My 3 year old son wakes up about every other night at around 3 in the morning screaming. Most of the time I will just let him scream it out and it lasts for about 3 minutes and then he goes back to sleep. But at least once a week he just keeps screaming and I have to go in there and calm him down or take him into my room so he doesn't wake up his older brother that sleeps in the same room as him. So I was just wondering what I should do about it. I feel bad that I cannot do more for him than rub his back while he falls back asleep.
well so far i still haven't called his doctor...well cuz for one my vehicle is out of commission so i can't get him there....it seems to have slowed down to where i don't have to go in there...but see what's funny is that he wakes up from his screaming...the times that i had/have to go in there he's awake...cuz he walks and all that...i dunno..if it continues i will call his doctor and tell him what's going on...THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP!!! you gave me ideas that i wouldn't have thought of...so THANK YOU
Definitely sounds like night terrors. Get an appointment with your pediatrician; hopefully he/she can give you some advice. Good luck.
It sounds like night terrors to me. My son went through this. I think around the age of three, pre-schoolers begin to crave independence but feel scared of their place in the world. From what I understand the night terrors are really common and it might help to let him sleep with a picture of you or someone that makes him feel safe. It might also help to tell him you will place a flashlight by his bed after he is asleep so he can use it to feel safe. Remind him that you check on him often in the night because he is important to you. I think the night terrors last a few weeks at a time at the most, but my son had more than one episode of them.
I fell into the trap of taking my son into my room with so he wouldn't wake his older brother, and it was very difficult to get him back to his bed. I am still fighting it on occasion and he is four years old.
My son did the same thing at that age. They are called Night Terrors. Different than nightmares as usually the child is not really awake when they are screaming and will not remember in the morning. My son grew out of it after about a year. His wasn't happening every night but more like twice a week. I noticed there were triggers that made it worse...changes in his schedule, introducing new people into life, etc. Just be patient..there is quite a bit of info out there about Night Terrors. Hope that helps.
I would love to chat with you...I live in KC MO. You can reach me at ###-###-####.
K.
My son did the same thing up until recently. My doctor told me he had night terrors. When he would start screaming or crying I could never get him to calm down. My doctor told me that he was actually still asleep! Believe it or not it is VERY common in young children. Talk to your doctor and see what he has to say. My doctor told me to pretty much do what you are doing. Calm him down but to be careful because most of the time they are still asleep and waking them abruptly will make it worse.
Hi J.,
Especially since the episodes last for such a short time, it sounds like he could be having night terrors. Much like sleep walking, night terrors often happen because the child is transitioning from one stage of sleep to another, and ends up half awake/half asleep-- except that the "half awake" side isn't really "awake". His body "appears" as though he's awake but he's not, much like sleep walking. Have you tried talking to him during this time? If you've noticed that he can't really talk, or his talking doesn't make sense and is jumbled, or he can't answer a simple question then he's not really awake.
Our son and daughter both had a period of about a year,year and a half when they both were sleep walking. They were often terrified and crying-- the looks of horror on their faces amde us feel so badly. You could tell they were just mortified, but we couldn't calm them.
I read up on the subject through the internet-- you can just type "night terrors" or "sleep walking" in a search and you'll find several articles on the subject.
The one thing that really helped us, is something as simple as making SURE they use the restroom immediately before going to bed, not 20-30 minutes-- immediately. And don't let them drink anything to close to bedtime.
While they're sleeping, their bodies are "aware" that they have to "go"-- but they're in a deep stage of sleep. So the body "wakes" but the "brain" is still dreaming, and isn't conscious of the real world.
On the occasions when our kids still were sleep walking anyway- we just guided them toward the bathroom. One of the interesting things about all this, is that even though they can't communicate effectively during this state, they CAN follow simple instructions. So we just took them to the bathroom, told them to go potty, and almost the second they were finished, you could actually SEE their faces change, and they were suddenly awake-- consciously awake. They'd suddenly realize they were in the bathroom, couldn't remember getting there, or walking around, or being afraid--- nothing. Then they'd laugh and say "That's reallly weird!", go back to bed and be fine!
The good thing is that they outgrow it!!
Have you spoken to your childs Dr about this? Sometimes there are medical problems that can cause these spells, sometimes acid reflux issues. My daughter had these same problems and that started an investigation that ended up that she had asthma, there are other things this could be also. If there is nothing wrong in the end, u will just have to ride it out and hope that he will grow out of it. I know not what you wanted to hear :) Hang in there, where in KS do you live?
