Night Terrors

[Khyan & Sahria's mum]

Khyan has suffered in the past with Night Terrors every so often but in the past 1 week he has had 2 (both times on nights where he had only had 1.5hr nap over a 2/2.5hr one) and I am lost as to what to do during the screaming kicking and choking phase 

It seems to horrible to leave him and not touch him during what sounds like a terrifying ordeal although I think I read that this is what you are supposed to do  Then part of me says "what if it isn't a terror and he is just really upset and tired and can't work out how to go back to sleep" that would mean that picking him up is causing other sleep issues. Although I have to admit that the episode ends really fast - one minute he is screaming blue murder and the next abit of sobbing and then snoring. Usually I try to talk to him and wake him then I usually end up picking him up while sitting in his bed but he moves around like you wouldn't believe. The problem is that if I put him back down he seems to cry harder, wouldn't that indicate that it may not be a terror ?

My DH turns the light on and sometimes this works

I am hoping that someone out there may have some advice on what works/ed for their LO's

[amheusser]

If he's otherwise sleeping well most nights, it's probably not that he can't figure out how to get back to sleep.  I find that K seems to be a louder sleeper on napless days, sometimes even nightmares.  It's pretty clear with her that it's a nightmare because she can tell me about it - she's definitely awake when I go in.  With night terrors, they're not really awake and (so I've read) don't even remember it in the morning, so there's less comforting that you can do. 

A nightlight may help, or an earlier bedtime on the days of a short nap.  If they seem to be at around the same time, maybe disturbing him a little before would help, to change sleep-cycles.

That's got to be hard to deal with, but it doesn't sound like it's bothering him as much as it is you.  I hope it gets better soon - I think they do grow out of this eventually!

[Marzstar]

Hi Michaela,

Ben gets night terrors on occasion, and they seemed to peak whenever he was transitioning to less naps (i.e. from 3 naps to 1, 2 naps to 1, 1 nap to none). It's probably associated with getting less sleep, like you said. We would just put Ben to bed earlier to try to avoid it. Sometimes it worked, and other times it didn't. I think it was just his body's way of dealing with the fatigue, if that makes any sense 

I didn't pick him up. Instead I just stayed by his side and rubbed his shoulder until he was done. I know you're supposed to just let them go, but I at least wanted him to know that I was there. Once he finished crying I just lay him back down, tucked him in, and he'd be asleep again in no time. Trying to talk to him or "handle" him during the episode backfired, as it would just get him more riled up.

When your DH turns the light on, does it wake him up? Or does he just calm down and go back to bed?

I don't know if this is of any help to you, but I just wanted to let you know what we did. If it's any consolation, it hasn't happened in about six months. I guess his body has adjusted to no longer having a nap in the afternoon. Maybe the same thing will happen for Khyan.

[LisbonMom]

I know it's been a while since this topic was touched on, but I wanted to check with you guys if we're talking about the same thing.

DD just burst out screaming a few minutes ago and when I checked in on her she was sobbing like crazy, sitting up, but didn't seem to acknowledge my presence. I started talking to her to calm her down but if anything she got even more upset, I got her to lay down and she started moving and kicking, scratching really hard (her eczema is flared up) and continued crying but softer, so I closed the door, then she cried really hard so I went in again, tried to calm her again to which she replied she "didn't want those shoes" ( ) so I told her we wouldn't get them and then let her be and now she's asleep.

Was it a night terror? We have had episodes similar to this one, but tonight was more strange as she didn't respond at all well with my presence. We did have a busy day today and she started some new meds, and naps are now a thing of the past, so it may be a result of all this.
Any thoughts?