4 Am Night Terrors?

Sounds like teething to me. I would give him Tylenol the next time it happens and see if it calms him down.

On another note, it could be nightmares (I think night terrors start when they are older). Or he may be waking up (kind of) and missing you.

I do not think that there is anything wrong with nursing him. If you want to stop that, I suggest patting his back or picking him up and rocking him. My son has started waking between 5 and 530 and instead of getting up, i rock him (he's 1) and he'll usually fall back asleep for an hour or more.

C.,
A few months ago, I posted a very similar question and I received 17 very informative answers related to night terrors. Check them out, I think they might help you as well. However, I have read that night terrors start somewhere around 2 years of age. Sometimes earlier, but around 18 months or so. I am not sure that there is an exact time frame, as every child is different, but that is consistently the time frame I have seen mentioned in most of the reading I have done.

I think that your baby is having shooting pain in his gums from the teething process. See if you notice any other symptoms like a butt or face rash, a runny nose, a low grade fever. Does he suck on his hand a lot? Any other indications that it is teething around the same time frame in which he is having these episodes.

If he continues with no related visible cause of teething, you should always check with the doctor.

If he is screaming and crying, but not waking up, it definately sounds like night terrors. My daughter went through a stage of night terrors... and would have them every night for a while. The worst thing to do is wake a child from night terrors... if they wake in the middle of it, they get more scared and difficult to go back to sleep. We simply went in her room, layed her down, patted her back and whispered "shhh" and she calmed down very quickly. Try not to nurse him back to sleep... he may become dependent on it even though he doesn't need it. Good Luck!

Sounds to me like he's in pain. That is exactly how my son acts when he has an ear infection (very painful). Don't feel guilty for nursing him, that's exactly the RIGHT thing to do. Your son needs to know that you are there for him in his time of need.

My son had night terrors (they started alittle older than yours) and it sounds like what you are going through. He would start to scream and cry and there was no waking him up gently. I would have to shake him to get him to come around. Once he did I would just lay him back down and he would go back to sleep. There is nothing you can do, you just have to ride it out. I wouldn't nurse him as he will get used to it and then you wont know why he is crying.

It sounds like teething...mayb a chilled teething ring...baby orajel works great, or even think about motrin or tylenol for infants...if it is teething those will not only comfort him at nite but get rid of the fever as well...a humidifier mite help @ nite as well