OT Anyone have experience with night terrors?

[mommy22pumpkins]

hello all. I'm sorry if this is not an appropriate place to post this. But my 7 year old son has been waking up with night terrors for the last 2 or 3 weeks. About an hour or less after he goes to bed. We read online if you wake them up about 10 minutes before the episode it will not happen. And the times we have woken him up in time it has worked. But if we wake him too early or too late he will have one again.

This has me very worried because sleep is so important and I'm afraid he is going to have sleep disorders for the rest of his life. It is very scary to watch too when looks so afraid. Alot of the time I can calm him but not always. Very tough to watch.

Anyone have any experience with this or can give me any advice? I would be very grateful.

Danielle (mom to Owen 7 and Sara 4)

 

[collcass]

Danielle, my 7 yr old had them but he was much younger then. I'll never forget the 1st time - I truly thougt he was posessed the way he was screaming. He'd seem like he was a wake but the more you tried to wake him up, the worse it got.

We were definitely told to wake him up approx an hour after he fell asleep. They also recommended to be careful of what he was eating/drinking at night. Hot cocoa or anything w/ caffeine apparently can trigger them, Also being overtired, too much stimulation before bedtime or stress. I'm not sure if any of that is actually true, but it is what the doctor told us.

It was scary but he did outgrow them. Is your son dealing with anything in school - a bully or any kind of social situation that might worry him? Again, I have no idea if that really plays into it but I do remember the doctor asking us - which was strange since mine was only a bit over 2 when he had them.

Good luck.....sorry I couldn't offer up more info

 

[LISAVWL]

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread -- DS5 just started having these last week (so far 3). I know his routine was thrown way off during the holidays but they started just as it was getting back to normal. I'm waiting for our Pediatrician to call me back this afternoon. I agree -- very tough to watch! I read online that typically they happen within about an hour of the kids falling asleep but with DS it's almost 4 hours later.

 

[PoohHappens]

There was a lengthy thread somewhere on her a few months ago on this topic. We had them when ours was a toddler, nap time and night time. It was horrible. Sometimes at nap time he would "awake" and scream up to 1 1/2 hours. I just laid him in a safe place on the floor and quitely reminded him I was there and he was safe. Otherwise I did not touch him as it seemed to aggitate him more. We eneded up having some neurological testing done, it was all normal, however I can reccomend never never keeping a 2 year old awake all night. It was needed for one of his tests and it was really hard on the parents besides the kid. Good luck, his eventually tapered off and then stopped. I always worried what the neighbors thought I was doing to the child during the afternoon when he was screaming. It was also difficult at hotels. Fatigue was a trigger for us and it was usually early in the sleep cycle just like yours.

 

[DisLaw]

Yes when DD was in kindergarten. They would happen about 1 hour or so after she fell asleep. She did outgrow them but her pediatrician felt there were associated with anxiety, which she does have. (not serious, no meds just a very anxious person. lots of seperation anxiety when she was small)

One thing I thought was helpful was that we never really told her about them (she never remembered having them!) I would ask her if she had a bad dream but never told her that she woke up screaming and yelling! One time I did start to tell her what she had experienced the night before and that seemed to make her more upset, so I just never brought it up again and she did outgrow it after about 6 months or so. I had just had a baby so there was a lot of changes in our family which I think seemed to trigger these episodes.

They are scary though, and I was always worried she would hurt herself! She seemed so upset and nothing I could do would make it better. The faster I could get her back to sleep it seemed the better it was. It was almost funny how quickly it would stop and she would put her head on the pillow and be fast asleep again. I was so glad that it only happened once a night and if I could get through it I knew she would sleep fine for the rest of the night.

She is a teen now and sleeps great! (sometimes too great, especially when the alarm goes off at 6am!)

 

[MJAJmom]

My DS6 started having night terrors around age 3. They were very freaky. Would happen more when he was overtired, overstimulated. He'd wake up about 2-3 hours after bedtime and would be sitting up, crying, shaking and talking nonsense.

I would just hold him, hug him and talk softly to him. Telling him "I'm right here, it's all better, you're safe, nobody's going to hurt you, it's ok now." Kept the lights off and just tried to get him to lay back down. Don't panic or over react. One thing that helped was putting his lullaby music on. I have a CD music player on the night stand and always play a Disney lullaby CD when the boys go to bed. The music was a slight distraction and that seemed to shorten the episode.

Now, it's about once every 3-4 months it happens. Make sure to put him to bed at a consistent time, maybe even 10-15 earlier than normal.

