Night terrors, nightmares and screaming!

[wtbmummy]

I am REALLY hoping someone, anyone else has experienced this with a pre-schooler.

When ds was younger he had night terrors, it was awful. He would scream n kick n punch but be fast asleep.

Then followed nightmares where he would scream but only half awake and run to his bedroom door or just lay their but call for dh or myself.

Things are NOT improving!!

Now at least twice every night ds will lay in bed screaming for between 1min and 20mins and be fast asleep. Crying n screaming. An hour later he will then wake up ciughing and ask for water as he has a dry throat and a cough which he has inevitably given to himself through the screaming!!

As I say this happens EVERY single night at least TWICE!! It is not night terrors as hes always been asleep for minimum of 3hours when it happens (the first time) and can be 6-7hrs before the first time in the night. So theres no routine to it.

I can go in and hes fast asleep lashing out n screaming like a night terror. If he does eventually wake (like he did tonight after 17mins of screaming) he tells me theres monsters or asks where his teddy of that night is or says he wants mummy to tuck him in.
Even his reasoning for the screaming makes no sence 98% of the time as he is usually tucked in AND holding his teddy

I am now 20weeks pregnant with an almost 3yr old who "technically" does (not) sleep through the night!

I need to get this sorted. He has a gro clock to tell him when to get up in the morning but it also works as a very good night light too. So hes not even in a dark room!

Please anyone experience this?
Does it end?
What is it?
Did you do anything to make it stop?
If it lasts less than 5mins I dont go in as otherwise it sets him off even more and can go on for half hour. Is this the right thing to do?
I feel like I have tried everything! He was dry at night but in September started wearing pull ups to bed again as he was wetting himself several times and it came back out of nowhere!! I tried again last week with no luck. Changed bed twice and somehow in the morning he had soaked himself through without even waking

I really am at a loss.

Its 12.40 im yet to sleep due to heartburn at then ds started screaming at midnight till 12.20 so i will have another day of exhaustion tomorrow

Please help!!!!

 

[Bella1185]

Aww major hugs!! !! I don't know how you're doing it!!! DD has slept through the night MAYBE 5 times since she was born - so Ive had literally 3 years of no sleep as she wakes up multiple times a night, and I'm on course to lose my mind!!! You must be a saint to to be dealing with it while pregnant!!

. Everytime we talk to a pediatrician he/she just says that if DD is waking up the same time every night, then it's on her sleep cycle. (Adults can wake up during sleep cycle changes, but we just roll over and go back to sleep). So pediatrician says when she wakes up, no matter how hysterical, just go in, pat her back, reasure her that we are there and she's okay, and then leave and let her learn how to put herself back to sleep. WAY easier said than done like your little one, DD is always thirsty and miserable - sooooo it's a struggle. Sure sounds good in theory but so far it's never quite that easy, or plausible.

Sorry for the long winded reply - that's likely no help At the very least just know you're not alone - and hopefully this phase will pass soon!

 

[wtbmummy]

Thank you for writting back.
It does help to know I'm not alone
It just drives me insane. Best night in ages last night. He woke at 9 screaming n just went quiet and then slept through till 7.35am!!! I feel like a new women almost

I will say its not something I thought id be dealing with pregnant. Like i said he was dry at night but now with all the screaming making him cough making his throat hurt n then making him thirsty its almost like a full pull up again
I do sometimes wonder if hes getting worse because of the baby. He loves the baby tells dh n I that all the time. He hugs my tummy n talks to the baby n kisses my tummy n cant wait to be a big brother (according to him to a little sister but we dont find out till monday coming) but still even if hes excited could he be getting worse due to regression knowing it wont be just us anymore????
I dont know I'm prob just overthinking it

 

[SarahBear]

Do you have a partner who can address your 3 year old's nighttime needs?

 

[Teri7489]

There is a thing called Night terror disorder. Shows itself in what you have described and usually stops without any intervention. There is also a thing called sleep paralysis which is possible. It is terrifying, really vivid dreams, but you are unable to move. It's simply your mind wakes up but your body doesn't. For some reason it causes you to experience horrible visions (monsters, spiders) but you cant move from them. You then fall back asleep and can wake normally after that. Although he is kicking and screaming, could he possibly be having these then falling back asleep? personally I have them fall asleep and cry my heart out in my sleep. my husband used to wake me and I used to get so scared so now he leaves me. I know what they are from a doctor telling me and can identify it but maybe he can't explain it. Sorry for the long post, just seems like it could be the matter just from personal experience. Hope you are all OK xxx

 

[wtbmummy]

Do you have a partner who can address your 3 year old's nighttime needs?

My husband works a 60 hr week most weeks and is on call a lot and isnt always here at night. He does help when he can or he trys to get up with him at the weekend so i can sleep in n recoupe on some sleep.

