My DD has night terrors - and has for a very long time
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If he is awake and crying and asking for the light on I'm not sure it is I really
. Night terrors are when they are stuck between wake and sleep - so screaming but not responding properly to you. My DD often doesn't respond at all, sometimes keeps calling 'mummy' even though I am there, writhes around a lot, on the few times she does speak she is far from 'with it' and what she says is very muddled and incomprehensible. She did that last night - was crying and saying she wanted a turn over and over - but was otherwise just writhing and unable to respond to questions. She is often screaming and covered in sweat.
It sounds like nightmares might be the answer, but that perhaps your LO is just a bit young to discuss and articulate it to you. Asking for the light on implies being aware and frightened of something. When my children were young I used to call them 'dream stories' or 'sleep stories' and I think they understood that better.
Both my children have needed nightlights from about age 3. Neither will have the door shut, and both will call in the night if their lights are out and it is too dark. Could that help??
Another word for night terrors is confusional arousals, and that is pretty close to what they are. In a really bad one my DD will go on and off for 1-2 hours. It is really hard
. If she goes on that long we usually do wake her - but that is frightening and then she is upset about that.
The only thing we have found that helps is making sure she is cool at night. Minimal clothing etc. it doesn't stop all of them, but it does help.
She currently gets about 2-3 a week, which is greatly improved from six months ago. I must admit, I find them really really hard to deal with. Thankfully DS sleeps through them all.
Sounds like OT NWings from nap dropping (which is unavoidable), and probably some fears and nightmares starting.
They do say with night terrors that you can leave them to it (and we do for a short period as waking them can be frightening and make it a lot worse). If you do go in them slow gentle soothing but still allowing it to run its course. Megan will usually just suddenly stop flailing and roll to her side and be immediately in a very deep sleep. You should avoid waking them if you can - horrid for Mama but they never remember - I only wake her if it had been 1-2 hours
- and I do that by taking her downstairs - the sudden change in temperature will make her wake. Others say putting them on the toilet can work.
I hope your DS isn't developing them as I really do think they are one of the worst things we deal with round here. Last week she had a few in a caravan on holiday and it was awful
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