Hello mama's~
My question pertains to my 15 month old son. He is usually a great sleeper, he even started sleeping through the night when he was just 5 weeks old, and even when we brought him home from the hospital, he never got up more than 1 time a night to feed. My question is this: He has been screaming out in his sleep numerous times a night for the last couple of weeks. It is not even like a crying, screaming, it is like a real scream. The 1st night that he did it, i just chalked it up to him teething. I soothed him back to sleep and that was the end of it, it was like he didn't even wake up. Now 2 1/2 weeks later, the screaming out has become more frequent through the night. I mean sometimes it is like 6-10 times a night. It seems to start around 11:15 or so. It doesn't matter what time i put him to bed (like the other night it was a rare, rare night and we played outside until 9:15, so he didn't get to bed until 10:30 after baths and snack time- "bedtime for my kiddo's is usually 8:30"). Anyway, that didn't matter the results were still the same. Last night was by far the worst. I am at a loss. He screamed so many times! At one point i stood over his crib for 20 minutes solid trying to soothe him and get him to go back to sleep. I couldn't stand there anymore (it was 4:15am) so i decided to take him to bed with my husband and i. Everytime i tried to pick him up, he would start crying and try to get away (but he still seemed asleep). So i just eventually picked him up anyway thinking that if i rocked him, then he would calm down. He screamed uncontrollably! So very loud that i thought that he was going to wake up my 2 daughters. I could not get him to calm down in my arms, so i eventually put him back in his crib, and put his binky back in his mouth and he rolled over and went to sleep. Like a light switch. But after that, he screamed out 2 more times. It seems to me that he sleeps his hardest from 9:00-11:00 and then from about 5:15-6:30. The rest of the night is very restless for not only him but me as well. I am trying to stay patient but i am getting really sleep deprived too! I have 2 daughters that just turned 4 and 5 less than a month ago, and i never remember them ever doing anything like this! I know this sounds selfish, and honestly i am not only concerned about my sleep but his as well. I know he can't be getting the adequate sleep that he needs at night with this going on.
**He did have tubes put in, in January, and my sister had mentioned that maybe he was having night terrors. She said that my nephew had them for a brief time after he had tubes put in, but honestly i am stumped. If we have had them since January, then why would they just now be affecting him? And honestly i know nothing about night terrors, but does a 15 month old have anything to be scared of? I am sorry if that sound niave, but i don't know??? Any advice would be greatly appriciated!!
My guess is that it's night terrors. Especially since he doesn't seem to be waking up. And I don't know that having the tubes put in has anything to do with this. It may just be him at this stage. Google "night terrors" and read about them and see if you get any information. Hope it ends soon for you !
I'm guessing night terrors as well. my son went through this also for a brief time. He was closer to 2yo and it lasted a few months. He never really woke up during them. We would just snuggle him in our bed and he would be fine. You never know what is going on in our kids little minds. Who knows, maybe he's having a reocouring dream of his balloon popping!! :) My son will be 4 in August and although he doesn't have night terrors anymore, he is a sleep talker. You may just have a little sleep talker too!
It really does sound like he is going through a phase of night terrors. Both my kids did this off and on for about a year, and like yours, sometimes it would be every night for a few weeks. I did notice that it was worse on nights when they were really tired....didn't nap well, went to bed later than normal etc. I agree, google Night Terrors and see if that gives you any info to relate to.
It could be nightmares / night terrors. I think my daughter had some "bad dreams" fairly young. She didn't scream out like your son, but sometimes she would cry a bit, but by the time I got to her she'd be back to sleep! Now that she is 4 I can ask her about her dreams. Sometimes she's told me that she "didn't get her wish". I think she must have gotten that from a story or a movie. Another time I think she told me that I didn't let her have her cookie! So, even little things can upset them in their sleep. Friend stole a toy, lost a toy, remembering a time he got upset when you left, etc.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure what you can do other than go in & pat him on the back & try to calm him. Hopefully it's a phase that will pass soon!
My first guess was going to be ears until I read that he had tubes put in. I have also had tubes but I do still get ear infections (though it has been 20 years since I got them at age 5). You probably have a check up coming up soon anyway, so it might be worth mentioning to see if your pediatrician has any ideas.
My other guess would be bad dreams. My son also at times will roll over only to bump his head on railings or something like that. Or sometimes its that he can't find "blue dog" his little security blanket.
This may be hard with two older children, but one thing that helped my daughter when she was going through something similar was to move her bedtime to a super early hour. We had been putting her to bed between 7:30 and 8 which I thought was reasonable, but she started waking up constantly throughout the night crying. We started putting her to bed between 6 and 6:30 and it was almost like magic. We had a few episodes the first night or two and then she just slept. Some kids just need a lot of sleep and even if they are just getting a little bit less sleep than they need, over time it can create sleep disturbances or even night terrors, which mean less sleep, and then the whole cycle continues.
You might check with your husband or his mom to see if he had night terrors when he was a toddler. They tend to run in families and while extra sleep can help to reduce the number of terrors, you might still have to endure them for a year or so.
