My daughter will be two years old in May. I really can't remember the last time (or even a time for that matter right now) that she slept through the entire night. She wakes up at least one time a night either crying or thinking it's time to get up. And her "time to get up" normally happens between 3 - 4 in the morning so I let her know it's still nite nite time and she goes back to sleep. However, recently she has been having these night terrors (that's what the pediatrician is calling them). I looked up the definition of that online and it describes these 'events' exactly. They are so scary and I really just don't know what to do or how 'normal' they really are. I'm truly concerned and worried about her. Her pediatrician says that this is normal in toddlers her age and that she'll grow out of them but, right now, my fear and worry override those words. So, I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with these and can offer some advice, words of wisdom or encouragement that this too shall pass. Last night was super awful and she calling for help, asking for mommy or dada, yelling no, kicking her legs and slapping her pillow. I couldn't wake her up and I was so scared for her.
Thank you all sooooo much! I'm feeling better already and finally have some hope! I will definitely try to see if a little more sleep helps her. I'm so thankful to hear (have confirmed) that she most likely does not remember these episodes.
The one thing that worked for us was to interrupt the sleep cycle. If she is consistently having them at about 3:00 am wake her up at about 2:00 am. You don't have to fully wake her, but just rouse her to break the sleep cycle and then let her drift off again. This usually eliminates the night terror and after a few nights you can let her sleep through and see if they happen again or not.
Worked for us after just a few nights.
Good luck,
K.
ONe of my older girls had terros from the time she was about 3 until 5 or 6. Yes, it is awful and I think more terrifying for the parent than the child. Usually the child doesn't recall anything and if you could wake her, she would probably wonder why is mommy waking me up. My daughter would also walk in her sleep. It was never anything bad but happened more at nap time than night time--at least we think so. I even had to direct her away from the garbage pail to the toilet one time. Some kids have them for longer periods of time. For us, it got a little worse when she started to experience sleep apnea a few months before her first birhtday and eased up a bit after her tonsils and adenoids were removed. It does go away so hang in there.
We went through this and our ped. did tell us it was normal for the age, but also suggested that our daughter needed a bit more sleep. At the time, I thought she was just being silly, but I figured "what the heck?" and gave it a try. We pushed up bed time 10-15 minutes each night until we got in an extra hour and I did notice that the night terrors lessened significantly with more sleep. I've also noticed that on nights she went to bed very late (holidays!), the night terrors would show up again. It could be one large coincidence, but more sleep was our best remedy for this problem. Good luck!
Yes, they are terrifying! My four year old had one last night. She used to have them all the time between 2.5 and 3.5 yrs and since then they are much less frequent. There is really nothing you can do. They don't do any damage and the child usually won't remember them. They are much more traumatic to the parents! I just sit with her and talk to her in a soothing voice and say "Mommy's here" even though she doesn't seem to hear me. They can last anywhere from a few to 10 mins. Exhausting and scary but really nothing serious to worry about.
i have always been told DO NOT try and wake your child my youngest had them and it was explained that with night terrors like sleep walking and such that if you try and wake the child it shocks their system and could hurt them what i did was try and get him to lay back down which was fairly easy he was young so didnt sit up much during them and just rub his back or belly and gently tell him he was ok now whether i needed to or not i dont know but i told him any ways but the rubbing on him seemed to really do the work it was so horrible the first night with the screaming i didnt know what to do but when my hubby asked what happened he knew exactly what it was and told me he would grow out of it that i think his step daughter from his first dissaster went through them and sure enough my little boy did grow out of them good luck
My daughter had terrible night terrors. She is almost 7 now, but she suffered for many years. Here is something you can try that helped us: after your daughter goes to bed, wait about an hour and then wake her up. Do this several days in a row, continually breaking her sleep pattern, and the night terrors should stop. They may recur occasionally, but you and your daughter will both finally get some sleep. It worked for us, I hope it works for you.
Both of our kids have had them.
As long as your daughter isn't remembering them, they fit into the description for night terrors vs. bad dreams. As hard as it is to watch both kids go through them, they've both outgrown them despite still being really young (just 2 and almost 4).
We had one recently with our son where I got a little more assertive in trying to wake him up - instead of being gentle, I kept calling his name loudly and telling him to wake-up. He never did, but after a few minutes, we got him settled back in.
Continue to do what you can to break her out of the sleep cycle and get her awake so she can resume a good night's sleep. I don't know of any way to stop them - my understanding is they grow out of them as they age.
Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics says about them:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/presch...
I can! We had a child who did this, and it did go away. She remembers none of it. She did not remember it after it happened, and as scarry as it is for you, she is not really experiencing anything consious durring this neurological mystery. She will be fine!
M.
I know you have already gotten several responses, and I don't have any additional advice for you, but I wanted to offer support. It is terrifying to watch your child go through night terrors. My youngest child is 6, and he still has night terrors. I'm hoping he will outgrow them soon. My mom says that I had them also, and so does my neice (and a couple of my cousins children), so I guess they run in the family. At any rate, I hope your daughter outgrows them soon also, or at least has them less often. My son does seem to have them in spurts. Sometimes he'll go several months without one, and then all of a sudden he'll have a ton of them all in a row. I'm sorry you are having to go through this. It's not easy.
Night terrors are, to put it bluntly, terrifying for the parent. Both of my children have suffered from them on and off since about age 2. The good thing is that everything you read about them will tell you that they do not hurt your child and that your daughter will grow out of them. Hang in there.
Hi G.,
Like your doctor said, most night terrors are out grown; however, there is usually a stimulus that causes them. At 2, I doubt there is any stress (which can cause them in older children) so environmental toxins can be a primary culprit. Cleaning supplies and bath and body products can cause neurological damage and can cause things like night terrors, nightmares, child behavioral disorders like ADD and ADHD and even memory problems. The main problem with your average product at Wal-Mart (Johnson and Johnson type products) or the grocery store is that it has an "allowed" limit of toxin. When used in combination of other things with "allowed" limits, the limit has increased. This is not to mention the combination of toxins that outgas and contraindicate just like pharmaceutical do.
The other issue that usually causes night terrors is lack of sleep. So you have a vicious cycle here with night terrors keeping her awake and causing lack of sleep. Some doctors will tell you it is caused by overstimulation. That can be true. This leads to either behavioral issues and habits or back to environmental toxins. Both stimulate the neurological system. However, behavioral stimulation will eventually settle as the child does.
I think detoxing will help a lot, ESPECIALLY by changing to a laundry detergent that is considered non-toxic to humans. (There are a lot of things labeled non-toxic that are only considered non-toxic to the environment.) If this is not the culprit, then no harm has been done. Detoxing CAN be simple and it can be inexpensive to. If you want to give it a try, I'll be glad to help.
God bless,
M.
