

    ok, that scares me! we'll be leaving DD for a week w/ grandparents. I'm already worried about it but this makes it even worse!

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  • jacks24jacks24

    It sounds like a classic night terror.  DD had them, both with eyes open and eyes closed.  It is considered a "partial waking", along the same lines with sleep walking.  Her body is moving and acting like she is awake, but she isn't conscious.  Trust me, it is even freakier when their eyes are open, but they are not looking at you!

    Partial wakings are caused usually from an irregular or too late bedtime or irregular wake time.  It is like the child is used to fighting to stay awake during the day, and it ends up with her body fighting to stay awake in the middle of the night.

    We resolved ours with an earlier and regular bedtime. 

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  • jacks24jacks24

    Also- when your DS is having one, don't bother trying to wake him.  You just want to make sure he doesn't hurt himself during it.  Sometimes comforting him may prolong it. 

    With DD, it was always better if we didn't go in her room.  She seemed to get more worked up when we were there.  She'd go back to sleep faster on her own. 

    But if he gets out of bed and is moving around, you are probably better off to go in and hold him so he doesn't hurt himself. 

    If you haven't already checked it out, the book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems (Ferber) has a great chapter on partial wakings.

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