Nightmares/night terrors

Anyone have an experience or advice in dealing with these?

My younger son who is 15 months old seems to be having them, every night for the last 2 weeks he has been screaming and crying the middle of the night. It lasts anywhere for an hour to 2 hours of constant crying, nothing seems to soothe him.

I brought him to the dr so its nothing medical but its disturbing and def starting to take its toll as he is waking up the whole house nightly

a friend mentioned seeing a sleep doctor is this something i should do

TIA

Nightmares/night terrors

My son has had them since about 10 months (we think). I read not to wake them although we do try to lay with him and tell him everything is ok. Some have lasted 1.5 hrs. If they were every week or month is see a sleep specialist.

They are common in young children.

Message edited 6/28/2014 2:03:49 PM.

Re: Nightmares/night terrors

My son started with them around age 3. But his were caused by a sensitivity to food dyes. Once I eliminated red and yellow dye, they disappeared. It took a good week to clear his system totally... They are very common and unfortunately there is nothing you can do for them :(

Nightmares/night terrors

My Ds had started them around 8/9 months old (now 20 months). He just cries and cries, nothing soothes him. He gets them more with naps than nighttime now, but I end up putting him in my bed and just rubbing his belly until he calms down enough to either pass back out or function again.

They are rough.

But if it's happening so often maybe you should seek out a sleep specialist, and they can let you know what steps need to be taken next.

Message edited 6/28/2014 8:33:06 PM.

Nightmares/night terrors

My DS has them. Sometimes we go long stretches with none of them. Then they'll start up again for a while. I asked my ped about it. She suggested 90 min after he falls asleep, go in and gently rub his back. Say his name. Basically, break the deep sleep cycle. You're waking them up but not waking them up completely. It seems to help DS

Nightmares/night terrors

I used to have them when I was little. I can still remember some of them. My mom used to sit me on the toilet to pee. I can't even tell you how many times I "woke up" on the toilet upset and confused and having no idea what was going on. My mom was very stressed and thought maybe someone was hurting or molesting me and used to grill me about everyone. However it must be genetic bc I remember my brother having them too. I remember one time he was sitting on the steps hysterical about his spelling test where he correctly wrote "ship" but in his dream he thought he wrote shit. Maybe he was in first grade? My mother was holding the test trying to show him he wrote it correctly but he was not consolable. I don't remember us being infants more like 5-8ish. Eventually they stopped for me and I assume for him too.

Eta - the whole point of me writing this was to say the doctors told my parents to NOT wake us up, but to put us on the toilet to pee and wake up naturally.

Message edited 6/29/2014 12:42:46 AM.

Nightmares/night terrors

Thanks for all the advice...last night was the first times in 2 weeks he didnt have one and slept the whole night but it they start up again i may take him to the sleep specialist

Nightmares/night terrors

DD is 2 1/2 and has them. I notice that they happen more often when she hasn't napped earlier in the day or when she's overstimulated. They have also happened when she has napped, just not as often. Also, when she has them I wait it out before going in her room. When she first started having them I would go in her room right away and that was a mistake. It would take her hours to calm down and go to sleep. Now, I give it about 10 minutes. Usually she stops crying after about 2-3 minutes and lays back down and goes to sleep. Thankfully she's still in the crib so I don't have to worry about her getting hurt. If you go in your son's room I wouldn't speak to him. You can rub his back or cuddle him. But speaking to him and jarring him awake actually makes it worse.