 

[eeyoremum]

My DS 9 has NT on and off. I just stay with him and talk quietly with him. I never wake him up. They go away after a few minutes and he never remembers in the morning. As he is getting older he is having less and less. I don't think we have had an episode since September (of course now I have jinxed the poor kid...lol)

 

[tam626]

My son actually had his first one at 9 months. Freaked me out. He is 3 now & has'nt had them for a while. I know his happened when he had'nt gotten enough sleep that day. I noticed that just going in his room & not talking to him or trying to move him was better than trying to interfere. I would rub his back & sometimes that seemed to help. They are scary but at least the kids don't remember them.

 

[disneynewbee]

Boy do I remember night terrors. My oldest dd had night terrors when she was younger. She would scream for two hours straight like she was in a horror film. If I tried to touch her to comfort her she would practically climb up the wall to get away from me so all I could do was sit and watch her till she stopped. The good news is she did grow out of them, they lasted for a little over a year and she would have them about twice a wk. The only advise I was given by her doc to avoid them was to watch what she ate before bed but it never worked for us she still had them. Good luck it's a hard thing to deal with.

 

[mommy22pumpkins]

okay thanks for all the info. He wakes up so early. Sometimes as early as 5:30 in the morning and plays with toys or tries to get on his Wii ( I have learned to hide the controller from him). But he is not big on sleeping in and refuses to nap so by the time he's ready for bed he is beyond tired. I may try just driving him around for a while after he gets off the bus from school to get him to take a little nap. I think that probably would help.

Thanks again for all the advice. We are trying to not make a big deal out of it or tell him anything about it. Just keep him safe when it happens as he walks from room to room. He actually pushes us away and runs from us sometimes. I just hope they subside soon.

 

[karibritt01]

My DS10 had them from about 20 months until about 4 yrs. It wasn't every night, but when he did have them, it was 2-3 times that night. I would lay in bed with him and hold him until he settled. We also used a lullaby CD which did help. I could often turn the CD on and whisper to him at the beginning stages of the nightmare, and ward it off. On the nights it was really bad, I would let him come sleep with me, and pat him to settle him before the dream intensified. We also used a stuffed dog on his bed to "eat his bad dreams" because everyone knows that is what stuffed dogs eat. LOL He now has about 10 stuffed dogs sleeping at the foot of his bed every night!!

A 7 yr old may not respond as well to those types of comforts, depending on the personality. I think it is a lot of trial and error to find what soothes your own child. Another thing you could try is a melatonin at bedtime to induce a little calmer sleep... maybe his mind is just racing at night? My son takes a melatonin (per Pediatrician suggestion) on nights he is having trouble relaxing and falling asleep. He is usually out within 20 minutes of taking it.

 

[piratemamaof3]

My oldest had them when he was younger but not as extreme as some of these. He would not let us touch him and thankfully they never lasted very long. The first one freaked me out though till I figured it out.
If he walks around have you considered getting a baby gate for his door to help keep him in there incase you don't get to him before he gets out. I don't know if that would help or make things worse.

 

[lntsmom]

Connect With Kids. It's a free newsletter. Here's the link:

http://www.connectwithkids.com/tipsheet/2009/419_jan7/thisweek/090107_terror.shtml

There's a link on the side of the page there so anyone who is interested can sign up for a free copy of their e-mail newsletter. They usually cover an interesting topic or two each time.

BTW...I went through this with my older son. A friend told me what they were, and my son's never lasted longer than a minute or so, so I just sat with him until they were over. He never remembered them and they didn't seem to stress him out...we may have gotten of easy!

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

Yes, my daughter had them & still does now & then. Her doctor said it meant she had too little or too much sleep. That we had to test the theory & see which it was. And to this day if she has too little sleep, she will have one (and she is now 8 & they started around 4yrs old). She too has alot of stress. She suffers from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (all stress induced) and already had shingles (stress induced) at age 4.

So, i think some kids are just affected a little more on stress then others & I do think that it plays apart in the NT's as well. Just my opinion on that though.

Good luck - they do get better, but a good nights sleep is a must!

 

[Tink-aholic]

I've been there. I had night terrors from when I was three until I was in high school. About one night a month, I'd wake up screaming five or six times during the night. In my case, I'd be so upset that I usually vomited, too. They gradually became less frequent as I grew older. As I matured and became more aware of them, I could actually tell when I was going to have one that night because of a "feeling" I had (kind of like the "auras" that epileptics feel before a seizure, maybe?). I don't think my mom ever attempted to wake me up ahead of one, though.

I can clearly remember my dreams then because they had such an impact on me. Believe it or not, I dreamed about ordinary items when I had my NTs. Sure, I had my share of bad dreams about monsters and stuff...but I reacted to those like any regular kid would with a regular nightmare. My NT dreams were always different and far, far worse than a nightmare.

