My son has quite a few nights where he will wake up screaming. He thrashes about like something is wrong. Have been to the ER many times. By the time we get there he is fine. They have not been able to find anything wrong with him. Have been to the doctor and have had many xrays, bloodwork and sonograms done. He doesn't scream during the day. To see him during the day you wouldn't know anything is wrong it is only at night. Have stayed at my sisters and my parents, it doesn't matter where he is he does it. Sometimes many nights in a row and other times he will go for a while before it happens again. I am at my wits end. The screams last anywhere from 1 hour to 3-4 hours. Any suggestions?????
Sounds like night terror to me. It cn be very scary but there is nothing wrong with the kids.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_night-terrors_142.bc
Good luck and hang in there. My son had it maybe 3 time while he was little and I know it freaked me out!
((S.))
Has your son had shots recently?
I agree with the night terrors but I had to ask the vacccine question cuz my son had seizures.....mini ones.
Trying to help you connect the dots
My daughter did this when she was about 2. She would carry on yelling & thrashing and be oblivious to where she even was. I would try to pick her up and hold her but it made no difference. The episodes would last less than an hour. The doctor told me it was "night terrors" and they were not harmful and would pass (not harmful if they don't injure themselves with all of the thrashing). I know it was scary. I don't know if the episodes can last as long as you mention, but this was my experience.
My son had night terrors too. Very scary as they dont even recognize your there because they're still asleep. Find out what his triggers are. For my son being overtired was a trigger. At 18 months your son should be getting about 14 hours of sleep total for the day. His bedtimes need to be early, I would suggest before 8pm. Other triggers can be certain foods such as chocolate, cheese can cause nightmares in some people. Other things could also be getting to warm at night.
When he has his night terrors its important to speak softly and repetatively, its ok, its ok. Don't try to hold him, shake him or whatever. They do not know it is you and it only makes it worse. Usually children do grow out of it. My son started at this age and had his last night terror at 5. Hes now 8.
S., by no means am I a doctor...but my son went through something similar. One of my friends had a daughter that went though this as well. She took her to the ER and was told that her daughter was having "night terrors". When she described what was happening it sounded a lot like what my son was experiencing. My son's only lasted for about 10 minutes at the most, but her daughter's would last up to 2 hrs at a time. At first, I thought that my son was having nightmares so naturally I would try to comfort him and tell him that I was there and that everything was ok. That would only make things worse. With night terrors, they have no idea what's going on, they become kind of combative, they'll eventually go back into a deep sleep, and then not remember it the next day. Anyway, like I said I'm not a doctor...and I hope that nothing more serious is going on...but this sounds very similar to our situation. My son only did it about 3 or 4 times when he was about 2 1/2 yrs old and hasn't done it since. I looked up "night terrors" on Babycenter.com for you...here's the link.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_night-terrors_142.bc
I hope that this helps you and your family out.
That sounds like night terrors my daughter had them at 3 years old and freaked me out. I videoed it and showed it to my ped. She sent me to a sleep doctor who said it was night terrors. He said more routine during the day and not so over tired at night. It went on for a month then just stopped. He said don't waked her and don't talk about it during the day. Good luck I know it is hard my daughter would scream out help me mommy where are you and that broke my heart.
Sounds like night terrors to me also.
Stacey,
I agree. It sounds like night terrors. I just wrote on MamaSource today about my son who has sleep issues. At about 1 1/2 he started having night terrors. We noticed with him that the number and severity increased with a super busy day, lack of routine or lack of nap. One of the worst days he ever had was after a long day at the shore with no nap. As you know, your son can't be comforted. I have read about it online and numerous sites recommend that you do something repetitious. Every time it happens with my son, we go to the window, open the shade and I talk about everything that is outside, the stars, moon, trees. It is always the same. You are suppose to do something calming -- no television, no music, etc. I have tried the shower but that didn't work at all.
Good luck!
K.
Sounds like night terrors to me. Ferber should be paying me a commission, but check out his book-- there is a whole section on sleep disturbances. He'll probably grow out of them.
Maybe it is a sleep disorder - you can talk to your doctor about possibly having a sleep study test done - or talking to a sleep doctor.
Is he fully awake when these happen? The reason I'm asking is that my friend's daughter used to do this. However, she would look like she was awake but wouldn't really be awake. Her eyes were opening, she would be screaming and crying, but she wasn't registering who or what was going on around her. She was still asleep having a night terror.
If it is a night terror there are some ways to help curb them but I haven't heard of a way to completely eliminate them. Some of the causes can be overtiredness and not having a good diet/not eating right. Check his diet and make sure he is eating a decent diet through the day. Also, be consistent with bedtime. Maybe try moving it back a little earlier so that he is getting enough sleep. It took about 2 weeks but my friend worked on her daughter's diet making it consistent and making sure she was eating at the same time each day. She, also, worked on her sleep schedule. Once they were both adjusted and she had been following them for about a week, they noticed a difference. She no longer had the night terrors every night and when she did have them, they tended to be shorter in length.
Talk to your pediatrician to see if he thinks this could be the problem and ask him for some tips on dealing with them as they are happening. My friend did not touch her daughter during night terrors since her daughter didn't know who she was and it made them worse. She just was there to make sure that her daughter didn't do anything or go anywhere where she could get hurt during one. She would talk to her soothingly and after awhile, it would start to register with her daughter and she would either wake up or fall back to sleep.
Anyhow, I hope this helps and wish you the best of luck. I hope you are able to get a good night's sleep soon.
Hi. Your situation sounds very familiar. we have the same problem with our 4 yr. old. HE woke up screaming, he said his belly hurt and he needed help. Me and my husband freaked out and were on the way to the hospital and he fell asleep. So we brought him back home and he was fine the rest of the night. We were told it could be night terrors or an attention thing. This was the 3rd time it happened. Does your child remember it happening? ours does not remember it in the morning. I would not worry 2 much.
