Night Terror

My son also at 5 had night terrors. It is very distrubing but i just rub his back and let him work thru it. I did this because I am 36 years old and have always had night terrors. I will go years and they will come back full force. I also have a sister with them so they do run in families. I know I am not giving suggestions but letting you know that they are common.

I will start out by saying that I personally do not have experience with this, yet. My 17 month old has never had an episode. I just wanted to respond because I have read a lot about this and I just want to stress that you shouldn't try to wake him. It is something that he will not remember when he wakes and you just need to make sure that he is safe and be with him. I heard a suggestion once that when you put him to bed and after he has fallen asleep, gently talk to him and tell him he is safe and that there is nothing to worry about. Apparently, this is a method you can try to prevent them from starting. This must me terrifying and I feel badly for the both of you. However, keeping him from a deep, restful sleep would probably have a much bigger negative effect on him. If he doesn't remember them, it is harder on you than it is on him. Good luck, I hope this stops soon!

When my son was 2.9 years old he had a seizure due to a high fever and bumping his head about a week prior to that. He never had another seizure after that. He is now 6 years old. A few months ago he was screaming in his sleep in the middle of the night. I took him to get an EEG. The Neurologist said he had partial seizure activity in his brain and he may have had a seizure when he was asleep. He is now on medication and is sleeping well.

Dear K.,

Here are some things you can do. Ask your son if there is anything in his room that scares him. For my daughter it is the closet door being open. I put my daughter on a vitamin program because they work. Particularly vitamin B1. You can find it in small dosages in the healthfood store. I also put mine on a good multi-vitamin every morning and also a cal-mag fizz drink made by Baywood and available on the internet.

Kids go through growth spurts that use up their vitamins and minerals, this alone is a major stress point.

It is proven that vitamin deficiencies can and will cause terrors. Foods can be a trigger i.e., too much sugar or wheat. Keep a food diary for a couple of weeks and see if there is any pattern between certain foods and the night terror.

Does he have a good night light in his room? We tried many and the best is "lightnight" that is portable and can be found via the internet.

There is an excellent book "Kids Tips" by Tom Mcmahon which is a collection of tips from parents and there are lots of tips in that book for night frights. We did some of those plus the vitamins. Some of the tips from the book was to spray the monsters away with a water bottle. I put a special fairy with magic powers on the pull chain of my daughters fan. We also inspected every square inch of her room before bed to make sure there was nothing hiding anywhere. Between all of these things they eventually went away.

One last thing; There have been studies linking TV watching to higher levels of brain activity particularly with children and it is not recommended for children to watch TV at night. We also cut out all movies and TV during the week. It was true for ours that it was too stimulating.

That's everything that I can think of.

D.

I am still going through it with my six year old. We can now pin point it to the times when he has had a full day of play and is extremely tire, then we can do all of the above wake hime before we know that he will have one.

The only thing that SOMETIMES work is my talking to very softly and hugging him when he allows me too. He would cry out for "Mommy" and i'll keep trying to console him that I'm there, some times he allow me to massage his feet I guess the constant motion, or touching helps.

If we are on our way home after a long day without naps then we can count on it that he will have one. it is not consistant as every night. I try to encourage him to take naps if i'm home with him during the day, because I have proven that this wards them off. But try getting a 6yr old to take naps.

As to the person with her boyfriend who gets them my husband does too, but his i've been able to pinpoint to when he really stressed, so he has the exact sympttoms as she's described.

The kicking wakes me up during those times. I can hold a whole conversation with him and he answers and never remembers what he said , and he doesn't believe me when I tell him either, though he was so afraid to have our son sleep next to him before he started sleeping in his room. When his begin I usually ask him to roll off his back to his side or change his position and that helps. I wish you the best too. I'm still struggling and only found out what they were by talking to my son's bestfriend's mother and she voiced that her 8yr old use to have them until he was about 7 I think she said, then I researched it. Let me know if you get any advice that helps.
M. B

There has been other discussions, suggestions on the site as well just recently about night terrors as well, you may want to check out the past responses.
M.

Hi K.,
Have you tried Tahitian Noni Juice? It´s good and will calm him down. And take all sugar away!
Please check www.tni.com/115660
Regards,
Birgit

Hi. My son is a very restless sleeper (no terrors though) and one thing that helped him ease into sleep peacefully (instead of whining and complaining and anxiety) was a CD. I forget the exact name but it is about The Indigo Children and its meditation stories. Maybe it will help. Good luck!

My 4 year old had night terrors until he was 3. My 6 month old is starting to have them now. I have found the quicker you get to them, the easier it is to wake them up. If calling his name doesn't work, I start turning on lights. If it's a bad one and I can't get him to wake up, I sit him up or try to stand him up. The best thing for me is to get there quick. Once he opens his eyes, he's fine, but it's getting his eyes to open. It's not always an easy thing to do. I hope this helps.

This is a classic sign of a food/preservative allergy - something to look into.