I'm 37 now. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I cannot sleep without a sleep aid now and MUST sleep with the television on. They may not be related, as I know lots of people who need a pill to sleep.

Sorry you both have to go through this. I hope my case was more extreme than your son's. Good luck.

 

[LISAVWL]

I talked to my Pediatrician yesterday he seemed to think that DS5 was indeed having Night Terrors but not to be alarmed at this point. He reinforced the info I read online and here about not waking him, making sure we stick to a regular bedtime routine, not eating too close to bedtime and making sure he's safe during a NT. He said that boys are more prone to NT than girls and by grade school they've usually outgrown them.
All that said, I'm still a little freaked out by all this. He had a good night again last night but who's to say it won't happen again. I guess it's a wait and see thing right now.

 

[bgirl29]

My son had night terrors when he was younger. If we tried to hold him or comfort him they only seemed to go on longer. He would always sit up when he was having a night terror and kinda thrash around. One night I finally just tried to tell him to lay back down and relax and go back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when it actually worked. So after that we would just go in and tell him to lay back down, and most of the time he would.

I know he was maybe having a midler terror then others, but I thought I would mention that it worked for us, because it certainly couldn't hurt to try it. Good luck to everyone going through this now. I remember how bad you feel for your kiddo when they are screaming and shaking for no apparent reason.

 

[Crisgw]

Our youngest DS (he's going to be 4 on Tuesday) had night terrors for six months or so starting when he was 3. They were HORRIBLE. We made the mistake of waking him once. We never did that again...ever. We talked to our ped and he just told us to stay with him to ensure he was safe. We also put him on an earlier bedtime schedule. We noticed the terrors coincided with schedule changes and not getting enough sleep. Hang in there, they will end

 

[nessz79]

My son had night terrors when he was younger. If we tried to hold him or comfort him they only seemed to go on longer. He would always sit up when he was having a night terror and kinda thrash around. One night I finally just tried to tell him to lay back down and relax and go back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when it actually worked. So after that we would just go in and tell him to lay back down, and most of the time he would.

I know he was maybe having a midler terror then others, but I thought I would mention that it worked for us, because it certainly couldn't hurt to try it. Good luck to everyone going through this now. I remember how bad you feel for your kiddo when they are screaming and shaking for no apparent reason.

This is what has worked for us as well. My DS 5 (nearly 6) has had them throughout his life, mostly during the ages of 18 months to 4 years old. They have been greatly tapered off recently but they do resurface from time to time. I have tried the gamut of ideas with night terrors but I find what works best is 1) Prevent them by keeping to bedtimes and making sure my son is getting plenty of rest 2) If I can't prevent them, when it happens I go into his room and tell him firmly to go back to sleep. Usually he will for a couple seconds and then starts back up again. I just keep telling him firmly to go back to sleep several times until he is peacefully asleep again. It usually takes about 3-4 minutes and it is MUCH better than the full-out screaming and thrashing. He mostly just whimpers and talks nonsense when I talk firmly to him and it's much milder.

I'm not sure if this would work for a young toddler, but since your child is 7 years old, this would probably work. Loving, tender tones never worked with my son in night terrors. It's weird, but it was the only thing that worked.

I definitely think they are connected to stress or anxiety, but don't worry about a permanant sleep disorder. Most kids outgrow it and it's relatively normal, even if scary for us.

 

[Sillyminny40]

I talked to my Pediatrician yesterday he seemed to think that DS5 was indeed having Night Terrors but not to be alarmed at this point. He reinforced the info I read online and here about not waking him, making sure we stick to a regular bedtime routine, not eating too close to bedtime and making sure he's safe during a NT. He said that boys are more prone to NT than girls and by grade school they've usually outgrown them.
All that said, I'm still a little freaked out by all this. He had a good night again last night but who's to say it won't happen again. I guess it's a wait and see thing right now.

Excellent doctor. My ds12 had horrendous ones. They occur JUST before they fall into that REM (rapid eye movement) deep sleep and he "wakes" up shaking and walking around. Our ped ruled out brain issues to be on safe side. We rarely went out in the evening if it was past his bedtime. One awesome 16 yr old babysitter handled it well one evening when our dinner ran over time.

Funny how I had them as a child too and I STILL remember them. They were about something but ds12's did not appear to be about a topic just a "state of sleep mixed up." Honest to G the following works, may take a couple of years but it does. Son is perfectly fine now, they stopped about age 8-10.
-same bedtime
-no food 2 hours before bedtime
-calm book and talking
-parent close by to be ready to lead back to sleep quickly before child starts "wandering" around the house.
-absolutely no video games, tv, electronics two hours before bedtime.

Continue to h ave patience!