Toddler Night Terrors

I am a mother of 6 and I have had this happen many times with my children. Every time but 1 was due to my child being to hot while sleeping. The 1 other time, my son was on an antibiotic for an ear infection and he started freaking out like hallucinations.

I completely understand what you are going through. My son is 4 now and he has had these off and on for about 2 years. At first they scared me half to death, but now that I know what is going on I just try to get through it. He won't let me hold him and seems scared, but like you said he gets over them in about 10-15 mins. The docter said he will grow out of them. I have noticed that when he has had an extremely active day trigger them more. I don't really know if that has anything to do with it but that is one thing I have noticed.

my daughter has theses and when she cries she is not awake, but her eyes are open. If you wake them up they scream more. I stay by her side and tell her to lay back down and go to sleep. I passes quickly and she does not remember them in the morning.

My daughter did that from the time she was 2 until about 3 1/2. It was so scary!! She would just scream and there was nothing I could do to calm her down. She doesn't do that anymore thank god. She now has very vivd dreams that she can recall so it makes it easier for her to explain why she is upset. I think that she had night terrors because she didn't understand the dream weren't real and she was still half asleep. Your doctor is right just to console her the best you can. There has been a time or two that I had to hold my daughter to keep her from thrashing about and hurting herself. I am so gald that is over. My duaghter just grew out of it. I have a feeling this is hereditary because my parents said I did the same thing.

Hi A.,
I feel your pain! My son just turned three but his night terrors started around 14 months. The doctor had a hard time diagnosing because he was rather young for terrors. It was VERY frightening and upsetting as a mother to watch. And he also screamed "Mommy" which made me want to step in and help. But I realized that touching or talking to him made things worse. Ever since he was a little baby, he would stir and cry for about 10 minutes around 10:00 every night. But that phase developed into night terrors which lasted up to an hour nearly every night. The best advice I got from my doctor was to let it go. My son has no idea what's happening. It has to do with the level of sleep, not a dream. Also, he told me if it continued in a regular pattern that I could give him Benadryl every so often. Benadryl would cause him to fall asleep deeper, faster, altering his sleep pattern. This might help break the pattern of every night at 10:00. Also what seemed to help was to not allow him to get overtired. Going too long past bedtime or really active play in the evenings made it more likely to occur. Both points of advice really helped us. He still had occasional terrors but I saw them lessen in frequency and intensity and he completely outgrew them around 2 2/3 years old. Good luck to you!

My dauther was 4 when she started having night terrors. At first I didn't know what in the world was going on. So scary to watch! I felt helpless. My grandmother suggested I check the side effects of her medications. She had been taking allergy medicine every day for about 2 years. I spoke with our pharmacist who at first laughed at the idea but then apologized when he read me the side effects of both her Zyrtec and her Singulair: long term use may cause vivid dreams, sleep disturbances, hallucinations, & sleep walking. I immediately called her allergist to ask about decreasing her medicine since she had been on it so long. they pretty much laughed at me and said I was over reacting but let me take her off the meds anyway to see what would happen. I saw an immediate decrease in intensity, from severe hallucinagenic night terrors every night to mild ones once a week. After a couple of months I decided to also change her sleep schedule to include more sleep at night. This all but took care of the terrors! She is 5 now and on occasion one will emerge but night time is managable again! Hope this helps!

Hi A.,
Yes my daughter (now almost 7) had night terrors probably about the same age as your daughter. They really bothered me, she didn't seem to ever remember having them. It was exactly as you described. Wide glassy eyes, cold sweats, not really "seeing or hearing" anything. My presence did seem to make it worse. My little girl also would rapidly breathing fast and heart pounding Mommy mommy mommy mommy..... That was the hardest part I think because she wanted me but didn't seem to realize I was there. I also talked to the doctor who told me the same thing. They did go away after several months and she hasn't had them again. The best thing I heard was on a website called babycenter.com/parentcenter.com. There was an article that said how to determine whether it was night mares or night terrors. They said that the next morning if the child was more upset about it than the parent it was a night mare, but if the parent was more upset about it than the child it was a night terror. I found to simply gently rub her back and whisper mommy is here seemed to make them end sooner. Sometimes just leaving her alone but being there was best. They are scary and I will think of you in my prayers. Hope they end soon.

