I’d just like to take the time to point out that it’s September ya’ll. SEPTEMBER!!!! Where has the year gone?!!
ANYWAY, this week’s WFMW is a backwards edition. It’s a week where I get to ask a question of YOU! And please, I need help on this one in a big way.
Night Terrors. If you want, read my little story about my recent (and very first) experience with them. My question is, what do YOU do when your little one(s) are in the middle of one? Wear ear plugs? Feed them? Sit them down in front of the tv? Hold them? Splash water on them? Read to them? Pray? (trust me, did lots of that one already) All of the above? Or none at all?
Help! I welcome any suggestions you have.
Be sure to check out Rocks In My Dryer for more mind-boggling questions that you just might have the answer to and therefore become a hero to an untold amount of struggling moms/women. Who can pass THAT up?!
14 comments
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September 2, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Cindy
I learned from the Ferber book (Solve your child’s sleep problem) that for night terrors you’re supposed to not touch the child…just leave them in bed and they’ll quiet down themselves. My first one had night terrors at about 12 months…reminds me to expect them again with my third. I was getting up and picking him up to comfort him, and it just made them continue night after night. As soon as I stopped picking him up, they disappeared after a few nights and never came back.
Hope yours disappear soon!
September 2, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Angela
My son started having Night Terrors around age 6. It was awful. He would start screaming about two hours after going to bed, scared out of his mind. He’d be yelling for me, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” I’d go running into the room, but he wouldn’t know who I was. Same thing with the wide eyes, not really awake. I didn’t know what to do! Night after night it would happen. Thank you Jesus, a few weeks later the Focus on the Family parenting magazine had an article on them. Now, what they said worked, although it’s opposite of what Cindy said. According to them, it happens within a few hours after they fall asleep and they don’t usually remember what they were dreaming about. You’re supposed to go in and keep trying to wake them up until they can look at you, recognize who you are, and communicate understandably with you. That’s what I did with Taylor, saying over and over, “It’s me. It’s mom. Taylor. Wake up. You’re dreaming.” Then I’d pray for him before letting him fall back asleep. He doesn’t ever remember what his dream was about. But the good thing is they said kids usually grow out of it by age 12 or so, and he’s almost there. It has to do with entering so deeply into a certain phase of sleep, and only happens to this extent in a small percentage of children. Hope this helps!
September 3, 2008 at 7:03 am
angie
I feel your pain. My youngest had night terrors for four months when he was 2 1/2. I am not recommending this ( definitely not recommeding this ), but his ended the moment his tonsils and adenoids were removed. I came to the conclusion by myself that his not being able to breathe at night ( and therefore not getting into a deep sleep ) was probably causing the night terrors. Sorry I have no solution for you. I just wanted you to know that there are those of us out here that know the frustration and heartache you are going through. My husband and I would just lay in bed and bawl our eyes out. I will pray for your little one!
September 3, 2008 at 7:53 am
silver
My guy only gets them if he’s over tired–long day, napped poorly, etc. So, for me, prevention is my route. I try to make sure that we are home at nap time and the hour before (if he’s in the car or stroller in the hour before nap time, he falls asleep there and won’t continue his nap when we get home).
September 3, 2008 at 8:26 am
pat
I know you won’t like my suggestion but we had the night terrors too, my son was about 5 when he started. My story is like that above by Angela. We ended up taking our son to a child psychiatrist who prescibed prozac.(we didn’t even have our son vaccinated so we aren’t real gung ho on rx’s) See, I know it’s not a good answer, but it worked!! My pediatrician and I had a very long long talk about this rx and she told me it has alot of bad press but it was a good and safe drug if taken correctly. She proposed “if you son was diabetic, you would not keep insulin from him”. So we tried it and we’d meet with the psychiatrist every 2 weeks. He felt it was brought on my anxietyand after about a year, we weaned him off the prozac and he’s good as new! The psychiatrist also asked an interesting ques…..did my son recently have strep. Strep untreated can cause this onset of night terrors, you could google that. Anyway, just thought I’d chime in with what worked for us and I know it’s not for everyone.
September 3, 2008 at 8:40 am
Peanut
Hi there. We’ve had trouble with night terrors with our 2.5 yo daughter. I’ve noticed that they only strike when she is overtired. So I’m now a bit of a bear when it comes to protecting her sleep time. During a night terror, we’ve found she only gets more agitated if we try to wake her and the only way to calm her is to sit her on the potty and tell her to pee. Then she settles right away.
