My 19th old son screams almost everynight and he's not even awake. I've been told he has night terrors (not nightmares)His Pediatrician say's it's probably something that's happened during the day or watched on TV. We've made a point to not have the TV on lately and he still screams and thrashes around.It takes about 10 to 15min to calm him down. I would be interested in hearing from others with toddlers who have night terrors or had night terrors. How long it's lasted or any advice on what to do.
My godchild use to have night terrors- they discovered it had something to do with her blood sugar being too low.
You may want to try and give him some protien (i.e. cheese) before bed. Who knows, it might work!
Good luck
My own son around that age had night terrors. He rarely ever watched TV so I do not believe that it was TV related. I will say that it is heart wrenching to witness as a parent. I would hold him with little verbal and calm/rock him back to sleep. The night terrors lasted about 6 months to a year and were not every night. I noticed on days where there was more activity or changes in his routine that he would have them more. We found leaving on a night light to be very helpful. We bought one from Menards that sat on his dresser (it looks like Nemo). He still needs the night light and he is five. He no longer has night terrors but does get nightmares now. Good Luck my heart goes out to you.
My son is now 25 months, but he has experienced night terrors off and on throughout his little life. We were never told it was as a result of any stimulus during the day (and didn't find any correlation between the day's events and the terrors), but we did have some success in eliminating them.
We were told never try to wake him up, but make sure he doesn't hurt himself. I never hold him tightly, but keep at least a hand on him and talk to him quietly throughout the terror reassuring him that I'm still with him. Eventually he calms down and we can rock him until we put him back down to sleep.
If it seems to happen around the same time at night, wake your child up about 10 minutes before the terror begins. Turn on lights and wake your child up fairly completely. Apparently, this breaks the sleep cycle enough that the terror doesn't happen. I guess you do that for a few nights and it should break the terror cycle.
Good luck! It's frightening to be woken up in the night by screaming you can't stop right away. :)
Take care!
J.
My oldest daughter had night terrors when she was younger. Her's lasted on and off for about 2 or 3 years. They are not fun so I sympathize with you. I would just sit by her and make sure she didn't hurt herself. I would keep telling her it was okay and that I was here. When she would come out of them I would just reassure her and let her have a drink of water if she wanted it. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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My two toddlers both had night terrors and are still having. Their doctor said they start around two and can last a couple of years. It varies with every kid. My 4 year old has them and we can't wake him up. My 3 year old wakes himself up. I don't think its necessarily something they see on tv but it could be a reaction to a stressful day. Their doctor says it normal and it will go away. Good Luck
