Anyone have experience with night terrors? (NBR)

niknak1208 · January 2015

I'm beginning to wonder if this is what's going on with our 2 year old DD. Typically, she's a pretty good sleeper. She fights going to bed at night but most nights she sleeps right through. Maybe 1-4 times a month, she'll wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I just can't figure out if she's figured out how to manipulate me and how to get me to come get her. .or if she's really in distress. It's not like a whiney middle of the night cry. It's a flat out scream. It's loud. It's urgent. It's sudden. The other night before she started screaming I heard her saying 'noo.. nooo.. nooo I no want to.. nooo.. I want my mamma'. That really freaked me out. I'm a total wuss anyway but I was standing there thinking OMG what is she talking to? It was just really strange. Or last night she was saying.. owie.. owie.. owie.. over and over again and then would scream. If it's like a whiney cry.. I'll usually listen for a few minutes and see if she'll put herself back to sleep. But when it's an urgent sudden cry like that.. I usually go in. So when I enter the room.. she's usually standing and when I turn the lights on she's awake and appears to be ok. Last night she had a poopy diaper but she was ok. But she immediately puts her arms out to me and says I no want in my bed mamma and wants out. She did this twice last night. The first time it was fairly early.. maybe 10pm. So I grabbed her and let her snuggle with me for a while and when she was asleep .. I put her back in bed. Then she did it again at 2-3am and she was like rattled. It took her a good while to get back to sleep.. even in our bed next to me.

My son never had night terrors and I don't know much about but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts?

maggs2015 · January 2015

I do not have any personal experience with night terrors, however my close friend has a 3 year old who struggled with them for a couple of months.

Have you recently moved him to a new bed and/or did they start happening after you announced your pregnancy? I don't think she's trying to manipulate you at all, with a little comforting her toddler settled right back down and never seemed to remember them in the morning. Best news is that he outgrew them atfter a couple of months.

Found this helpful article:

https://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/terrors.html#

Good luck!

niknak1208 · January 2015

Thanks! She's in the same room that she's been in since she was a baby. She's 2 so she 'knows' that mommy has a baby in her tummy but she doesn't really know how to process that. She lifts up my shirt a lot to say 'hi' to the baby but in her mind she's the baby.

I would just like to find a way to soothe her and make her feel safe and calm to be in her own bed again without it being so disruptive to her sleep and to mine. On nights like last night.. we are both exhausted in the morning.

topaz7777 · January 2015

My daughter started having nightmares around 2 years old. Seems the difference between nightmares and a night terror is that nightmares they can snap out of and tend to remember. A night terror sometimes they have to ride out. My little brother had night terrors quite a bit until he was about 5 years old (he's 20 years younger than me). But they would try to wake him and he would thrash and scream despite eyes being open, and then eventually would snap out of it exhausted but with no idea what happened.

niknak1208 · January 2015

Thanks ladies! Maybe it is just nightmares. She's definitely not sleeping when I enter the room. She's usually standing up and wants me to grab her. But she was sure rattled the other night and the things she was saying really bothered me. I'm a total scardy cat.

It's like she has a night like that.. and then the rest of the week she's fine. I read the article posted by maggs2015. That was really helpful. The things that stood out to me was overtired and over stimulated. The kids both got kindles/ipads for Christmas. My daughter just has my old kindle but my son likes to watch a 'movie' or play a game on his ipad before bedtime and so then she wants to also. Last night I made them put the tablets away BEFORE they starting settling down and then made sure that she was right on time going to bed. She slept through just fine last night. I heard a little whining around 1am.. but it was just a little bit and she was back to bed. I think napping has been an issue too because DS is 6 so he doesn't nap anymore and DD knows it. it drives her crazy that he's up and she has to lay down. To even get her to nap anymore.. I basically have to go with her into our bed.. lay with her and let her fall asleep and then sneak out. usually she falls alseep within minutes.. and it's not like I mind resting for a minute. lol But if I just put her down.. she is not having it!

topaz7777 · January 2015

My DD a few months ago was screaming in bed "no! Don't get me don't get me! NOOOO!!" When she woke up she had a dream a dragon was trying to bite her. No idea where that came from. Their little brains start working pretty different at that age. They got a lot better also. She doens't have them frequently at all.

itsmevkb · January 2015

My oldest and now my youngest have had periods of nightterrors/waking screaming/nightmares. Sometimes they look and act awake but they really aren't. I'm a sleepwalker myself and know that my husband has had entire conversations with me and would swear I was awake and the next morning I would only have the vaguest recollection of any of it. So, even if she is standing and reaching out for you, it doesn't necessarily mean she's totally awake.

Having less stimulation before bed is good. So is trying to wake them prior to them starting if they seem to hit at a similar time. For most kids there is a pattern and they will hit terrors during a certain portion of their sleep cycle. If you can identify a pattern and then wake them prior it can help reset that sleep cycle and avoid it.

But, having been through this now twice sometimes there just really isn't anything you can do except make sure they are in a safe place. It can be exhausting and frustrating but eventually most kids will outgrow it.

niknak1208 · January 2015

That's true. I never really thought about the fact that just because she's standing doesn't necessarily mean she's awake. My husband is a big sleepwalker. He sleep walks the most when he's really really tired. He will respond to you but he's really not awake. I can always tell when hes sleepwalking because he'll get out of bed quickly and not moan and grown about his back. He has a really hard back and usually he gets up slow and makes some sort of groan about his back pain so when he doesn't do that.. I know he's not awake. But he's peed in other rooms thinking it's the bathroom.. moved stuff around in the middle of the night.. gone into the kids rooms thinking he was going back to our room.. ugh.. it's tough. My biggest concern with our daughter is just to help her get more restful sleep. She hasn't seemed to thrash around and she's in her crib still and there's nothing around the crib or close enough for her to get to that could hurt her but she's exhausted in the morning.

it seems like it usually happens sometime between 12am and 2am. The first time she woke up this particular night .. it was around 10pm.. but usually it's later than that.

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