Night Terros in 7 Month Old

Hello!

I have no experience with this other than that my daughter will wake up crying and seems to be dreaming bad if she is too hot. Unlike me, who sleep with two blankets year-round, she is actually fine in a short pajama and a light blanket. I know that I caused some of the over-heating in the past by dressing her too heavy and giving her a blanket that was too thick.

Just a thought because it would be easy to try out if this is contributing to the problem?

Good luck with this!
D.

Trust me this will pass. I too had the same problem with one of my twins. He would start moaning and then screaming in the night. I would go into his room to get him and he would be looking right at me but was never really awake. Very freaky. I believe I went through this for about six months or so and then finally one night he just started sleeping like a normal little boy.
Hang in there!!

W.

B.,
Hi, If you really think it is night terrors then you might want to read Sylvia Browns book she explains what they are and how you can cure them with out medication. Little about it is hat a child is having dreams of thier past lifes and it keeps repeating until they understand that they are in a new life not a pasted one. They are so young that they are new here again and just left heaven so they dont understand that this is a new life. I would suggest reading the book for a better understanding. But the basics are when your child is asleep not a deep sleep but just asleep you tell them that this is a new life that they can let the past life go and began a new. You repeat this every night and it should help. while they are asleep they understand what you are saying unlike when they are awake even your 7 month old will understand it. Please if you really think its night terrors read Sylvia Brown.

I hate for this to sound too flippant, but here it goes. If he's not waking up, and not actually crying, I'd just leave well enough alone. My DH does this, and so does my 5 year old, the moaning and tossing at night. They don't even realize they're doing it. In fact, DH will start as he's falling asleep sometimes. It's not every night, but when it happens, it's a lot at once, does that make sense? So if my baby was doing it, I'd simply close the door to his room/my room so I wouldn't be able to hear his little noises. Obviously make sure you'll still be able to hear him if he really does need you, but otherwise I'd tune it all out. Maybe add a CD player to his room to help. If you continue to wake him up each time you hear him, I think you're asking for trouble - he'll start waking up that often at night and want you - he won't put himself back to sleep.

It sounds like you are being very pro-active, and have tried nearly everything. Bless your heart! How about adding a white noise machine, which would help him stay in a deeper REM sleep?

Now, I know I'm going out on a limb (some people will think - lol) but it is possible that he is experiencing night terrors as a result of remembering a past life and experience in which he was scared and struggling. Although he doesn't have the vocabulary to tell you what he is feeling/seeing at this age, he may be able to as he becomes verbal. At that time, I would encourage him to keep a journal (drawings/words) of what he recalls.

In the meantime, I would meditate with him quietly in his room (dimly lit - just a nightlight) before he falls asleep at night...just 5-10 minutes min - maybe rocking him in a glider, or snuggling with him on the floor. With sincere intention, ask that his guides and angels protect him and help him to remain in the present-moment in sleep, and that he need not remember his past lives while he sleeps. Feel the sensation of gratitude as you imagine his night terrors being gone - as you imagine him peacefully sleeping through the night. Spend several minutes imagining every detail of his room being calm, a white light of love surrounding him, and him filling with relaxation, calm, and peace. Please give it a full week's worth of trying. You'd be amazed how effective this can be for him....and you'll both be sleeping better before you know it.

Here are some resources that you might find helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Past-Lives-Memories-Affec...

http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20080401

http://www.stevegjones.com/eliminatenightterrorshypnosisc...

Best,
C.

B.- this happened to us with our daughter. It was related to her immunizations. It happenend once and we got through it then the next time she had her shots it happened again. That was enough for us so we started researching immunizations. Our doctors thought we were crazy and of course kept telling us it was not related. well with research, patience and some stress we realized it was. I understand your frustration and being tired. IT is not easy but you will do great. If you have more questions we can talk.
I wish you the best and research on your own, dont rely to heavily on the doctors info especially when they tell you to read the no cry solution- this is not him being a fussy baby.
Sweet thougths,
D.

Off topic, but I LOVE the No Cry Sleep Solution book :).

