Night Terrors! please help!!

[divadexie]

Posting on behalf of a friend.

''i need some help does this sound like them- she wakes up sometimes only 20mins after going bed other times 2hrs, screaming/crying, saying shes scared, yesterday she got out of bed sat by the toy cooker screaming and not knowing where she was?

Oh and every night for 3.5weeks

she 5yrs old, She went through a stage at around 3yrs old doing it for around 4months

Been at school since just after her 4th birthday (shes a july baby) apparently loving school and her teacher now, and enjoying the work as shes now yr 1. Think i might get her a docs appointment or see the Hv. She doesnt remember a thing in the morning about it all horrible to see her screaming like it tho

when shes screaming she doesnt have a clue, its like the lights are on but no ones home with her and she doesnt remember doing it in the morning''


If anyone has any help I can give her xx

 

[BabiesOneDay]

It sounds like night terrors to me. That's exactly what they are... they wake up but aren't really WOKE UP, throwing a fit, terrified and you can do nothing but wait until it's over. I would ask a doctor how common it is for her to be having them repeatedly like that though. They are normally a more sparatic event, like a couple times a year.

 

[xoxsarahxox]

my nearly 3 year old son does this but like 'babiesoneday' said i dont think they should be having them that often. he has them a couple of itmes a month but he hasnt had one now for about 3 months. does seem odd that its happening so often, there could be something on her mind thats really bothering her but she may not realise it especially if she cant even remember what she was dreaming about :/x

 

[Justagirlxx]

I had night terrors for years and it sounds like she is definitely having them. I'd wake up screaming and crying for my mom 2 hours after going to bed but I wouldnt remember anything in the morning. Its a sign of anxiety and abuse so you might want to look into that.(not all children have been abused I'm just saying this is a possiblity) Anyways there is really nothing you can do besides wait it out and they end up going away on their own. It was really hard on my mom. She was told to wake me up a half hour before I'd normally wake up with the night terrors but that didnt work for me but you could tell your friend to try that... good luck. xxx oh also tell your friend DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WAKE UP her daughter during a night terror. The one time my mom successfully woke me up in the middle of one is the only time I remember anything. (Its extremely hard & almost impossible to wake up someone thats having one anyway) All I remember is an absolute all encompassing fear literally TERROR. I never remembered anything unless she woke me up and believe me she doesnt want her daughter remembering it.

ETA I had them almost nightly for a very long time. The more extreme they are is an indication of how much anxiety the child is under.

 

[cuteboots]

My son had these, and my daughter has only (thankfully) had one of these. It does sound like night terrors they are really frightening and there's nothing you can do. The only advice my gp gave me was to sit them out and not to try to move the lo (don't remove them from their bedroom), when they wake they're more frightened as they don't know how they got to this room. Hope they don't last too long.

 

[N1kki]

yeh dont wake them up its the worst thing you can do,if she does wake up see how she reacts whether she goes back to sleep or does start crying and screaming when awake,go in and tell her its ok it was just a dream and hugs,kisses back to sleep soon as you can.

 

[mrsbadcrumble]

They definitely sound like night terrors. My DS3 had them almost nightly for quite a while, from about the age of 2 onwards. He eventually outgrew them, but I had never heard of them before he had them, so was really worried at the time.

He would wake screaming and crying, and be quite violent if I went too close to him. He's a really cuddly boy usually, and not being able to comfort him with a cuddle was really hard. I would just sit on the end of his bed, and be there with him, while trying to calm him down. I realised in the end he wasn't really awake, but I'd still talk calmly and soothingly to him, in the hope it would help him settle again. He would sometimes wake again with one, but invariably would only have one a night.

In the morning he would have absolutely no recollection of them, and seemed well-balanced and settled in every other way. I always had a good bedtime routine, with a bathtime and nice story, but I don't think it really had any affect either way.

The hardest thing also was that I didn't want him to wake his brothers with the noise of his screaming. You'd have thought I was torturing him some nights!

He eventually grew out of it, but it took a couple of years until they were completely over, although they did become less frequent during that time. Sorry I can't offer a cure, as such, but there is reassurance it will stop in time.

 

[amy19604]

my daughter used to get them, we would just sit next to her to make sure she didnt hurt herself or anything, then cuddle her and soothe her back to sleep afterwards if she needed it, sometimes she would just lay back down and fall back asleep instantly.
it really freaked me out at first but you get used to it, and they eventually grow out of them.

 

[Kunama]

My 3 yr old daughter has suffered from night terrors for the last 3months. I have found, for her, that it was happening after the same period of time after she fell asleep so after doing some reaserch online we tried picking her up out of bed, still asleep, 30-15mins before a terror would start and take her into bathroom and put her onto the toilet. After a few minutes she would do a wee and then we would put her back to bed. Although she remained asleep through the whole process, night terrors are said to happen at a particular point of sleep and the whole toilet run jumped her out of a sleeping pattern and she would go back to sleep without a terror.
It may not work for everyone, but its maybe something to try, but as others have said its really best not to wake them up in a terror

 

[Mummy2B21]

Sounds like that is night terrors to me as i have to deal with my OH getting them to which he jumped out bed (and broke it) screaming last week.
I was reading up on it the other day incase our baby gets it and it said the best way to try and prevent them is to make sure the child gets enough sleep and doesnt go to bed overtired (maybe introduce a day nap) or if they go to bed agitated.

A nice soothing bath and book before bed may help her to feel more relaxed.

 

[Dewdrop24]

Hi,

My 11 year old son suffered with night terrors mainly from the age of 8-10 which is pretty late really. They are horrible, he would wake up terrified making horrible wailing noises and pointing at something that wasn't there. I soon realised that he wasn't actually awake so we would just rub his back and talk calmly to him until it was over. He had no memory of it the following day. It's definitely more upsetting for the parents I think!

Hope that things improve soon!
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