Night Terrors - Waipahu,HI

All I can tell you, is that my daughters night terror lasted for about 2 months - then went away as mysteriously as they arrived. Hang in there!

K.

Night Terrors are common and normal... all/most kids go through that at a certain age. They don't do it on purpose. Both my kids went through that then it stopped all on its own. Make sure he naps too during the day.

Here is a link:
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/50/80...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071300.asp
http://www.life123.com/parenting/young-children/sleep-dis...
http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/growt...

Make sure it is a "night-terror." Or, maybe he is going through a growth-spurt... at which 18 months old is a growth-spurt time and they get hungrier because their intake needs increases per their growth.... and if also going through developmental/cognitive changes and/or hitting more milestones, this as well, will tweak them. It passes. All these things, happening to them at the SAME time... is a lot for a little one. Its not easy for them. It wakes them. But it passes.

All the best,
Susan

Hi J.--I feel your pain! I also have an 18 mo old who has never been a great sleeper, but overall he was doing much better until about 18 mos and then he was doing the same thing yours is...may be a dumb question, but have you tried or do you have a night light in his room? As soon as we put a night light in, he has slept all night ever since (we have room darkening blinds so very dark in there). Also gave him Simethicone before bed as he seemed gassy, so didn't know which was helping at first, but now no simethicone so seems the night light did the trick.

My son also has had them. They are scary to watch sometimes, as we want to make them feel safe. The previous responses are on point. We did discover that when he got too hot, it triggered them. Our little guy is pretty warm, so we make sure that he goes to bed with less blankets and I then check on him later and adjust them as necessary. Good luck and hang in there.

My daughter has this (not so much now she is 4) and she got better when I slept with her. Supposedly kids outgrow night terrors when they are young.

Hi J.!

Yes, I am a mommy expert in this area. It only took me years and endless reading to figure out what worked for my daughter. I got NO sleep.

It is critical that your son NOT be kept up late. If you put him to bed a little early it helps avoid the night terrors. Do not leave him alone. While he does not really know what is going on, nor is he truly conscious, he is still aware that something scary is happening to him and he is comforted by having you there; he will be more scared if you do not come to him.

I read an adult's account of night terrors (yes, adults can get them, too) and he said it was like being in a deep sleep and then having someone stand over your head and wake you by banging a loud gong right in your ear. Your heart races, you feel scared and panicked.

Note when his cycles begin. It happens because he is overtired (it's also related to sleep-walking, which my daughter did a little, too) and his brain does not want to leave the sleep cycle that he is in, to move to a different type of brain wave function. But, if you know that his first terror is going to come, say, around 1.5 hours after first falling asleep, go in and gently talk, nudge, or get him to turn over about 20 minutes before. This will help him.

After years of not knowing to do these things (especially just getting him to bed early, don't skip naps) and not getting more than 2-3 hours of interrupted sleep a night - I was very sick for a whole year, with repeated pneumonia because my immunity was low. The following year, I got even sicker - really sick. My daughter started her night terrors around the same age as your son and finally grew out of it around 6 - 6.5 years of age. We could never keep our kids out late and friends thought we were just overprotective, but it took too much energy to explain. Best of luck to you.

My little guy had night terrors, too. Does your little one sleep in the dark? or is there a small light next to him. There can be many things that will cause terrors. Loud arguements, bad t.v. content and violence heard, Cold remedies such as; Dimetap,Siladryl and Benadryl (has been known to cause babies and small children to wake up physically but still be asleep mentally, so they cry and seem unconsolable, but it's because they are stuck in a sleep state and can't come out of it. I wonder if you can connect with your baby when he wakes up, or is he in a trance-like state.

Mark Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Haits, Happy Child" has some useful info on night terrors.

His basic recommendation is to make sure that he has a very regular, early bedtime - 7pm at the latest.

Night terrors are caused by part of the brain being asleep while another part is awake. It can't happen during REM sleep (while dreaming), and your child doesn't remember it - and may be impossible to wake.

He says that all you can do at the time is make sure they don't hurt themselves. A really regular sleep schedule (at 18 months, that means one afternoon nap and a regular bedtime) is the best shot at actually eliminating the problem.