Dr. Sears has tons of great info about that on his website. I'll put the link here. I have heard that you should not wake them, but from personal experience, I don't really know. Also, Hyland's Teething Tablets work great for teething. I give my son 2-3 right before bed and once more if he needs them.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071300.asp

Dude. I'm so sorry that you are going through this. I can totally relate though. My son is 16 months and has been a terrible sleeper (waking every 1/2 hr or so) since he was about 8 months. We talked to our pediatrician who recommended the Ferber book on sleep. We tried the Ferber method twice (for 3 weeks each time). It was absolute torture for mom and dad, as well as baby. It didn't work either. We ended up brining baby to our bed at night so that I wouldn't have to GET UP every time he woke to comfort him. Now, my husband sleeps in the front room cuz there's not enough room in our bed, and my son and I sleep in the master bed. He still wakes (not fully, like you said, but tosses and turns while moaning/crying) and I just talk to him and put my hand on him and he usually goes back to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up hysterical and it takes a while to sooth him back to sleep. I also heard this can be hereditary, but there is no history of sleep problems on either side (my husband also has restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea!!). I wish I had some end all solution for you (and me too!!). I am hoping that Julian, my son, grows out of it. We are expecting #2 in 3 months and were hoping to get Julian into his own bed & room before then, but to be totally honest, it scares me to death (the sleep depravation on my part that is if I have to go in his room every 1/2 hr throughout the night). I don't think mommy and Julian will fit in a twin bed very comfortably :)

I don't know if I'd call it sleep terrors with Julian though. The Ferber book says normal sleeping patterns include waking a little bit a lot at night, but being able to slip right back to sleep no problem. Unfortunately, we have lots of problem :) I hope your little one grows out of it!

A.

Ok. Since you've tried everything, you might be willing to try something else. Take away milk. Replace milk with soy. No cheese, no ice cream. No dairy or food with milk in it. Try this for 3 days.
My daughter was a great sleeper at night, but was awful during the day. She would take little 10 minute naps all day. Turns out that she is allergic to milk protein and she was having "pain." She's only 2.5 right now and is unable to tell us, exactly, what hurts her when she gets milk.
Within 24 hours we noticed a difference in her all around.
Just try it and just for 3 days. If nothing happens that is different in 3 days, it's probably not it. But it is worth the world if it happens to be the issue.
And keep the journal during this time. Food AND sleep.
Good luck...just an idea!

My daughter had night "wakings" only they were not moaning...they were full on crying...she did not seem to know we were there even though her eyes were open. It was only about once a night though. We co-slept...so I know it was not separation anxiety, fear etc.
The term may not be night terror. I looked on Dr. Greene's web site I think...I'll check again. It had another name. But we ended up waiting it out...it did pass.

Hi B.
boy girl do I understand what you are going through. when my boy was right around the age of yours we went through the same exact thing I ended up calling 911 because i thought he was having a siezure he was rolling around jerking his head and moaning i couldnt find out what was wrong with him i thought he was in pain. after many tests ekg's, cat scans to rule out brain injury and seizures. doctor finally suggested night terrors. this was 11 years ago they did go away and did not last more than a few months but boy was it scary and exhausting so understand what you are going through if it makes you feel better rule out anything else and just hang on it will get better.

My son has night terrors for about a week when we moved into our new house. What the doctor told me to do, and what I read online was just to watch him to make sure he dosen't get hurt and to let him get through it on his own, as consoling them dosen't work. I couldn't stand watching him and had my husband do it. After thinking about it, I realized a few things: one his schedule was way off and he was overly tired. Two, his room was off balance, I rearranged the furniture and put the pictures that he had in his room in our previous home and that seemed to really help. It sounds like you have a pretty set schedule but perhaps there is some kind of stress going on that could be coming out at night. It is really hard to go through, so I wish you luck.

Try flower essences: go to greenhopeessences.com You can phone them directly with your situation at ###-###-#### or email them with it at ____@____.com

These flower essences have NO ALCOHOL unlike the majority of the others and our family loves them and have been using them for over 10 years. They have a natural plant stabilizer instead of alcohol and I feel much better about giving them to my children (5 years old and 3 month old). They are 100% natural and are made out of plants.