My son started having these night terrors around the age of 2. I always see an increase when he goes to sleep later than usual or totally off his schedule.
I know that most of the time, his usually last for about a half hour or so, and most of the time nothing works.
I have had some success (sometimes, not all) with moving him from his room, to another (say the living room) per another mother's suggestion. I see that when i have him on schedule and he's getting enough rest, they don't happen as frequently. I feel your pain, mine get's really violent with his, and it scares me to death, but now that he's 3.5, he isnt having them as frequently.
I would just try maintaining the schedule, and as calmly as possible, moving her to another area of the house when this is happening. Sometimes that helps. Good luck!

I had night terrors when I was growing up and unfortunately, still have chronic nightmares, so when my daughter started having them around 2, I was very worried for her. Fortunately for her, they were just a normal process of growing up. I was told that it could have something to do with their cognitive thoughts trying to understand their environment and as they experience new things, their dreams interpret them in illogical ways. Who really knows. If she keeps having nightmares, here is one of the things my mom taught me to do: Tell her to think of her favorite cartoon or her favorite song/person/stuffed animal as soon as she wakes up (and realizes she is dreaming). Tell her to keep thinking of these things as hard as she can until she falls back to sleep...many times this would redirect my dream patterns. Pretty soon I learned how to control my dreams (I was maybe 6 or 7) and learned how to identify when I was dreaming and wake myself up if it got too bad. I have done some studying in lucid dreaming (dream control) and the experts say that you should face what scares you the most during dream state instead of waking yourself up because by doing so, you eliminate the fear. I find this works about half the time. I too have been on many sleep medicines (many that make it worse or make me hallucinate) and I find that my nightmares are more frequent and worse when I am stressed out. I also realized that too much violence in my entertainment (I love scary movies) really effects the content on my dreams too (she is probably too young to worry about this, but may be something to consider if it continues). Good luck, hopefully it is just a phase like my little girl and most kids, but if not, feel free to contact me at any time for some first hand advice on what works and what doesn't.

A.,

My son has these as well, your right, it's frightening for parents to watch and not be able to stop it. Josh is 9 years old now and the night terrors started after a serious illness and hospital stay when he was about 4. I assumed it was just residual anxiety from being in the hospital but here we are 5 years later still dealing with them.

I think what I have learned, at least with Josh, is that all we can do is talk gently to him to get him to wake up. He appears to be awake but he is not. They often see the things in their dreams really happening. Josh has said things like the ceiling in falling in on him,he sees bugs on his arms, sometimes it's just hysterical crying and he can not tell me why.

I have noticed that this happens more often when he is not feeling well,running a fever or has some anxiety about school or something.

The important thing is to make sure they are safe while this is going on. Josh is old enough now that he just jumps up out of bed and he's all over the house while this is going on. My doctor has said it seems to just be a "blip" in the sleep pattern and it's not a neurological issue. Hopefully he will out grow this!

Sorry, good luck!

My son had these regulary from 18 mos. until he was almost 5. If you google night terrors you can get some pretty good information. The thing that worked best for us was putting him to bed earlier and make sure he got good rest. Children will experience these more if they are overly tired. The other thing was to wake him up briefly before I went to bed to interrupt the cycle. You are kind of readjusting his sleep cycle before the night terror occurs in hopes to diffuse it. I read about that online. You could wake her up for a drink or to use the bathroom if she's potty trained. Sometimes the need to use the bathroom will trigger a night terror if the child can't fully awaken. Now that my son is older this manisfests itself differently. For instance, he has gotten up to use the bathroom, but uses the floor of the kitchen instead. He never remembers the incident in the morning which is key. If your daughter is truly having night terrors, which it sounds like she is, there is a little amnesia regarding the incidents during the night. They just don't remember. Good luck. Hope that helps.

My daughter had these, it sucked! You want so badly to make your child not scared but you can't! If staying out of her room makes it pass quicker that is what I would do. As long as she is safe and can't hurt herself. You could put a camera in her room so you can watch her. My daughter is now almost 6 :( and she sleep walks and talks in her sleep. I also started playing soft music all night when Olivia was younger and that seemed to help her go back to sleep quicker.

Hi, I just read your post and thought that I should mention this to you. My four 1/2 year old nephew has also been having night terrors. His doctor has determined that it is due to the medication Singulair that he has been taking for his allergies. You did not mention is your child is on any meds, but just in case, I thought I would tell you about this. Hope your little one gets through this soon.

