Nightmares - Morgan Hill,CA

I think nightmares in little ones are from stress. My son had nightmares at 3 months. It was alarming to me. But we have to remember that stress for an infant could be gas, teething or separation anxiety. I put my hand on my son when he is fussing about, but unable to calm himself. I just calmly lay my hand on him, slightly firm. When he is relaxed I very slowly remove it. I also do the 'shh shh' thing to help calm him. I also have to remember to remain calm for him so that my stress does not increase his.

It sounds like "night terrors". My son used to have them occasionally. It is very scary! You should look it up and see if it fits. My son grew out of them, and he wouldn't even remember them when he woke up. I think it is scariest for mom/dad who can't do anything but watch. Do some research, but I think they are pretty harmless.

Sounds like night terrors to me. They're a little different from nightmares in a couple ways. From what I've read

1. Kids can't usually be awoken from night terrors like they can nighmares

2. If you try to intercede or comfort your child you could just make it worse, as opposed to a nightmare where waking them up and comforting them might be more helpful.

3. Night terrors usually are more dramatic than nightmares, and their eyes can be open without the child being awake (kind of creepy, but it happens a lot)

4. They happen often times because of lack of sleep. If the child is missing out on sleep or naps due to teething or illness or life in general, their body goes into a deeper sleep mode when do fall asleep, and this somehow brings on more vivid dreams, as though their mind is packing a lot of dreams in all at the same time to get them processed through the grey matter.

Night terrors do subside after a few weeks to a few months. They are not harmful to the child, but are actually beneficial for their mind and body (though I can't see how!!!).

If you want to protect your child as well as prevent these from happening so much, some ideas would be to

1. watch over him while it happens (if you can do so without breaking down and interfering with the dreaming), and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble or hurt himself. If you can't watch him yourself, either have your husband or another family member help, or make sure and "injury-proof" the room before he goes to sleep by putting padding on sharp corners and by locking the door so he doesn't go out and wander around the house or yard (I know he's young, but maybe he's really agile???)

2. notice what time the terrors are happening each night and try and wake up your son before that point. He'll fall back asleep in no time and most likely have more calm dreams

3. be sure he's getting as much sleep as his growing body needs, when possible.

An 11 month old boy should be getting AT LEAST 10 hours of sleep a night and then another 2 to 3 during the day. Ideally he needs to be going to bed around 7:30, 8:30 at the latest, each night. Any time past that and it's harder for him to get the full, deep sleep he needs, no matter how late he is sleeping in. If he's sleeping for 11-12 hours at night and getting another 2 to 4 during the day, you're definitely doing well. It amounts to 13 to 15 hours a day.

Babies are more inclined to sleep problems when they are sleep deprived, but it's so hard for us to know sometimes when their little lives change under our very noses, so don't beat yourself up if you find that getting him to sleep enough is a struggle. You wouldn't be the first!!!

If you think he is sleeping regularly and deeply enough, then just keep up that schedule (until he's ready for a change in another 6 months, of course).

Here are some links to information about night terrors and sleeping if you'd like to read up on it.

Toddler sleep habits:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_establishing-healthy-sleep-ha...

What are night terrors:
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&action=detail&...

What are night terrors:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_night-terrors_142.bc

Good luck and don't worry. They'll subside soon!

Mom of a toddler

Also, aside from all of the other advice pray. Say a prayer over your son before he goes to bed. Even a fun prayer like "Now I lay me down to Sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, (We've changed it to...)
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my Soldiers keep, Angels watch me from above, I pray with them for those I love, God Bless Mom, Dad Etc. And please make me be a good boy and not have any bad dreams. We pray of this in your name-AMEN!

W.,

It may be that there have been alot of changes going on in your home, in his lifestyle not enought sleep, over tired?

it would be too hard for anyone to make that assessment when no one knows anything about yours and your childs lifestyle, if he is always at home with you, at a daycare? enviromental influences? emotionality, health, family history? there are just too many things this can be equated to ...

but what we can do for you here is to offer you some support,
You might try waking him gently and just holding him for a moment, rubbing his back and head while he is sleeping, just laydown with him for a time, or putting on some mellow up beat music?

if he continues this you might want to take him to the doctor? I have a son who is now 13, but he did the same thing as a baby, People tryed to tell me it was night terrors, and that it would go away. It did NT. I could not even get him to sleep in his own room.. He still will not sleep in his own room for more then one or two nights... my son has anxiety stress disorder and it is a difficult task.

This is not to say that is the same condition with your child, but then again that is why it is important to seek professionals to look at this now... better to get this checked then to let it go on and cause more problems down the road.

