night terrors?

[15milner]

Wow what a last hour i've just had. 

DS (24months) was REALLY upset.   Nothing I could do to calm him / comfort him.  He was crying for mummy, but even if I just touched him on his side / hand he was pushing me away.  He was really really strong, squirming and writhing as if in pain, pushing me away, but at the same time clinging to me for dear life.

This is the second consecutive night he has woken like this.  Each time we have been at a loss to know what to do.  He was requesting milk, we got that and he threw the beaker across the room.  It was as if the terror turned into a real BIG tantrum. 

We have ended up bringing him downstairs to be with us for a while until he calmed down, as he clearly wasnt' going to settle upstair on his own (or with company / comfort).  But we don't want this becoming a habit.  I am wary as so many times I have read that it doesn't take long beore that happens.

My options -
Night terror - any advice / help so we can get through this better.
The one last remaining top molar coming through and it is THE WORST teething he has ever had - and should I therefore just give him a dose of calpol before bed tomorrow.

All's quiet now.  I am exhausted and emotionally a wreck, it's heartbreaking.

Thanks
Alex

[Tonya]

Hi Alex!!

We had the same issues for about a week, and we were at a total loss.  I'm still not entirely sure, but I did end up chalking it up to his molars coming in.

It was almost as if he developed a sudden aversion to his room - when he'd wake, he was FREAKING OUT screaming and crying (so hard that he would vomit :cry: ).  I did everything to try to help (knowing I didnt want any bad habits!) as far as comforting, but I even tried my room (STILL FREAKING OUT) and the only thing that calmed him was being downstairs for a bit.

As quickly as it came, and without warning, it left the same.  Like I said, for us it happened for about a week.  And even though he seemed TERRIFIED of his room, we had molars at the end of it all.

It's awful. :cry:   I hope you all get past this soon. :cry:
{{{HUGS}}}}

[Ami ~ 3 girls' mom]

My 3-1/2 yo does this and the closest we can come up with is night terrors.  The only thing to calm her down is sleeping with us, but then that's what she wants every night.   :?  We've spent two hours trying to get her back to sleep and we never know what's wrong.

[Fife_Mum]

We had this last night. Fraser woke around midnight. Initially I sent DH through but DS (21 months) sounded terrified so I went through and held him close for a while. He was stretched out almost rigid but sobbing and moaning whilst stating off into space  :cry: . I don't really think he was fully awake. At first DH tried to distract him/snap him out of it but he was not responding to anything and I decided it was a nightmare or night terrors so just held him until it passed. We were worried that something was seriously wrong  :shock: . Suddenly it was over and DS was just awake, confused and over-tired. He ended up in bed with us, and slept fairly well (though I didn't, nor did Arwen  :roll: ).

I don't think his last 4 molars are coming through (but they could be). I though night terrors affected older children (3-5 years)? DS was up late last night after napping (in the car) until 5:30pm, and has had an exciting last few days. Could it be as simple as that? Fingers-crossed for tonight.

Alex, has DS been okay since your post?

[ryan's mum]

we have had the same with ryan (25mths).because he suffers tonsilitis a lot we had him checked at the dr's the next day but dr said his throat was red but no infection (normal for ryan with reflux) then it happened again the next night and we thought maybe something he had eaten was making his reflux at night worse.ryan still has his last 4 teeth to come through but doesn't really suffer that bad with teething, his gums feel ok.
     we gave calpol but he still had a bad night, waking almost every hour.we have only experienced this about 4 times but it is scary.he doesn't want anything or anyone near him (but yet he does )he's almost sick with hysterical crying.all we could do was take him up to our room and try and calm him with the lamps.(i have novelty lamps) and look out the window.
      i too didn't want to bring him downstairs as i have never had to do this,but i was willing to do anything to calm him.we even called the dog in the room and had her perform (poor dog )ryan loves her handshakes e.t.c  we are still at a loss ourselves as to what caused these out bursts,but at least i know i'm not alone

[15milner]

Hi Ladies, thanks for replying.  it makes it so much easier knowing that you aren' the only ones dealing with the same things.

Thought you'd appreciate some of the info I've gleaned from the internet regarding night terrors.

Occur in toddlerhood 2yrs+.  they may not be strictly speaking a night terror, but i can't remember the correct name.  It's to do with getting stuck between 2 different stages of sleep.  (Thanks Tracy that I know more about sleep stages)  Night terrors occur within the first couple of hours of going to sleep, whereas nightmares occur at the later stages of the night.

Your child won't remember a night terror, unlike knowing about nightmares.

Reasons for waking - overtired, a change at nighttie (christmas certainly counts!!), stress, a possible indication that they have a full bladder and if potty training perhaps though not quite at the stage to wake fully and to 'deal with it'.

What to do:
Best not to wake them (as i think we have all experienced - they get wilder and more disturbed if we do and the episode takes longer to deal with)  Your LO is not awake and will not really recognise you (I felt that).  Best to comfort with words as touching may make things worse.  the episode may last anything from a couple of minutes to up to an hour( :shock: ). 

If the episodes become regular, jolting their sleeping pattern a bit before may help them to get into the next stage of sleep (sounds like wake-to-sleep for a toddler??). Take them to the loo before you go to bed (or earlier depending on your bedtime).

So with this knowledge... when Matthew had another on Boxing day (too much excitement / overtired etc) I sat on the stairs and listened.  The cry was not a distressed cry as if he was awake and  in pain more like moaning and whimpering.  It was heartbreaking leaving him, but i knew that if i went in i'd make it worse.    the cries went in peaks and troughs, after 5-10mins DH went in and told him everything was Ok etc, no touching, just words and Matthew settled.

sound just like Tracy taught us for babies doesn't it.  Listen, act on their needs and comfort.  BW will see us through this too.

Hope this helps.

Alex