My son had night terrors when he was about 2 or 3. You're right, they are unnerving and they stop having them almost as suddenly as they started. What we did is to say his name loudly, yet calmly. Then we would hold him tightly to prevent him from hurting himself (us too). They will pass, they're just a bit frightening for a parent since there really isn't anything we can do about them. I'm sorry if this doesn't help that much. Just hang in there.

my dd (2) has these at least once a week. I let her cry it out in her room, after about 10 min i go put her back in her bed tuck her back in and she's fine.

my daughter has them. all you can do is keep them safe. they seem to be worse if we let her get over tired during the day. make sure she has a good nap and a consistent bed time. it may not help, but it does seem to help our daughter, who is now five. they were the worst at 2 and they are getting better all the time, so she should grow out of it at some point.

Hi A.,

You don't say anything about whether you are a believer or not so I will tell you what I would do. We have never had any problems with "night terrors" or "nightmares" at all and it's because we have stood on Psalm 91 concerning that. Look it up and read it over your children. Next, I would teach your daughter how to say "Jesus" and tell her to scream "JESUS" when she wakes up scared and watch it stop right away! ;-) God says He gives his servants "sweet sleep" and so that is the promise you stand upon. If you know about anointing your doorposts with oil and cleansing your home, I would recommend doing that and ask the Lord to post angels around your home. Then I would make sure you are not opening the door to Satan through the TV, demonic cartoons or video games, music, etc... if you don't understand, then I would find a strong spirit-filled ministry to plug into where you live and get empowered! Hope this helps you. Peace to you and your house.

My son had these and they scared me to death. The advice I received was to not try to wake him up. We would just speak quietly to him, telling him everything was going to be alright until he stopped-usually about 15-20 minutes. They stopped after awhile.

My 4 yr old son also had these night terrors when he was 2-3 yrs old. He will occasionally still wake up scared, but now that he understands what dreams are, he seems to be easier to calm. He would wake up screaming and shaking uncontrollably. I know it sucks but we never found anything that helped. He just started to grow out of it as he got older and could verbalize what was going on for him more. Good luck and just know there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

I had these when I was little. I would get up and walk and for all intents and purposes I looked awak. My eyes were open and everything. My daughter also suffers from them. She is about to turn 7 next month and she has had them since about the age of 2 - 3. What I found works best is just what your Dr. told you. I also found that waking her up made it much much worse. I have found that on some occastions leaving her alone works, other times not. So, what I do is listen for a few minutes and see if it starts to go away, if not I will just go in there and either lay beside her and tell her everything is okay...Or if she has gotten up and is walking, I will walk her back to her room (she is very disoriented as she is not awake) and tuck her back in bed. This one works best. Just doing something routine that we always do. Hope this helps!

My son used to get these when I was trying to phase out his nap. I talked with one of my girlfriends about it and she suggested making sure he gets enough sleep, so I brought the nap back. Now for the most part he will wake up about an hour into sleep but hes not scared or screaming or anything, he just wants to be rocked back to sleep and then for the most part he's done for the night(unless he needs the bathroom). He will occassionally still get them but 9 times out of 10 it's because he hasn't had a nap or he's only gotten like 15 minutes or so. I would say to check how much sleep she is getting and trying adding a nap or something, even if it means you have to lay down with her. If she already takes a nap try addind another one or gettong her to bed earlier. If she does have one the only thing I've done is offer a sippy cup with some water and try to hold him like a baby or sit on his bed and hug him and rock back and forth until hes asleep again.

Good Luck!!

My nephew suffered from night terrors for about 2 years from time he was 3 t o 5. My niece has also had problems with them. My mom takes care of them and I will call her to see what she did for them. I do know from being there occasionally when they happend that they are scary. I am so sorry you are going through this.

Our 16 months old son started doing it 1 month ago. He still wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night and wines a little and goes backto sleep, but whe he has those episodes he screams at the top of his lungs.When I go and just sit in the room not touching him it's done at fast as it started. But couple of times but husband tried holding him, giving him a drink, rocking he screamed for almost 40 min both times.Our oldest used to do it when he was younger, but now it's gone. Have no idea why it is.