 

[wtbmummy]

There is a thing called Night terror disorder. Shows itself in what you have described and usually stops without any intervention. There is also a thing called sleep paralysis which is possible. It is terrifying, really vivid dreams, but you are unable to move. It's simply your mind wakes up but your body doesn't. For some reason it causes you to experience horrible visions (monsters, spiders) but you cant move from them. You then fall back asleep and can wake normally after that. Although he is kicking and screaming, could he possibly be having these then falling back asleep? personally I have them fall asleep and cry my heart out in my sleep. my husband used to wake me and I used to get so scared so now he leaves me. I know what they are from a doctor telling me and can identify it but maybe he can't explain it. Sorry for the long post, just seems like it could be the matter just from personal experience. Hope you are all OK xxx

I knew it was night terrors when he was younger but that apprently happens within first half hour of sleeping n is to do with going from light to deep sleep or something. As this is random and all night through I hadnt thought it could still be night terrors but in a different form.
I wonder about the sleep paralysis as sometimes he does eventually wake up tell me hes fine roll over n go back to sleep. So he possibly doesnt even remember?? 🤔

Im sorry you go through this yourself it must be hard. But thank you so much for your reply I will definetely look up the things youve described and maybe mention it to his gp on his next visit.

 

[Teri7489]

How's your little guy doing? x

 

[zorak]

We are going through similar with my 3 year old, though his follow more of a pattern. He will sit up screaming after about 60_90mins of sleep drenched in sweat. I usually have to go in and change his pj's and pillow. Then he sleeps more peacefully but will do more sleep shouting etc on a 3 hourly pattern through the night.

He's a known sleeowalker, has been since he was tiny so I have to be careful of that. Night terrors are also very common in the female line of my side. My sisters, Mum and I all do some variations especially when over tired, upset or ill.

At the moment we just make sure he's not too hot. He sleeps the first part of the night in his own bed but he's been so anxious at night lately we've allowed him to come and sleep with us when he wakes in the middle of the night. He sleeps more soundly in our bed and it means neither my husband or I are getting repeatedly disturbed. I'm confident it will at least lessen as he grows.

 

[TwoGirlsAndMe]

Our 5 year old (she'll be 6 in Feb) has had night terrors since before she was 1 year old, she doesn't get out of bed or kicks/lashes out she just sits up, cries and talks.. it happens within the 2 hour mark after falling asleep ��
I've no idea what causes it as they are so random, she goes it bed happy/not upset or crying etc and sometimes she can have 1 every night for a week or non in 2 weeks.

When she starts crying I go in and stand next to her and tell her she's fine, she's having a bad dream etc, not that I think it helps as she's not awake but she's in the top bunk bed so I basically stand there and make sure she doesn't climb/fall out until she stops and is asleep.

I was worried how it would affect dd2 who turned 4 last month as they've shared a room since dd2 was 1. And dd2 either sleeps through it (no idea how) or sometimes does wake up but goes back to sleep within a few mins.

I'm hoping they stop soon. I've no real advice apart from I know how horrible they are.x

 

[Snufflepop]

Ugh I feel your pain. My DD is 2 years 9 months and has never slept through the night. I can't even imagine getting to that point. She wakes up randomly throughout the night, no set patterns. Some nights it might be once, other nights 5/6 times. She just wakes crying and I don't know why, maybe a bad dream. Mostly she settles ok if my husband gives her some water and a cuddle. He tends to deal with her night waking as we also have an 11 month old who still BFs at night so I deal with the baby. We started ttc when my DD turned one thinking that by the time the baby arrived she would be sleeping better, how wrong we were 😂💤

 

[Wilsey]

My son did this and it was only for a few weeks. We thought he was awake so we tried talking to him but it just seemed to make him scream louder and trash more. Finally we would just go in and sit next to him while he freaked out and then, eventually, he'd go back to sleep. He wouldn't remember anything in the morning. Thankfully it just stopped.

Best of luck, wish I had some practical tips but didn't have to research it too deeply.

 

[OmarsMum]

DS suffered from night terrors for years, it ended after we went to ENT specialist, the reason was his nose, his adenoids get swollen from time to time & their size is larger than normal, he doesn't go into deep sleep due to difficulties in breathing normally while sleeping. He does not snore but his nose gets blocked from time to time.

We follow a protocol for a week every month using none sedative & mild antihistamine along with some nasal sprays. For us it ended the restless sleep & night terrors

 

[wtbmummy]

DS suffered from night terrors for years, it ended after we went to ENT specialist, the reason was his nose, his adenoids get swollen from time to time & their size is larger than normal, he doesn't go into deep sleep due to difficulties in breathing normally while sleeping. He does not snore but his nose gets blocked from time to time.

We follow a protocol for a week every month using none sedative & mild antihistamine along with some nasal sprays. For us it ended the restless sleep & night terrors

Thank you. Its funny you say this as DS has now FINALLY been reffered to ENT for constant tonsilitis and having extreamly large tonsils. We have been waiting for this since he was about 6months old
He snores every time he sleeps and wakes himself up coughing regardless of illness or not. The latest doctor we sore said it very much sounds like he needs his tonsils out and that things should improve for all of us afterwards.
The doctor also suspects that ds stops breathing in the night which can cause his then outburst of coughing. All this due to large tonsils even when not infected. When they are it can be absoloute hell at night well all the time tbh as he cant eat properly.

We are waiting for our referal letter to come through now which hopefully wont be to long. Fingers crossed he can have them out before his baby sister is due in April