2 And a Half Year Gets Hysterical

At this point the best course of action is a visit to the Doctor. Also, please start a Journal to chronicle the events of these episodes. It eventually will be difficult to remember the details.

You will get the BEST help for your daughter if everyone involved has accurate detailed information (dates, times, etc).

I wish you the very BEST... C.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000401/2037.html

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/info/growth/dia...

http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/N/night_terrors.html

http://www.nightterrors.org/SMF/index.php?topic=112.0

http://www.nightterrors.org/SMF/index.php?topic=610.0

2 of my children have experienced these,

What works, is to RELAX, kids are not adults, and extreme Fatigue triggers this,

it generally happens on days that have been particularly busy.
if i have been feeling stressed and tired and running around,
ALSO NEWS , and certain TV programs can do the same,

My Child will focus on certain Shadows, saying there is a man in the closet, monsters ECt.

( Some people say not to wake them up, I ALWAYS do,
and its been helpful for me, I cannot see allowing your child to remain in a a state of stress and anguish,)

What i do at night is to turn on the lights, and a gentle tv program, Wash his face and hands, Which helps,

WHEN hysterical, as my oldest would become, I would turn on the light and TV, and stand him up on his feet,
and Wash his face and hands,

if he was completely out of control, I would SHOUT MOMMY IS HERE, MOMMY IS HERE, CAN YOU SEE ME, CAN YOU see me,
Come to momma come to momma, I have you baby I have you,

And eventually he would WAKE,the washed face wakes them,
or a cold drink.

in your case your daughter seemed overly tired and frustrated,

make sure you aren't running around with her especially on week days, dinners should be quiet and at home, relaxing.

Eating out is too much stimulation, It might be fine for you,
and your husband to enjoy a night out at a restaurant, but for her its far too overwhelming, and loaded with scarey things, she doesn't understand,

Eg. They sing happy birthday, the BIG brick ovens for pizza, crowds, strangers, even traffic, can be freightening,

the more time spent at home with a strict early to bed routine, the better she will do,

fortunately your in a position to do this because your a SAHM,
for the next few weeks just stay home, NO groceries, nothing,

Sprout TV is good for her, and Noggin,

NOTHING ELSE, limit everything till you find out her triggers,
http://www.abchomepreschool.com/Curriculums/Downloads/Onl...

try less TV, this helped with my oldest,
I would try focusing on her letters , The above link was very helpful to me, in planning TV free days.

You could get a book from the library, called nature/ or Jungle in your own back yard

i know it sounds dreary, just being trapped at home, BUT, its whats best for her,

Good luck and hope the doctor has better suggestions

M
Mother of 3

Dear G., I remember night terrors - or at least I remember something that terrified us which was exactly as you described, at night, that we could never get another explanation for except this phrase. Our boy is/was smart and spirited as well. I think he might have been a little younger than 2, probably 1 and a half, but the night terrors, at least 3 times, all occurred in the same season, so they passed within 3 months or so.

Was your daughter wide awake the last two times? That is different, but I remember with my boy that I could never convince myself either that he was awake or asleep while they were happening. He certainly wasn't "there" and he could never remember it afterwards. It did go away. If it happens when she is wide awake, I would explore it with her after she has calmed down.

Bloody noses can be a real curse. Once my now 8 year old got one the day before her birthday party that was a real doozy. We said, "at least it wasn't tomorrow night!" But, sure enough, the next night, just as we were having the transition from dinner party out to sleep over in, her fragile nose got bumped and there we were, with her spouting blood and carrying on and on about the embarrassment of it all for a good 20 minutes. Yikes. We all recovered from that, too.

Hi G.,

You are smart to discuss with a Pediatrician!

I just write to share a bit of my experience. I did not realize that the terrible 2's come in waves, or rather plateaus. At 2, my son started with willfullness and tantrums. I adjusted with some practice. Three months later, up a notch.. hmmm, I adjusted with some practice. Three months later, whoa! Once you have ruled out any medical issues or developmental delays, you may want to consider that it may be related to your child's temperament. You describe her as spirited, a beautiful way to describe her! With that spirit comes willfullness, power struggles, frustration on the part of the child, which can really overwhelm them. With no self control in place yet, the behavior can get wierd and plain old scarey sometimes. There are ways to avoid some of the power struggles and navigate some of the really confusing behavior. I found the books by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka (Raising Your spirited Child, Sleepless in America, Avoiding Power Struggles) to be very helpful. Her books are based on research on temperament-based parenting, but accessible to the layperson. I learned ways to generally reduce my son's frustration level, and those scarey perplexing behaviors went away. Yes, he still has tantrums, and I must be ever vigilant to avoid "danger zone" circumstances. I always inform him 10 times about what will happen later, or tomorrow, or that we are leaving in 15 minutes, etc. and I give him lots of choices so that he feels he has control over his life.

Also, here is a website with a lot of useful info and also with many links to other resources.

http://www.nurturingourfamilies.com/spirited/exptdefn.html

All the best!

C.

Wow... You just described the same behavior my daughter has been exhibiting since she was 2 1/2... the only difference is that these "terrors" have only occured during sleep and not as you described at these other times. You are right- they are frightening for us to witness. She is almost in a rage- eyes open, screaming, moaning, sometimes flailing or trying to hit... The more we try to comfort her, the louder and more hysterical she gets. She seems to be staring right at us but her eyes seem "posessed" for a lack of a better word.

My daughter is now 4 1/2 so we have been dealing with this for 2 years. They seem to come in waves... She will do it frequently for a few months then we don't see it happening for a long time... Like your daughter, ours is also sassy, spirited, and extremely smart. She is also the most strong willed little girl I have ever encountered. While she is going through these episodes, the strong will seems to get stronger as she fights to be comforted.

I have read up on this and also talked to my doctor and I still feel like I am not 100% sure what is going on. Now that she is 4 she has also started nonsense talking during these episodes. I talk to her durting the episode and after to see if she was aware. During them she responds to all questions we ask her but gets more aggitated when we talk to her and she seems not to remember the next day most of the time. At times she will say, "I wasn't good last night, sorry".

I used to get sick every time it happened... my heart broke for my little girl. Now that we have been dealing with this for 2 years and I know they come and go and I know she isn't hurt, I deal with them differently. I continue to comfort her throughout basically repeating, "you're going to be okay, do you want water, do you want mommy"... It probably seems heartless, but I have to admitt my husband and I get frustrated with her sometimes. Since she seems awake and aware by responding and lashing out at us and she gets louder and louder with no regard for our neighbors or her baby sister, we get annoyed... not to mention it is in the middle of the night after a LONG day of being a mom... In the end I always keep my calm and remember its not really her fault.

I am sure this didn't help resolve your situation, but maybe it will help you feel better knowing other families are going thru similar circumstances. If you find out any helpful information from your doctor or from researching this, please let me know. Good luck and i hope you and your little girl have many more restful nights than stressful ones... - M. in Staten Island

I

G.,

Wow, sounds like my daughter was for a while. She is three now and all of that has stopped. We even had her tested for seizures because we were so concerned. It turned out to be nothing but terrors, yes, even in the day! Talk to the pediatrician.

I have \a question first. does this happen when she is sleeping. This happens with my daughter sometimes too when she is sleeping and distubs her own sleep. she thinks it is someone waking her up and she will cry and kick and scream for 10 min-1 hr. Usually I have to let her go through it. She rather has to wake all the way up and realize that she is crying or she has to go through it and fall back asleep. She is almost 3 1/2 and still goes through it.
I wish I had more advise but all I can say from my experience that if she is having this issue when she is sleeping then that could be it.