My son has had night terrors off and on for about 2 1/2 years. Although it is heart-wrenching to watch and hear, there is nothing you can really do for them. His doctor and psychiatrist say that he should grow out of them. Actually, they are no where as bad as they used to be. I recommend just sitting with them until it passes (giving lots of hugs and kisses). They don't realize what they are doing and most of the time don't even remember it happening.

I did this when I was little, but mine was about 4:30 every morning. My parents finally went in to my bedroom before that time and found out a bird was flying into its nest at that time. If her terrors are happening at the same time you may want to go in there before you suspect it will happen to see if it is something environmental. It may be something as simple as her hearing the water running while you do laundry or something. Maybe try moving her bed to a different wall and see if that helps. With my oldest, we gave him one of my stuffed animals to sleep with and told him monsters could smell the animal and were afraid of it. They would come into the room because of the stuffed animal. (That was 8 years ago and he still sleeps with the animal in his room).

I hope this helps. Good Luck and God Bless.

My daughter developed these when she was around 2 years old also. She had her night terrors every night. She had multiple night terrors in one night. She will be 6 in June and still has one to two a week some times. We have learned that this is just a part of her and there is nothing we can do. She has been through it all...they tried sleep medicines, she has sinus and allery problems so they took out her tonsils and adenoids hoping this would help with those issues as well as the night terrors, nothing has helped. I just stand back let her get through them and then comfort her after the fact. She has had a sleep study for this as well. It is best if you not speak to them or touch them when this is happening because they are in a half awake, half asleep phase and they can not determine reality at that time. They are very scary and unnerving and can be very stressful to us parents when we are losing sleep and there is nothing we can do to help our child. The sad part is her friends want her to stay the night with them and she can't. Good luck with this and let me know if you find out any miracle cure that I don't know about.

You are not alone, my 2 year old girl has these from 11PM to 3 AM daily! I have to wake her up for them to stop. Then we get 10 minutes of sleep, and do it all over again.
All she will say is "I had bad dream."
Take heart. It will get better.

hello A., I watch my grandson during the day while his mother works. he has simular out-burst near nap time. first I was lost until I started singing to him during an out-burst. I found his favorite song to be the Jesus Loves Me. try singing a soft medley or whatever calms. Good Luck!!!!!!

Our son had those. All you can do is hold her and talk softly to her. She'll be okay after a few minutes. Our son never even remembered his "terror." It was only when he could remember what he dreamed that they stopped occurring. He hasn't had one for a very long time. :-) He's 15 years old now. A word to the wise...if she spends the night at someone else's house, make sure they know that she has terrors and what to do.

Hi A.,

Don't know if this will help or not but... When I was a young child, I would get night terrors quite frequently. My mother said that on some occasions I would actually get out of bed screaming and start running through the house. She would talk to the doctor about them and they didn't believe how bad they were. Around that time, they decided to take out my tonsils and adenoids (mine were very big). The night of the surgury I had a night terror and it took every nurse and doc on the floor to keep me from pulling out my IV's, etc... They finally believed my mom after that. Basically, I think my tonsils and adenoids would swell, and cause me to not get as much oxygen as I needed and that caused the night terrors. This may not apply to you and your child at all, but just wanted to put that out there.
(To this day, if I have a really bad cold and can't breath well, I will get wierd dreams!!)

My daughter had night terrors at about 2 years old. What I found out was that she really had to use the bathroom. So I just made sure that before she went to bed, she emptied her bladder, and i stopped giving her drinks after 6:00 pm. She never had another one. My neighbor's son had the same night terrors, and she is the one who told me about them having the urge to potty, and it seemed to work. Good luck to you.

my son is almost 4 now, but at around the age of 15mths he started having night terrors. I did notice that it usually happened on days that he did not take a nap. He does not have them as frequently any more , as he has started to not need a nap during the day. However, if he has a very active day, and doesn't have a little rest, he will have a night terror. i hope this helps.

I had this experience with my two older children. It was the worst with my daughter from when she was about 1.5 until she was 3. You are absolutely right, the best thing is to not even go near them. Check to make sure they are safe, but the more you try and interact the worse it gets. That was our experience. She will outgrow them eventually.