If you contact them directly they can help you pick out essences that will help you child and you or check out the site and go with your gut feeling.

Green Hope essences can be taken orally (as a drop in the mouth or in a bottle of milk), be put in a bath before bed for calming, be put in a spray bottle and spray the room, and be dabbed on the child's temples.

Good luck!

We've had two sons go through this. What we found works best, believe it or not, more sleep. We have a very consistent bedtime schedule and when JJ (our most recent son to go through this) was having tough time with this, we moved his bedtime up 30 minutes. Our doctor gave us info that said that while a lot is not known, it is believed it is (overall)a lack of sleep.

The other things that we were told is to not wake them up during this and to be calming and relaxing would help them get out of it faster.

Good luck! Oh, one other thing - get some sleep yourself. It is really difficult to handle this when you are sleep deprived. I would take naps in the evening (before the kids bedtime) after my husband go home. He would put the kids to bed and then in the night I would get up.

The baby probably has sleep apnea. They can give you a monitor to check it out. Good luck. Be persistent!

I still wouldn't rule out teething. I would either try a little Tylenol before bed or get some of the Hyland's teething tabs. They are natural and work wonders. You can get them at Walmart or Sprouts and some Targets. My daughter moaned a lot in her sleep when she was teething and the teething tabs really helped. Hang in there!

Dear B.,

Hello Dear. I'm a counselor in Phx AZ.
Is there any unspoken tension in the household? Many times a child will pick up on the subtle undercurrents and express them when the adults are unwilling to.

The most important thing in a family is a happy Mom. Happy Mom means happy kids. If you put yourself first in all things...you will feel guilt initially, but in the long run, your children will be more relaxed all around. Good luck Sweetie.

:-) J.

If this were my child, I would try a cranial sacral session with a good cranial sacral therapist. It is non-invasive and so very effective. I could recommend someone in the Phoenix area if you are interested.

My daughter had night terrors from only a few months old. She is 11 now and her last one was when she was about 5 or 6. When she was youngest they were the worst and most frequent. Daily and even during naps. They were frightening as she would scream and flail around like she was possessed. I thought she might be having seizures and I took her to a pediatric neurologist. I showed him a tape of one of these episodes and he said they were night terrors and with time she would grow out of them.

I guess I was so happy they weren't seizures that I just learned to manage them, although she was not waking as often as your little one through the night. Her terrors would last an hour or more - it was torture to see her that way. I dealt with them by not trying to wake her and they would just end when they ended. I tried not to stress about them because truly there was nothing more I could do then be there for her and keep her safe from her moving around - nothing more worked. It became easier to deal with once I stopped trying everything under the sun to stop them.

They became less and less and by the time she was two she almost never had them anymore. Then she had them about one a year with the last being at about 5 or 6. To this day she talks in her sleep every night and will once in a blue moon walk in her sleep. Sleep disorders do seem to be hereditary to some degree. I talk in my sleep, too. I have a 2 1/2 yr old son and he had 3 night terrors in his first year. Fortunately they were not so severe as what my daughter went through, and I already knew what I was dealing with.

I know it is so hard and tiring, but it will very likely get better over time. If he is truly having night terrors my advice would be to just focus on loving him instead of trying to cure the episodes - it is very exhausting. Maybe your doctor will have some other advice that could be helpful or even a visit to a pediatric neurologist would help ease your mind. If you need a name send me an email.

As for the thing about past lives, I think that is absolutely not true and would not even bother with it, but that is up to you. God bless you and strengthen you through these long nights.

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your sons sleep problems. My son used to have a lot of sleep problems too. Thankfully, he has out grown almost all of them.
I found that when he was hungery he would wakeup about 10 times a night. So i made sure that right before i put him down i gave him oatmeal cereal (even if he had eaten an hour before and nursed) so that he would have a full belly. I found that this helped a lot. Then I started taking him to a chiropractor. During the birthing process their spines can get put out of alignment and it does affect their sleep. He started sleeping a lot better.
My family all goes to Chiropractic USA.
You should try it, it might really help.

Back ground noise helps too. We still have a noise machine in my sons room and he is 2 1/2.