My 12 month old has been waking every night for a few weeks screaming. When I enter his room his eyes are closed and he is very upset. That's what makes me think he's dreaming when this happens. Just wondering if it is possible for him to have nightmares at such a young age. Thanks!
S., one year olds certainly do dream. Even infants dream. He could certainly be having a nightmare.
Good luck
That is night terrors...not sure what you do about it though..
I do not have a real answer for you, but my 15 month old talks in her sleep. At first I thought she was calling my husband or myself, but we got to her she was asleep and still talking. When we started hearing her call our dogs or for snack and milk we figured she was dreaming. If they could have good dreams, I can't see why hey couldn't have bad ones. Their little minds work in mysterious ways.
Does he scream for long? My dgtr from about 10 mos to 18-20 mos or so woke up screaming 2x night - 11pm and 5 am. She would scream a blood curdling scream for 10 seconds to 1 minute (on and off - enough for me to fall out of bed but not long enough for me to regain consciousness!) - then whimper and whine on and off for 10-40 minutes. I quickly learned there was nothing I could do and didn't go in unless she screamed for longer than normal or all out cried. I did think it was night terrors but she hasn't done it in 6-8 mos so I don't know. I do believe boys experience them more than girls - but it is in my family. Good luck - hopefully he will be like mine and self soothe quickly! And yes - sleep is important and they happen more frequently when overtired - my dgtr at that age slept a solid 12 hours at night and 1 1/2 hours during the day. Again - don't know that they were night terrors, but if they were - sleep wasn't her trouble! Good luck and restful sleep!!
Our son is 1 year old. From very early on, occasionally while sleeping he would make noises and expressions suggesting he was having a bad dream. No screaming or anything severe, though. He sleeps in our room so it's easy for us to notice every nuance and reassure him when we he is troubled.
What do they dream about?
Yep....
When my youngest daughter was 7 months old, she witness her father beating her older brother. She had nightmares for a month. Needless to say, her father is no longer in the picture.
For some odd reason the Weather Channel is the only thing that calmed her down..and still does at night. Try something relaxing for him to hear while he's sleeping.
Nanc
Our pediatrician was telling us about children sometimes having the night terrors at an early age. My youngest had just turned one when she began screaming in the middle of the night but we were able to stop it shortly thereafter. We took the dr's advice on a nightlight for her room and we would play quiet music to soothe her when she would experience them. Unfortunately with children being young we can't simply ask them what was wrong, but between having the nightlight & the music to fall back to sleep to, we were all good. The important thing we had to do was not to give in to our first reaction to pick her up out of her crib. If we patted her back, we did so while she was in her crib, no matter how hard she tried to get her way! Good luck!
I am no expert, but it does sound like night terrors. When children have them they are still asleep when you are trying to soothe them. From what I understand you really can't help them calm down because they are truly still deep asleep. For some kids it's just a phase and they outgrow them. I have read that they tend to happen more in children that are overtired, so you could try to make sure he is very well-rested. At 12 months he should be sleeping 10 to 12 hours at night and at least 2 hours during the day (probably two naps, mpving toward one) Hope that helps.
He is having night terrors probably. Our daughter got them, especially when she was teething or missed a very critical nap and was overtired. She would literally start screaming and we would run in and try to wake her up and console her, but she wouldn't even respond- it was as if she had no idea we were even there. We felt helpless, and when I looked into it, essentially you are. The best advice I had was to try to avoid it by making sure she got her naps in. When an episode hit, we were told to try (as hard as it may be) to give it ten minutes and see if it passes. If it makes you feel better you can watch to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Turns out my mom used to get them too, so it may run in families... hope this helps!
YES! They can start at 9-10 months. Look up night terrors.
S.,
They could be night terrors and they can happen even younger than 12 months. My daughter at about 10-12 months went through something simular. She would just start screaming really loud in the middle of the night and when I went to sooth her she would keep screaming like she didnt know I was there, sometimes with her eyes open and closed. She did calm down after a few minutes but I heard that if its true night terrors, they will not calm down for a good while. So maybe he is having some nightmares. They grow out of it. Mine did after about two months.
