Night Terrors - Smyrna,TN

My two year old son has experienced night terrors for several months. The best solution I have found is to disrupt his sleep cycle before he begins to cry. He would begin to cry every night between 10:30 and 11pm. I started going into his room around 10pm just to rub his head and talk to him for a minute. He would move around, but not really wake up. He is a really deep sleeper. Anyways, this really helped us have less night terrors overall. He doesn't have them much anymore and he is almost 3. Best of luck to you.

My son was having 3-4 night terrors a night, every night. I went to a couple of different peds. and did research on-line. Here is the information and advice I have from my experience.

*Make sure he is getting enough sleep. Try a bedtime 15-30 min earlier. Make sure he gets a good nap. Fatigue is the most common cause of night terrors.

*Look for a pattern in what time they are happening. If there is indeed a pattern, your sister can go in 10-15min before the night terror is to happen and change your nephew's sleep pattern. DO NOT WAKE HIM! Rub his back or roll him over. Stir him enough that it disrupts his sleep but not enough that it wakes him up. This changes the sleep pattern. Do this for 3 or 4 nights in a row. Hopefully after that your nephew's sleep pattern will be changed and free from the night terrors. My pediatrictian said sleep patterns typically change every 12 weeks on their own. My son's first phase of night terrors lasted almost every night for the full 12 weeks. The only nights he didn't have night terrors were the nights I went in and rubbed his back before they happened.

*You could also have his iron level checked. My son had night terrors from 14mos-3yrs. My ped. said there is new research linking low iron levels with night terrors. My son's iron levels were borderline. He took a prescription iron supplement for a short time. After that his night terrors stopped. It almost was too good to be true! He still has one every now and then. Most kids grow out of them by age 6. However, some adults still have night terrors.

*For some kids a night time bath can be stimulating. Try changing bath time to the morning instead of in the evening.

*A cooler room is better than a warm room. Make sure he isn't over dressed at night.

I wish your sister the best. Night terrors can be so scary. Let her know that the child actually has no recollection of the night terrors happening. It is scary for the person who is observing the night terror.

God bless!

This is what our neuro developmental ped told us last week: You have to get them out of it. He suggested waking her up by talking to her, having her sip some water, and walking her around the room. He said that waking her up will cause the night terror to fizzle out so she can fall back asleep and after a couple of weeks of being woken from them the night terrors should greatly decline or disappear all together. She hasn't had one since our visit but we are going to try his advice. He is a very well known and sought after doctor.

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Half of the grandchildren in my family have gone thru this and what we found that works is a linen spray that has a sent of lavender! First we started out with candles, but that was before we could find the linen spray! Now sometimes you can find it at Bath and Body works! Good Luck!

Has your sister kept a journal of what times at night this is happening? If not, she should and see if there is a pattern. Sometimes the terrors occur at a certain time each night, or so many hours after falling asleep. Based on the pattern, she can wake him up 15 minutes or so before, and then have him go back to sleep right away. That can help with the night terrors. I know when my son doesn't get enough sleep, he experiences night terrors.

A friend of mines little boy had night terrors from age 1 to 3. There was nothing anyone could do except let it happen. They are asleep and crying and dont even realize what they are doing... it is very frustrating. He will grow out of it eventually, but in the mean time all my friend did was go in and try to soothe him until he snapped out of the episode, she was a wreck for a long while.
Sorry this isnt helpful, but just want you to know that it's common and I empathize.

My son has had them since he was 7 months old. We just let him cry through them. They tend to happen when he's been overstimulated and is off routine.

Night terrors are caused by a part of the brain that just doesn't shut down into a rest mode.

My daughter has just started to grow out of them at age 4. I just comfort her untill she goes back to sleep.