Night terrors/Nightmares

[linfran]

Our previously good sleeper (will be 3yo in February) was used to sleeping 12 hours a night straight until a couple of nights ago.

The first night he started screaming and thrashing about in the bed at about 11.15pm.  His eyes were open but he wasn't awake.  He kept trying to kick the quilt off but his room isn't overly warm and it's a light quilt.

Last night (or this morning?) it was 5.45am and he was really screaming and crying and yelling no.  He seemed to wake half way through it. 

Any suggestions?  Nothing has changed at home and when he's awake he's his happy self, although he was reluctant to go to bed tonight.  I asked at his daycare and they can't think of anything that could have upset him either.

[Ennypen]

We have been through 2 episodes of night terrors here since Woo turned 3.

I put them down to developmental stuff.. its an age where they are learning every day and experiencing new things all the time - their little brains must be on overload and will need to try to make sense of everything and release some of whats going on.

As stressful as they are there is pretty much nothing you can do when one is happening.. they cant hear you or process what you say or do.. so with Woo I simply just have to stand by the bed so he knows I am there and tuck him back up once its over. Anything touching him seems to be too much.. so I cant try to put his quilt back on or cuddle him.

Somehting I find helps is to talk about what he has done in the day after he is in bed.. it helps him make sense of his day and release some of it by telling me.

Big hugs.. they are horrid arent they xxxx

[linfran]

Thank you Helen, one thing that really struck a chord was when you said touching him seemed too much.  When I try and touch Jason to reassure him he just screams all the more and tries to get away from my touch, even if I'm just trying to stroke his hand.  I have just resorted to crouching down at his bedside and telling him I'm here.  The one this morning took about 20 minutes to subside and he was really unsettled after.

We're trying to have lots of cuddle time and quiet time before bed to see if that helps.  I thought it might be developmental (he says that his granny and grandad told him he has "great imagination"!) but I'm trying to rule out anything else too.

[Ennypen]

It's certainly wise to think about what might have triggered them and consider that they may have a cause that you can help with.. such as ear aches or shadows on the wall leading him to be unsettled etc.. etc.. but in the end if you can't see a cause don't fret too much. I thought and thought about Woo's and just couldnt find anything other than the rate at which the little love was learning new things to put it down to.

From people I have spoken to they are very very common in toddlers and most find that they can't "help" the child who is having one other than by being there and adding reassurance if unsettled afterwards. A lot of children don't even remember having one the next day though. Woo is usually fine the next morning as long as we don't escalate it by touching him or trying to help him.

Woo's bouts of terrors usually pass within a couple of weeks. And he's had 2 bouts so far.. and they have not affected his sleep or bedtimes etc adversly at all xxx

I hope your little one gets some undisturbed nights of sleep soon xxxxx

[*Vicki*]

Sorry i didnt see this before 

How is the little guy now Linfran? 

[linfran]

Hi Vicki, the last few nights he has slept through fine.  He's usually such a happy chilled little dude it's really strange when something like this happens.

Thank you for the words of wisdom, it helps to know it's not that freaky!

[*Vicki*]

    

[imaayafa]

i had night terrors from puberty until i was in my early 20s. i found that they ocurred much more frequently when i was dehydrated and when i was exhausted and over tired and when i was menstruating or ovulating. of course an emotional upset lurking in the back of the mind doesn't help. i used to try to wake myself up by scractching on my pillow. i saw a documentary about kids with night terrors and they say if they happen daily that they usually will happen in a particular part of the sleep cycle and that if you can predict at what time, you can wake the child five minutes before its going to happen and then they'll fall back asleep and have missed the episode. however if its only for 3 days it might be something else bothering him. i've also heard that kids have bad dreams when they are going through developmental advances, like they may be remembering running or jumping, or maybe he's even remembering someone pushing him at school or something? my 3 yr old also recently does a lot of moaning/whining in his sleep and i've heard there is something about this age, but i don't know why. i know how scary and upsetting it is and i hope it passes quickly! kids don't usually remember bad dreams at this age, if that's any comfort.

[linfran]

Update - Ds had a full blown ear infection diagnosed on Friday so maybe that has been working on him.

Since he started taking the antibiotics he has been sleeping a lot better.

Thanks for all your help!

[*Vicki*]

ah bless, poor little guy  hugs to you sweetie