Hi, I sympathise with you, my daughter now 11 years old had these at about the same age and the first few times it happened I was really scared ! She too used to wail for me but not be aware I was with her and looked absolutely panic-stricken. I think your Docs advice is spot on, I had a friend who was a Paediatric Nurse and Mid wife and she advised me that it is common at this age, that it didn't mean there was some emotional trauma going on with her and that she would grow out of it- she did !
My way of dealing with the actual episodes was to sit with her and hug her, reaassure her that I was there etc, until she had calmed down, sometimes she would be already out of the bedroom by the time I got to her so I would just make sure she was safe from harm, and taking her into the bathroom and gently wiping her face helped too. I would then lead her back to bed, she would go straight back to sleep and not even remember being awake the next day ! I seem to remember that these wakenings stopped after a few weeks. I always had a thing about ''winding down '' in the evening too; bath, milk/drink , story and cuddle time , no TV etc, not too much excitement. Hope this helps,
Good luck.

All 3 of my kids had night terrors. All 3 were different. My 2 oldest would just cry and scream like something was wrong. I would take them to a safe place where I could watch them because I didn't want them falling out of bed or anything. They would just cry and cry and finally either stop or wake up. My third child was a little different. He would start screaming about the "red bird". The "red bird" was coming. We finally realized that he saw the "red bird" on a Power Rangers show and we cut out all Power Rangers for about 6 months and he no longer says anything about the "red bird". All 3 just grew out of it.

Yes, my son had these night terrors from about 18 months until around 2 1/2 years of age. He basically would scream and cry with his eyes open but look right through us. It was like he wasnt really there... Pretty much all we could do was try to console him until it was over. We even took him to a neurologist and they wanted to do a sleep study on him, wanting us to keep him up for a whole night. You tell me how you keep an 18 month old awake for that long! So we opted not to do that test and he eventually grew out of it, although he sleepwalks and still talks in his sleep occasionally now. (he is 6 1/2) Good luck, I understand how difficult it is to watch your child go through this!

I know exactly how you feel. My daughter is 2 1/2 and has night terrors every now and then. Not really on a regular basis. With her though it usually happens when something in her life is different. My husband is deployed right now so they started increasing after he left. I didn't know what to do at first cuz she was calling for me and thrashing about and screaming but when I tried to hold her she would push me away. And I could tell that she definitely was not awake. Sometimes I can hold her and just keep saying her name over and over and telling her that mommy is here. Other times I have to just lay her down and kind of lay next to her holding her with my face next to hers. I don't know though if one thing works for all children though. I do wish you good luck and from everybody else's responses it seems that they will pass. I know they're tough so hang in there!

Hi A., I am a mom of a 5 year, 2 year and 3 month old. My first son when he was 3 years old went through night terrors. Just as you say: wailing, thrashing, screaming and crying about unconsolably. It was a very scary time as a mother. I tried to console him but not even rubbing his back seem to helped. He also would cry for me, but not be awake. A few times he tried to get up and walk while appearing to be awake but he wasn't. My doctor told me to not try to move him because that would increase his terror. My advice...I prayed over my son during that time. I got friends and family involved in praying for my son; that these night terrors would pass. That Jesus would enter good thoughts and angels wrap around him.That whatever the devil was trying to bring about during my sons sleep would be longer! I would always sit by him though while this was going on because I just couldn't leave him, I cried with him even. It is very scary time, but do Rest assured, as quickly as the came upon your daughter they will stop. Please email me if you have any questions! ____@____.com I'd be glad to talk with you.I hope this helps ease your mind some.
J.

My daughter who is now 6 years old had these when she was around that age. It is scary i belive. She grew out of them by the age of 4. Just keep her safe and calm. I thought that they had these because they where over tired or something " big" happend during the day.

This used to happen with my son. He never remembered it. In fact, his big sister would sometimes take him into her bed because it settled him down. But in the morning, he'd yell at her for moving him and not believe her when she told him he'd come willingly.

My oldest daughter was premature and she started to have noght terrors at about 6 months old. That was unexpected for her age. We would turn on the light in her room, her eyes would be wide open (unfocused) and she would be screaming at the top of her lungs, and we would just have to hold her and tell her we loved her. It was time to wake up and know that she was okay. My husband would wet a wash cloth with cold water and I would gently rub the side of her face until she woke up and looked around. We could see her eyes focusing and the confusion about what was going on. Than we would get her a drink (her throat weas dry from crying) and rock her back to sleep.

At the time this happened my husband and I where not Christians. I wish I would have read her Pslams while I held her close.

