Night Mares

My now 3 year old daughter did the same thing at that age and it was horrible. My peditrician told me that if it is happening around the same time every night it is terrors. She suggested we went and wake her up 15 min before it normally happened then put her back to bed. We did this for 3 nights and it stopped it. It breaks there sleep pattern so they don't have them. It was very rough though because it was hard to get her back to sleep after she was woken up but in the end it was worth it. I have another daugther who is 14 months and I am praying we don't go through the same thing with her. But I wouldn't be so concerned about the title night terrors as long as you get them to go away. Night terrors, night mares they are both bad and it's a phase. Hope this helps

My daughter was about a year and a half when she started to go through it. I guess she had terrors thoguh. It was middle of the night. When I went there she was just screaming uncontrolably and trying to hug or wake her up out of it was pointles and was making it worse. It took about 1-2 months, then it stopped all of the sudden. I still tried to comfort her (for my comfort I guess) but it was not making her feel better. After about 15-20 min of screaming she would finally hug into me and go to sleep... I know it probably doesn't help you... but it is happening to a lot fo kids and I guess it just take time to clear. As your doc said - they are startig having dreams and it probably has a lot to do with it.
Hope it passes soon, good luck.

We had the exact same problem when my daughter was 17 months so I made her a dreamcatcher to hang on her crib. I know it sounds hokey, however, she has not suffered from night terrors since and she was having night terrors. We talked about it each night before she goes to sleep and whether it is the dreamcatcher or the love that went into making it...it worked. Just thought I would share, good luck.

My daughter has had a few night terrors, starting from when she was about 2(she's 4 1/2 now). They always happen to her within 2 hours of her going to sleep. She screams a blood curdling scream every time. When I would run in there, she was sometimes sitting up, sometimes still lying down, but most times she had her eyes open. She didn't see me though, or hear me. She cried uncontrollably, and continued to scream occasionally, though not quite as loud as the first. My mom told me later that I used to have them and not to wake her up. Honestly, I don't know if I could've even if I tried. I did try the very first one she had, and I never could wake her up until it was over, she was so totally out of it. Now when it happens, I just pick her up and rock her, rub her back, whatever makes me think that she may know that I'm there and love her.

I'm no expert, and won't try to decipher between the two in your case. The only thing I can say is to just keep watching, make sure he can't hurt himself or anyone if he begins to thrash or move anywhere. If it gets worse, I'd contact the pedi and see what he/she thinks.

The biggest difference between a night terror and a nightmare is that with night terrors, they are generally still asleep- so it sounds like you are describing a night terror. You might want to do some research on them. What I read about them said to not wake them up- makes it worse. He may be more likely to talk/walk in his sleep when he gets older, too.

I went looking for info after my 16 mo old starting having trouble sleeping at night. I'm curious if your son has moved out of this phase of waking in the night? Just over the last few nights, he wakes up screaming and it takes him 10-15 minutes to go back to sleep.

It sounds like the advice was to leave him alone. Has that worked? I havne't been sure what to do.

If you can let me know how things worked out, that would be great. There's something reassuring knowing that this behavior is normal. Thanks!!!