Like clockwork, about an hour after she’s been asleep, the staggered cries can be heard from her room down the hall. I quietly open the door and see her sitting up in her bed, soaked in sweat, sobbing. Picking her up, I sense that she’s not really present in the moment, still locked in some sort of half-sleep state and she can’t stop crying. I try to make eye contact with her, but she looks right through me. After about five minutes of consolation, she gradually comes out of it and my girl is back, awake and confused.
Oh, night terrors. The fun never stops.
When my eldest experienced night terrors, I was initially quite disturbed by them, fearing she was having really scary dreams. But a little bit of research revealed that night terrors are quite common in toddlers and they are a developmental blip that can happen once they shift through the phases of sleep cycles. They have no recollection of the night terrors and they are not indicative of nightmares. But they still totally suck.
Our two and a half year-old just started having them this week (because I didn’t have enough reasons to get up in the nights already) and it’s no fun. She has recently quit napping (again, the fun just never stops around here!) so I think she falls into a very deep sleep quite early in the cycle and her body isn’t used to that. Hopefully she’ll adjust and we can all get some rest again soon.
Did your kids have night terrors? Was it a phase they just outgrew, or did you have to seek help?
For what its worth, I’ve recently learnt that when a child has sleep terrors its actually _best not to wake them up_; instead, comfort them in their “state” and help them to relax in order to fall back asleep again. When the child awakes, don’t ask them about the “scary dream”, because they will not have any memory of them and the questions create uncertainty, confusion and pointless fear in the child, creating the potential for negative lasting effects.
My sister had these when she was older (like around 8 years old, something like that). Honestly, they are terrifying to experience before we knew what they were, and even kind of afterwards. She would “wake up” screaming bloody murder. She never remembered them. She could respond and even talk to you during the experience, but was never actually there. All we ever did was comfort her as best we could (and keep her from hurting herself-flailing limbs) until she woke up, or fell back into sleep. At least that’s all my mum and dad did. She grew out of them, if that makes anything more reassuring.
We deal with this too. I hate it because I am holding him and he has no clue what’s going on.It mostly happens when Patrick does not nap and he’s too tired. Does she nap?
My youngest had these and they have become less and less frequent as he gets older. And yes, the frustration of trying to comfort a child who doesn’t seem to be able to hear or see you, I feel it I find it interesting a lot of comments say a trip to the bathroom helps. He’s certainly been my last to stay dry at night, maybe the two are connected.
We have these at our house, too. They are horrific… It’s like he’s having a huge temper tantrum while being unconscious!
I guess I was extremely fortunate to never have to deal with this with any of my 3 kids. I’m assuming the don’y happen after 4? and assuming I’m out of the woods with them?
And grateful we bypassed that right of passage.
Hope hers pass soon and you FINALLY get some rest!
I’m with Jen on this one. While we’ve yet to experience what I believe are night terrors, my brother did. My mom always said it was his sign to her he had to pee (that or he’d be chattering away in his sleep to someone about something strange), a quick bathroom trip and it was done. It helped them out huge!
You mean it doesn’t end when they start sleeping through the night? Sigh… Maybe that’s what’s been going on with Simon.
At least they tend to happen earlier on in the night and not the wee hours of morning. And they do usually grow out of them. But, it’s weird how they don’t hear or see you. I’ve found the less you fuss with them, the better.
My oldest had them at the exact same time, night after night, for 2 years. It was horrible and we could never leave him with a babysitter. It was rough going for him and for us but eventually he just outgrew it. One day it literally just stopped.
Hang in there!
Liliana has them as well. I finally started doing what my mom did when my brother had them. (Horror story? He never grew out of them. He’s 22.) Anyway, I’ve started taking Liliana to the washroom and sticking her on the toilet. It totally knocked her out of the night terror last night and when I put her back to bed, she went right to sleep. AND I didn’t have to deal with an accident. Double score.
my night terrors got worse as i got older , sometime in my teens i started having sleep paralysis and terrors – stresses and stuff – as a child i had none. Today I’m 30 and when hubby is at work I can’t sleep cos I know what happens..