I wish you all the best..

here for you!!!

Blessings...
I will be praying for you both!

Hi W., I just went through the same thing with my little guy. When he was about 13 months old he started screaming in his sleep for episodes that would last 30-40 mins. Nothing my husband and I did would console him.

When we finally went to the doctor, she said it was night terrors. She explained that at about 12 months babies start to dream and have nightmares and night terrors. The difference with night terrors is that they are actually in a trance or sleep while they are screaming. That is why my son was not responding to us. Sounds very similiar to what you are experiencing. The doctor advised us to not try to wake him but to just talk softly to him and reassure him that everything is okay. The doc said there isn't really much you can do. They also did say that babies have no recollection of the incident the next morning so it is a totally harmless type of thing. I know that's probably not very much help but at least you know you are not alone. Then about a week after having these night terror they stopped for my son so hopefully you will find that they soon stop with your son.

Goodluck,
V.

My neice has what they call Night Terrors. She has experienced them for as long as I can remember. She gets out of bed sleep walking while she is experiencing them. She will walk around screaming waking her parents from a dead sleep. Her father tells us that it is really hard to wake her when she is having a Night Terror, but when he does it's as if nothing happened. She has no memory of it at all. They have taken her to 2 or 3 doctors and they all say the same. However, they did say that she would grow out of it too and she is now 11 and still experiencing about 3-4 a year. I personally would take your son to a doctor, but good luck with him and I hope that they quit bothering your family soon.

I agree, sounds like night terrors. My son was a little older when his started, but we found out he only had them on days when he didn't nap at daycare. If he was really overtired, we were almost guaranteed to have them that night. We just made sure he was safe until it stopped, then tucked him back in bed. He never remembered anything the next day. It is scary the first couple of times, especially since sometimes they look awake and will cry out like they are hurt, but they aren't really. It is impossible to soothe them so all you can do is make sure they are not going to get hurt while they thrash and that once it stops they are comfortable. You can try moving his bedtime a little earlier to see if getting more sleep helps to eliminate them.

Oh my gosh, this is what our daughter would do. I honestly thought she was psycho because she would just scream and thrash and my holding and consoling would not help one bit. Now I really think she had a bad dream but I prolonged it by waking her up or trying to wake her up. I'm sure she was not even awake as I held her and she screamed. I believe I should have just let her get through it and fall back asleep as soon as possible. I don't know if this is the same thing, but she is 8 years old now and I still think about those moments at times. She outgrew it so hang in there! My best advice is to try to let your son try to just get back to sleep asap.

Hi W.,
I had 3 sons, and 2 had nightmares like this. What finally worked, is that I would carry him to the kitchen, and spoon feed about 4-5 bites of yogurt into his mouth. As you said, they didn't wake up. I began to give my boys yogurt, cheese or some protein right before bed. My understanding that protein will help keep the blood sugar up during the night. My boys were about 2-4 years old when these nightmares occured. Usually the nightmares would be about 2-3 hours after they were put to bed. Thanks, Debbie O.

It could be night terrors. My son has those occasionally. I dont think he had them at that young an age though. My son is 6 and when he has night terrors there is nothing I can do to make it stop. He looks like he is awake, but he is actually asleep. I hold him until it passes and when he calms down I ask what scared him and he doesnt know. The next day I ask what his dream was about and he doesnt know. The doctor said there is nothing we can do to stop them, but luckily they do not happen very often. My suggestion to you is to hold him and let him know he is safe until it passes. He is too young to be able to explain his dream so there probably isnt a way to know if it is a nightmare or a night terror. (night mares they wake up right away and remember a dream. night terrors they have no idea they were screaming.)

Good luck.

Hi W.!

I remember the first time my son had Night Terrors at this age, it was absolutely horrifying. I am sorry that you are about to go through this.

My son had this for about 1 1/2 years, beginning at the age of 1ish.

What FINALLY worked is when i started to notice WHAT TIME of the night he began to do this. I would set my alarm and wake him up about 15 minutes before he would have a Night Terror. After a long while, they subsided.

In the meantime, remember & try to understand, that he has NO IDEA you are even in the room. He won't remember the Terrors (usually) the next morning. It's all very scary, I know.

The best thing is to make sure that he is safe from himself, and that he can't fall out of bed, or whatever.

I would read up on Night Terrors if i were you, because they may know more about it now than when my son was that age. That was 9 years ago for me, but those Night Terrord seem like yesterday.

My thoughts will be with you tonight!

:o) N.

