I was wondering if any one has issues with their child having night terrors. I think my daughter has them sometimes when she is asleep because if something disturbs her when she is asleep she freaks out. She thrashes around and screams and crys and will not be consoled but yet it seems she is still asleep. It can take over an hour to get her to actually wake up and then an hour or more to get her to sleep. I think she has this same issue when she is over-tired. She wont lay down, she thrashes and screams and nothing you do will calm her unless there is a way to get her to let you rock her (sometimes yes, mostly no). I just spent an hour and a half trying to calm her and rock her to sleep. We are away from home so I couldn't just put her in her bed and let her cry. This does work at home. She usually goes to sleep in a few minutes so I know at home she is just trying to control the situation. Maybe that's all it is here too and the fact she is overtired just made matters worse.But I do think she has issues with her disturbed sleep so I was wondering if any one else has this issue. I want to help her but all of the advice I can find on night terrors says there is nothing you can do. Neither my husband nor I have this but my husband does talk in his sleep sometimes.
Sorry this is so long but I wanted to tell as much as I could.
Thanks so much.
My youngest son used to get night tremmors around that same age. It is daunting and tiresome because you dont know how to help. Sometimes I know this doesnt sound nice I would have to put cold water in his face to wake him up because if I didnt we could hardly get him out of it. Once he was woken up he would be fine. This is just something you have to work through I will tell you this she will grow out of it though.
Night Terrors are pretty scary for parents. I would just take my boys in my arms and rock them a little. I would tell them that we were near and that God would take care of them. Eventually they would calm down and I would put them back into be. They never really woke up.
I found out that what they were watching was scaring them. So I had to be even more selective with their tv watching. Once I did that, the night terrors diminished greatly. It was the little things, like the pedipaws commericial that disturbed them.
If you think she is overtired, I would suggest naps during the day or at least a quiet time. When my boys were 3 they thought they didn't need naps anymore, but I would have them sit and read a book or watch a very boring show and they would sleep for about 30 mins and be refreshed.
It is difficult when you are not at home. Try to keep to her schedule as much as you can. My oldest boy was very scheduled and would give you so much trouble if you strayed from it. I was glad my second one was much less scheduled.
My son had the same issue when he was 2. It would scare us because he was so scared and wasn't awake. When he would finally wake up, he would look scared and confused because we were there. Unfortuantely, there was nothing we could do to stop them. we had to let him grow out of it. We were patient and held him and cuddled him when it happened.
If your daughter falls asleep at home when you let her cry it out, maybe you can talk to the people you are visiting. will they understand if you have to let her cry one night?
Good Luck with this. I think it is just as scary for mom and dad as it is for the kiddos. hang in there!
Our middle son has had sleep terrors also. Since my sister has suffered with them her whole life, we talked to her about what to do. She mentioned sugary stuff and liquids at night...sure enough when he has to pee, and ESPECIALLY when he has anything sugary (even fruit) after about 6:00, he has night terrors. Is your daughter a blondie? I think there tend to be blood sugar issues with fair kids more than darker-haired kids.
We now know that we have to be careful with him, but if we ever have it happen, it's very important to speak calmly and firmly, and tell him he's safe, I'm here, everything is okay...I can't let him cry it out because I know that even though he's not coming out of the sleep state, my little guy is terrified. I read that it's not good to wake them, just to hold them and calm them, and let them go back to sleep.
I hope that helps!
Good luck!
She's still very much a baby. Time does help these things to cease (my son still has them every so often, but not like he used to...which I found out was partially due to his diet before bed). It was tiring and exhausting on all of us, (and still is when they do happen). The biggest thing that helped was not expecting him to handle things like an adult (and realizing he would developmentally grow out of it) and being there for him when he needed me, plus eliminating sugar and really action-packed movies or shows before bed (Cars is one of his favorite movies, but not before bed anymore!). don't ask me why, but once those two things changed, the frequency really went down. He almost always loved to be cuddled or rocked but not always, so I just would sit next to him, talked to him, sang to him. I also tried giving him Calms Forte 4 Kids from Hylands (usually found at health food stores or Whole Foods or Sunflower Markets), they melt pretty quickly and seemed to help a lot.
HI D., Boy do I feel your pain. My daughter use to do that when she was over tired. She needed her sleep and grandparents did not understand and when you travel it is just hard to give them the sleep they need. In fact, for my daughter, there was nothing you could do and she would scream even more if you held her. One time we were at my in-laws she screamed for 1 1/2 hours. It was awful!!! and of course I was the worst mother in the world. Night terrors usually don't start until 3-4 years old. Be comforted she will not remember it and this is her way of settling down, because she is so over tired and stimulated. Good Luck.
Hi D.,
A day late but I hope you get to read this. My daughter had what are more technically called confusional arousal. (More commonly called night terror...but it is helpful to know the difference...see Dr Greene's site on night terrors and other pediatric sleep disorders).
The most common kind...in toddler and pre-school years happens to about 15% of kids..and yes..it is associated with being overly-tired or disruption of sleep routine.
True night terrors happen more in adolescence and are seen in only about 1% of the population.
Holding to comfort tends to prolong the episode....verbal reassurance may be better...the need to urinate may prolong it too..have child visit the bathroom??
Not much you can do ...my daughter's episodes have decreased. They are infrequent...she's 2 and a half now. I have heard medication, and relaxation training or hypno therapy have been used for really bothersome cases.
Good luck! Maybe there is more info online on partial arousal states...during sleep. I am going to look.
