Help please...Does Anyone Have Experience with Night Terrors in Toddlers?

Oh. Yes!!! My son who is now almost eight had the worst case ever. 2-3 time per night. 4 or 5 days per week for 2 1/2 years!!! But I must say that as a RN at a childrens hospital with access to every possible peice of information and many pediatric psychiatrist and psychologists I found more help for the affects it had on me than help for him. Basically most children grow out if it in a very short period of time. But not mine. Best I can tell you is the only thing you can do is keep the child safe. Many children with night terrors kick and scream and look as if they are throughing the worst tantrum possible and may hurt themselves if not watched carefully. Try to touch her as little as possible because it makes it worse. She probably appears to be awake and conscious but they are not. Children do not know that it is accuring and have no memory of the events during night terrors. With my son it was very bad and all you can do is turn on the lights. and avoid touching them, keep her safe. and hope she grows out of it quickly. There is nothing to help or do but waite it out. I wish you the best. It will pass.

My daughter experienced night terrors at the age of 2 through 3! It is not fun!! All I can say is that I did research on it, read books and consulted my Pediatrician. I do know that all you can do is look on and make sure that she is safe during her terror. Do not touch, wake or talk to her...this can make it worse. Try to keep her days as routine as possible. At this age their little brains are trying so hard to comprehend all that is going on and it may be difficult for them to rest. It is almost as if they are acting out their dreams. My daughter's "trigger" would be over-tiredness or a big social event. It seemed to be the same time each night...like clock work. Screaming "no", kicking, and being unconsolable and sweating! It seems as though she is not missing a beat during the daytime...happy-go-lucky. You are the ones that are tired and worried!
Do some research and I can only say that she will out grow this stage...

Hi L.,
I actually have a 6 year old that still has them. We have been to two seperate sleep specialist and nothing as been "resolved" regarding her sleep issues. It started when she was about 18 months and now it continues but not as bad as it used to be. Every night we deal with her waking and screaming but she never really "wakes" fully. I sit and grasp her tightly and rub her back and gently lay her back down. This has gone on since the beginning. The specialist that I have seen have all told me that she will grow out of it, but here I sit waiting. She is a very active child and isalways very happy. They said that she should be aloud to have some "quiet" time at night so she can rest her brain and calm herself before she falls asleep. We read, sing songs quietly and always pray so that to this day she knows and takes the time to restfully breathe before she falls asleep. Althought obviously this does not always help I just pray that it won't be forever. I am sorry that I really can't offer some great miracle, just know that there are others out there that have these issues daily as well. Have a good holiday!

A.

I haven't personally experienced it, but a friend of mind has. His son would just start screaming a few hours after he would put him to bed and the night terrors would occur about the same time every night. His pediatrician suggested that he wake his son just before the time the night terrors started-not while he was having them. My friend said that this worked. The whole thing lasted about two weeks altogether. Good luck. I hope things improve soon.

L., I know how you feel. We have dealt with this with my 3 year old daughter too. It started with her right around the same age. I discussed it with our pediatrician & as the other mom said, being over tired or over stimulated is a big trigger. Our pediatrician advised that we make sure that we do quiet activities & no TV for 2 hours prior to bed time and to make sure that we put her to bed at a regular time each night. She advised that their little minds just don't shut down & even if they watch something that seems soothing or unlikely to trigger the night terrors, it can. We did this & the night terrors stopped! She also had nightmares, for that she advised us to buy her a flashlight and two books, Maggie & The Monster and There's a Monster Under My Bed. The pediatrician advised that at this age, their imaginations really take off & that they have nightmares and get scared of the dark seeing monsters in the shadows, etc. It has really helped us. I wish you the best of luck and H. that this helps. You may want to ask your pediatrician about it too.

My daughter at the same age experience them They are scary I talked with her doctor, he suggested to put her to bed at her regular time about two hours after she is asleep (we did it before we went to bed)to gently wake her, make sure her eyes open, it is okay if they shut right away, this breaks the sleep just enough to rest her sleep cycle, it worked wonders for us
best of luck
merry christmas
S.

ps she will be four in january and still has them once in awhile, we do not wake her anymore

My daughter does the same thing. She seems to be doing better than when she was younger (she is now 3 years). But it seems that if she is off of her schedule (bedtime and routine) or if there is too much excitement right before she goes to bed, she has them. I know how dramatic it is, it is the most difficult thing to watch. It has brought me to tears many of times. But, when it starts, it is best not to speak at all to her or try to do anything to calm her (sometimes trying to console can make it worse) and it seems to not last as long. I just watch to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. Hope this is a little helpful! I understand what you are going through and you are not alone.