I feel for you. It just breaks a parents heart. I didn't know of anything to do. But not after reading others u got great advise. But here's my story and little advise :>)

My oldest (4 1/2) has had them since birth. It's rare to have them that young but it was occurring MANY times a night about age 1-3 for 30 min. to 1 hour. Most terrors last a few minutes and some kids get them about age 2 maybe once or so. I was the luck one. She still gets them but just once every so often (every 2-3 months) and now it last about a minute... Much better.

If no one has experienced one of these terrors it scares the parents to death. The child screams as if someone if killing her. The child is scared it death and may thrash around (mine did, A LOT). They r asleep the whole time and are unaware anything is happening. They wake up and look up at u as if "what r u doing here?" Just out of the blue. Bam it's over. For the time being. U r suppose to leave them alone. But when you hear the terror in your child's scream no mother cam just stand out side the door for more than a minute.

Most of the time if my little one was overly tired, HOT, or went to bed upset she'd have one. Or some nights she just did because no reason I could figure out. Docs have no clue really. Other than they'll grow out of it. I've been through it! I understand. Hang in there.

Have A Nice Day!
V. (SAHM of Two)
www.CraftLister.com/ValerieAltman

Hi- Here is a response I posted to someone else a while ago; We too are still experiencing these night terrors. We have discovered since then, that he has them more often when he has had an overly stimilating/exhausting day...it does not appear any more to just be because he is sleep deprived. The more often they happen you should notice a pattern or similarities in the preceding day. Good luck to you.

Our son had them almost daily at night-time and during naps for sevral months from about age one to 2 1/2. Then it stopped for awhile and started up again for a very short time ,then stoppped again for over a year. He is now 4 1/2 and has been having them again nightly for the past 4-5 weeks. I asked the peditrician about it; he said often it comes from being overly tired or sleep deprivation. He gave me a write-up on it. It says very clearly that they are not awake during this time; it is basically like sleep walking. You are not supposed to try to wake him up. It says to try to hold or comfort them, without forcing yourself on them. Offer to hold his hand and reassure him that momma and daddy are right there and that you are all safe together. They can last anywhere from a few minutes to about 40 minutes. Also, they usually occur in the first 2 hours of sleep. Our son has his almost like clockwork...usually within 40-50 minutes after he has fallen asleep. It also says to maybe turn on a low light so that shadows don't scare him...because even though his eyes may be open, he is probably not awake. I know it is frustrating...it upsets me everytime our son has one..because he appears to be petrified each time and he trembles uncontrollably with fear. Sometimes he tries to run thorugh the house screaming NO! NO!. Last night he appeared to be trying to open our bedroom window. Very scary...stuff. Do you have access to a fax? I can fax you the literature our pediatrician gave me, or you can ask your pediatrician about it. Let me know if you would like what our pediatrician gave me on it; it may help you identify the episodes, help you with how to handle them, and give you some relief. Or I could mail you a copy of you like. Let me know. Good luck and sleep well.

My little boy did this a few times when he started sleeping in his own room. He owuld wake up most nights and come in our bed, but once in a while he would wake screaming, making strange noises and would snap out of it and come to me after a 5 to ten minutes. I knew how to handle it b/c they run in my fiances family, but he outgrew them. ive heard it happens to kids who are really sensitive to the otherwordly, but who knows right? it just doesnt feel good when your child is in terror of whoknowswhat and he is acting like he doesnt recognize you, making you get away. I just made sure he knew he was safe afterwards, and i hope that worked.

hello A.. my nephew used to have night terrors when he was about a year and a half. they would happenevery couple of days and last 10 to 15 minutes. this happened for several weeks and then they just stopped. there isn't really anything you can do but just be there. i think it upsets the parents more than the kids since the kids don't even know they are having them any way. i know it's hard but hang in there. they will eventually stop even though it's so upsetting for you as a parent to see and hear your child crying. good luck.

Hi A. - You have already gotten great advice. My daughter had them exacly as you describe. We would just sit with her until it passed. We found that it was almost always triggered when she went to bed later than normal and had a really busy day. She's 6 now and hasn't had them in ages. good luck - it will pass!

I've never experenced night terrors but have a cousin that had them quite bad her parents had to take her to a phyciterest I dont know if that would help you she was about 10 when she had hers,but now shes fine mother of 4 so it must have helped her.hope you are able to find some answers.

My little boy did this at one point he was 2 at the time but it was because of some allergy medication he was on.