My son has had night terrors since he was one. He gets up and tries to actually leave my house.I have been advised NOT to try and wake him up. Also do not turn on the lights becouse it confuses the child and makes things worse. I have resorted to guideing him back to bed and when he is very upset I sit next to him or rock him (in his bed) and hum a song to him, and wisper in his ear that mommy is right here and nobody is going to get him. Sometimes just saying things in his ear relaxes him and myself! Goodluck this is scary but try to find out what your child last dreamed about that could help. I found just talking to him has made a difference.

I'm new to this site and I was browsing across the request and came across yours. my little one who is almost two started having night terrors at first I thought that they were nightmares but he was still fast asleep when he was having them and i couldn't wake him up. My doctor advised me that he he kept having them not to try to wake him up but just make sure that he can't hurt himself and that he he kept having them frequently, they would have to check him for having seizures. Did your doctor check you son to make sure that he wasn't having seizures?

For additional information you can do a google search on night terrors and get all kinds of information. That is what I did when my daughter started having them at 2 1/2. Her's, thank goodness, only lasted about a week and were caused by stress about a month before. I know that that sounds like a long time but according to what I found researching and talking to a pediatric emergency nurse that is about the right time frame.

Did your son just start kindgergarten? How is kindergarten going? He could be feeling stress from that or just the new routine that it has caused.

I know that some of the people that responded to the other mom asking about night terrors said that they were not caused by stress but all of the research that I found and talking to qualified people said that stress can be a trigger.

Good luck and you are doing everything that I know of to do. Hopefully some of the moms that have had to deal with this more will have some good advice for you.

I know that it is hard to watch your child go through night terrors and majority of the time you can not do anything to console them but remember these are NOT nightmares and your child will not remember any of it in the morning.

Good luck

M. N.

My pediatrician told me this could last till the are 6 years old. Augh!!!!!!! She also said the worse thing you can do is wake them up, which is really easy for the Doctor to say. They aren't there when your child is screaming. I wish I could help but unfortunatly, we went through the same thing. All I really have to say is, your not alone. There are others with the same problem. Don't feel alone. Hopefully he grows out of it soon. If you need someone to talk to, you can always write me. Sorry my advice isn't the greatest.

Dear K.,

I used to experience night terrors. For me there were abandonment and depression issues during that point and time in my life.

Consider that maybe you shouldn't totally rule out the school thing - there might be someone or something at school that is bugging him - even just being away from you initself. Also - sometimes night terrors have a delayed reaction and can occur some time later after trauma occurs. It is not always immediate. Note that trauma for a child can be something that might seem very simple or minor for us. I remember as a child having a night terror about BIG BIRD of all things!

Consider he may be experiencing some sort of inner conflict - if you can identify anything he has conflict over in his mind through waking hours, perhaps some sort of indecisiveness or something of the like. If you can identify the conflict and help him resolve the conflict in his mind - that could help eliminate the terrors entirely.

I also recommend thoroughly going through his room and remove anything that is remotely dark or evil in any way shape or form and replace it with anything that is light. He does not have to be aware of your doing this at all. I don't mean light bulbs expressively. Remove anything dark and say prayers over his room and him. I hope you understand. Sometimes something as simple as a toy sword can carry darkness. Keep you eyes open and trust your maternal instincts when performing this task.

When I have a night terror - I prefer to be woke up but then cannot go back to sleep for a while or else I will continue on the same exact dream until it runs its course. A lot of people are telling you to wake, or not to wake. Nothing is consistent here. Either way - soft words spoken from mom are surely a great form of reassurance. Remember that resolving the conflict which he is not facing in his waking hours will be better help at curing night terrors than knowing whether to wake him or let him sleep. Try to find the root of the terror in his mind and help him resolve his fears first and then watch the night terrors subside.

As a result of my own night terrors, I began a great deal of dream study and have found myself to be quite gifted at dream interpretation. Everything in dreams is reflective of something else in waking life. These come in symbolic ways and cannot be interpreted directly. If you can find out what the dreams are about and would like to see if I can help with some interpretation, please email me. I dreamed about Hurricane Katrina before it occured, I dreamed of a check made payable to Pearl, about a lady thought to surely die - but she lived.... I would like to try to interpret your son's dreams to see if this can help guide you to a resolution. I am not any sort of weird psychic. I am a God fearing person with a gift of interpreting dreams.

Prayers for you both. Read to him Psalms 91. Notice verse 5.
R.

Psalm 91 (New Living Translation)
1
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2
This I declare of the LORD:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I am trusting him.

3
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from the fatal plague.

4
He will shield you with his wings.
He will shelter you with his feathers.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

5
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor fear the dangers of the day,

6
nor dread the plague that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

7
Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.

8
But you will see it with your eyes;
you will see how the wicked are punished.

9
If you make the LORD your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,

10
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your dwelling.

11
For he orders his angels
to protect you wherever you go.

12
They will hold you with their hands
to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.

13
You will trample down lions and poisonous snakes;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14
The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.

15
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue them and honor them.

16
I will satisfy them with a long life
and give them my salvation."