I babysat for a boy who had them and I understand how terrifying they are for you, but rest assured (not that you get much rest) she does not know what is happening. SHe is asleep, and you are right to not wake her up. I used to just go in and hug him, or keep him from falling out of his bed etc, and tell him it is ok and that I was there and I loved him. Talk to her doctor, but I don't think there is anything you can do but let her grow out of them, and she will.
Good luck!

Hi L.,
Night Terrors are really scary...but the good news is it's only scary for the parents. Most children don't remember that they occurred. My son still has them occasionally (he'll be three in jan). They happen when he doesn't go to bed at his regular time. Even if his bedtime varies by a half-an-hour, he usually has them. I've read that if you wake your child a few minutes before the general time frame, you disrupt the sleep cycle enough to stop it from happening. (I take him to the potty every night at 11, since his seem to happen about 11:15).
Also, it's worse when we try to console them, so I usually just sit quietly in his room, so I feel like I'm there supporting him through it. It always ends faster when I leave him alone.
Good Luck!!

My son went through this also.

If it occurs at the same time evry night, my doctor recommended that you gently wake the child about 10 minutes before the episode is to occur. (I know it sounds crazy.) Just tell her you love her and give her a hug. It should take 4 to 5 nights to break the cycle.

Of course, this only works if you *know* when the terror will begin.

Good luck.

Any night terror over 30 minutes should go to the hospital. Sometimes night terrors can be really seizures. You should see you doctor and a neurologist. I would not go to the ones at Dayton Childrens. I go to Cincinnati Childrens Neuros. I also PACE site to see if any of there kids have the same experience. I know I did here another mother though it was night terrors sounded just like them but was seizures. My son has had night terrors maybe question is out if it is night terrors or seizure related. They end by 30 minutes. Feel free to email me. Hope all goes well. jo

I was dealing with night terrors 14 years ago when my son was a toddler. The good news is that he is a healthy 15 year old who sleeps very well, even though he yells out in his sleep sometimes to entertain us all. Night terrors are actually part of your child's brain development and she WILL grow out of it. It can be exhausting and frightening. I found that providing a diversion, like turing on music or a movie briefly, that he "woke up" out of it and calmed down whle I held him. Then he went back to sleep feeling exhausted and comforted. My son never had any memory of the night terror, infact he once told me that he was crying because he wanted me to hold him and that was exactly what I was doing!Until I read your post, I actually had forgotten that they ever used to terrorize me too.Good luck, hang in there and this too shall pass.

Dear L.,

I can feel your concern. How scary that must be for you and for your little one. Night terrors can be caused by a drop in blood sugar. Be careful what she eats before she goes to bed. Ice cream or cookies or crackers or orange juice or apple juice or fruit, may all lift her blood sugar, and then drop it down several hours later and cause night terrors. You want to get away from giving her something that has only simple sugars and plain carbohydrates.

Or if she doesn't eat anything before she goes to bed, she may need to. Or on the other hand if she is eating something before she goes to bed, perhaps it doesn't agree with her.

You will probably have to experiment. IF she can tolerate dairy, cheese might be OK (or cheese and crackers). Another suggestion might be a spoonful of peanut butter or almond butter and a few sips of some kind of juice together might be OK. If she has something with protein and fat in it, she may not have the night terrors. I know ice cream has protein in it, but ice cream has other things that may make it bad before going to bed. Allergies and sensitivities can do strange things to people.

Also, have you ever heard of EFT? It stands for Emotional Freedom Technique and has to do with gently tapping or rubbing a few acupressure points on the body to calm the excess energy. It works very well, especially for small children, but for MANY other things as well. It is very comforting, and some amazing healing has taken place as well.

The main EFT website is http://www.emofree.com/ There are some introductory videos right on the first page. You can also download the basic EFT manual for free. There is a search engine on the first page also.

You might also be interested in http://www.tappybear.com/ Tappy Bear is a wonderful tool for teaching/using EFT with children.

Good luck with everything.

Feel free to e-mail me if you would like.

--K.