Night Terrors.

Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive January-June 2005: Night Terrors.

Freedom has been waking up screaming, in that altered state of consciousness for over a week,even during naptime sometimes.
He appeared to have been on the mend from his cold ,but when we got him back from Grandma last weekend he had the fever again and now it's a chesty cough.He's also constanly sucking on his hand,getting his fingers way back where molars are coming and drooling.
Poor little guy, this child never gets anything, and now he's teething, nose running, chest cold and night terrors all at once.We took him off dairy for two days now and that seems to be helping, but the sleep disorder is so scary.Dh still doesn't seem to get it and tries to wake him up or talk to him like he's awake.
Everything I've read says to just be there and make sure he doesn't hurt himself.Sometimes he will let me rock him in the rocker but with a big 6mo. tum I can only hold a heavy 2 year old for so long.
Does anyone have any insight into this night terrors thing?
Is all this because of molars coming?

By Trina~moderator on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 02:51 pm:

My DS used to get Night Terrors. Not fun! They usually happened if he was sick or when his routine was thrown off for whatever reason. For example, while traveling and staying at places other than home. Thankfully he has outgrown them! A good article here:

Night terrors: Why they happen and what to do about them

By Heaventree on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 02:52 pm:

My first thought was "Did something happen at Grandma's that might have been frightening?" Have you spoken with her? Did he have night terrors at her house?

I would take him to the doctor and get him checked out, just to be on the safe side. Keep us posted.

By Emily7 on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 03:03 pm:

Here is the site I used to help me.
night terrors

By Cat on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 03:04 pm:

My now 11yo ds had night terrors for years. I think they actually started with him when he was only about 6-8 months old and lasted until just a couple years ago. He'd usually only have them when he was over-tired or like Trina said, something in his routine was *off*. If your ds has the cold and is teething and everything else that's going on, I wonder if he's getting enough sleep. With all that, he's probably not getting enough REM sleep. I really think if you get the cold especially taken care of, it should help. Call your ped and see what they say. Good luck and hugs. I know it's hard.

By Marcia on Friday, May 20, 2005 - 09:38 pm:

My almost 9 year old has had night terrors for many years, but not every night. After a while I realized that if I woke her up to go pee early enough, she wouldn't have one. The only time she does it now is if I forget to go in until later than normal. It seems that waking her up changes her sleep pattern, and stops the terrors.
She has no recollection, ever.

By Tink on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 12:14 am:

Ditto Trina and Cat. My ds has them and has since he was about a year old. Wrapping my ds up in a blanket pretty tightly and sitting him on the couch next to me helped him. I also offered him a drink of water if he did wake up all the way. All the crying seemed to dry his mouth out and made him more comfortable.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 01:07 am:

My kids both had them. They don't anymore. As Emily got older, she would cry out, once in a night. I got to the point, where I didn't go in there anymore, since it would happen once, and she would go back to sleep.

Sarah's started when Emily was a baby and on the nights that Emily would sleep, Sarah would wake up. If Sarah slept all night, Emily would wake up. I swear they had a conspiracy thing going on! Poor mom never got to sleep! LOL!

By Clarabel on Saturday, May 21, 2005 - 09:47 pm:

Heaventree, I can see why you would ask that, but he has been having these occasinally for about six months at least.It's just not usually every night. According to her, he had a great night and got plenty of sleep.His routine was thrown off.We stick to a very consistent bedtime routine at home.Last night there was no fever and I would say he is almost back to himself today except for the cough and the teething. His mood has improved considerably.Taking a break from dairy seemed to help alot and dh won't let him play outside because he thinks the pollen is making it worse.It is very cold here for May.The weather keeps changing.I hope he is back to normal soon.
I don't want to take him to the doctor, but I will if I have to.
Dh is going on a business trip for three days starting tomorrow so I will be one very tired pregnant lady.Wish me luck.