Good luck figuring out what works for you!
September 3, 2008 at 11:57 am
Jennifer
I agree that overtiredness brings it on. My daughter (now 9) had them every night following a day that she did not nap when she was around 2 years old. We would hold her, take her into the bathroom, gently wash her face with a cold washcloth and coax her to wake up. After she was “awake,” we’d hug her and put her back to bed.
Good luck! Remember too, that like everything else, it is just a phase, and it will eventually go away.
September 3, 2008 at 2:28 pm
jainhollie
I don’t know what to do, but I’m sure praying for Tiger. *hug*
September 3, 2008 at 3:57 pm
lisa (lost pezhead)
the only thing i’ve found that works for us….pop in a dvd. it makes my kids come out of it and they stop screaming. i offer them a drink and maybe some crackers to help them calm down. it’s such a scary thing when they do that!
September 3, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Lana
My brother had super scary spells of these growing up, he would actually be trying to leave the house, convinced that he was shrinking…. or that “they” were coming.
I remember that my parents tried waking him up about 1 hour after he fell asleep to have him use the restroom (no accident problems) and I think that this helped quite a bit.
September 6, 2008 at 8:31 am
runningamuck
Thanks everyone for your great words of advice! I’ll be sure to let ya know if it happens again and what does or doesn’t work. Now that I know more. =0)
September 6, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Heather @ Not a DIY Life
I hope the night terrors go away soon! Another one of those things where parents feel helpless to help their child.
We haven’t been through this with our little one. But I’ve learned to trust my gut – my instincts tell me that your child needs your comfort and reassurrance.
September 6, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Rachel
Wow. I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes!! My son is 16 now. He had night terrors that started when we was around 3. I remember going in his room when he would start screaming. I remember trying to calm him. His eyes were wide open and he was hitting and kicking at whatever he was seeing in his dream. But he was really asleep. I often asked him what his dream was about. He couldn’t remember. He often drifted right back to sleep after he would finally wake up. He was so tired. His doctor said he was not getting into deep sleep and prescribed meds. It worked. But I tell you, as a mother, that was one scary time for me. I often sat on his bed at night, cryng, praying. My son was so exhausted he was even having them during the day while he was awake. The doctor explained it as small snippits of time when the brain would grab sleep whenever it could. Sleep deprivation is the worse thing for them – and I see many of you are putting two and two together in regards to that!
Fast forward yrs later. My son was doing fine, night terrors were gone. Then he started having seizures. He was diagnosed as having partial complex seizures and takes meds. I asked the doctor if there was a link between the seizures now and the night terrors then. He said some kids who have partial complex seizures (which is a form of epilepsy) did have night terrors as a child. The neurologist also stresses how important sleep is!
For those of you struggling with medications.. I was there too. My mother made me feel awful for having my son on meds so young. Finally I reminded her she took blood pressure meds and thinks nothing of it. It’s what she has to do. This is what I have to do for him.
I must add, there was only one other family member to have epilepsy – it was my great aunt which I never knew. So while there is “history” of it.. it’s not a very strong one. It just so happens my son has it too. Will he grow out of it? We are hoping so. He has an EEG every 2 yrs and each year he improves.
Sorry to ramble.. it’s just your post touched me.
September 7, 2008 at 11:40 am
Karen L
Our 2nd daughter started having night terrors around the age of 3, it seemed to happen most when she was overtired. We found the duration of the terror lessened when we just wrapped our arms around her to quiet her movements while the other of us stoked her hair and spoke soothingly. Eventually she would settle down and never remembered it the next day. This same child also went through a period of sleep walking during time of stress or while making a leap in her development. Again, speaking to her soothingly and gently guiding her to bathroom and then back to bed resolved the episode. As memory serves, it was only for a few monthes on the night terrors and the sleepwalking ended by age 8. She’s now 20 and since about age 12, self-regulates a very strict sleep/wake cycle for when she goes to be and when she wakes in the morning. She says she functions best if she keeps a regular schedule. Must be working well as she is able to work fulltime while carrying a full credit load at college and still finds time and energy to devote to family, friends and her love of photography. I’m guessing your little one will outgrow it. Don’t be afraid to listen to the inner voice that tells you what your babe needs, don’t let “experts” override your gut feeling! Best of luck.