Hi W.!!
Im so sorry to hear about your little one. Let me tell you something. I have 2 boys' ages 8/7 and both complete opposite of each other. WE have family nights each Friday night, sometimes we watch fearnet and sometimes we watch comedy- my 8 yr old will watch the movie, no problem with nightmares, wakes up o so happy. My 7yr old will do the same, that SAME NIGHT... but many days later of not watching anything but cartoons at times something will trigger a nightmare. Most times I won't know when these nightmares have happened. My point is .. pay attention to what your children are watching, doing, hearing in the household. Its amazing how sometimes we can have a nice vacation and have bad dreams too... Don't worry too much, this too shall pass :) Good luck and remember, you are not alone. I think we all have been there.. Take care.

This sounds like what is called "night terrors". My son had these when he was about two or three. Just keep comforting him when these happen, but if he is still awake, leave him sleeping and comfort him while he is asleep like rubbing his back or his belly. It is usually caused when a child is over tiered, so make sure he is getting enough sleep.

Good Luck!

M. *~

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071300.asp_

my daughter was doing the same & this website helped us out a bit. the key for us was not to let her get too too tired at the end of the day! good luck.

W. I would almost bet night terrors are actually something going in the nervous system and I would bet that it is related to a vitamin deficiency. I think it is interesting that these people saw changes after feeding protien, or remmission and not sure why. If it was caused by outside influences, like the world in general, then why would the child suddenly go into remmission? I would say the remmission was actually caused by a diet change, perhaps the child started liking a new food that carried the trace element the body needed. Even very small deficiencies can cause reactions in the body. I remember as a kid waking with horrible night cramps in my legs, now I learn it is due to lack of vitamins ( I think calcium but I can't remember)!

I would look into what trace minerals are required by the nervous stystem, either on a yahoo search engine or at a health food store. I do know that the B vitamins in particular are good for the nervous system (found in protiens!) but are also destroyed by sugar intake. Vitamin C promotes sleep and reduces anxiety and they have liquid forms. Start small and work up to a higher dose so you don't get the runs. Lastly, I would give him cod liver oil, 2-3 times a day.

Hi W.,

It's called night terrors, and usually by time the child turns 2yrs of age the terrors subside. But in my sons case it lasted a bit longer, about a year longer. His pediatrician informed me that night terrors in children are common and there is nothing to be concerned about. There is not much you can do for them, but to keep watch and make sure they don't hurt themselves. Does your son remember or behave differently in the morning? My son had no recollection. He would wake-up happy and to begin a new day. It is very hard being the observer. Hang in there, he is and will be fine.

g

Does your son still take naps in the day? Sometimes when kids are active in the day and don't get enough rest, they can have restless nights and bad dreams. This happened sometimes w/ our 6 year-old. When he had naps during the day, he slept better at night.

I don't know at what age they can have night terrors but thats what it sounds like to me. Its like they are in their own little scary world and nothing vcan be done to comfort them. My daughter was around 7 when she started having them. I took her to a pschologist and she stopped. We just found she was hard on herself to be perfect in school. I don't know what actually causes them.

Hi W.,

I heard nightmares come from toxins in the body.
I went to a Child's Wellness Expo Aug 2 in San Jose. There were 13 doctors that came from around the country to put this event together. It was incredible. There will be another one this Sat the 23rd in Santa Cruz with several nurses sharing information on how to create a healthier environment for our families.

If this is something that interests you let me know and I will send you a flier on it.

Good luck.

N. Marie

I agree about the night terrors. My oldest had them starting around 2 and they peaked at about 3.5 or 4, and now he rarely has them. It really freaked me out the first few times, but I guess as I got used to them, I just did what I could to soothe him. The tricky part was that he was almost so out-of-it that I could never soothe him the way he needed and eventually he'd just finish with the "spell" or whatever and go back to sleep. The next morning he was clueless and I was exhausted! I found with him that a combination of poor daytime sleep and heat made it worse. What better an incentive for more napping? We also installed a fan in his room to help cool him down and to allow him to sleep more comfortably. I'm not sure if that really had an effect, or if it just makes me more comfortable when I go in there. Either way, please know you're not alone in both the night terrors and your response to them, but also realize that he'll be fine. Here's to hoping you get some good sleep tonight!

Sleep disturbances are common when your baby is working hard on something, crawling, walking, talking, etc. You can assure him he is safe and mommy is taking care of him. Just caress him or rub his back. I'm sorry, that is upsetting. Take care, C.

Sounds like "night terrors"...ask your doctor and or do some reading on the topic. my son had them, they are very unnerving but ultimately harmless, and he will grow out of them. it is much harder on those observing the event than for the child experiencing them....he won't remember.