Infant night terrors

[newmomott]

Hi,

I'm new to this board but not new to night terrors...

Our 6 month old son started having night terrors (at least I think they are) when he was 3.5 months old.  It really scared me at first because I didn't know anything about it; after the first one I started to do a bit of research and felt a bit better - at least I knew what it was.

I've read that you can try to wake your child up if you know they are having a NT.  Just this past week I would like to  belive that I stopped a NT 3 nights in a row.  I heard him making moaning noises (this usually happens right before he has one) and I woke him up and cuddled him until he fell back to sleep.  Only downside is that I run everytime he makes a sound; I guess being a new mom and having experieced a NT its hard not to be like that.  My husband wasn't around for the really bad screaming one so when he did hear a bad one he was shocked.  Its almost like you have to experience it to know how bad it is.

Has anyone else out there had childern that had Night Terrors at such a young age?  The only thing that we think could be causing it is being over tired.  If he had a night of little sleep and poor naps during the day he will almost definitely have one.

Thanks

[LLFORBES]

Hi,

My son is going to be 4 month old next week and he already had four episodes of what we think are night terrors -- one during broad day light in his stroller(!) and three at night, and ALL of them on a Sunday! I called his pediatrician yesterday and she said that it wasn't by accident that he was having these episodes on a Sunday -- the changes in his daily routine (shorter naps, lots of people holding him, playing with him etc etc) were probably the cause of it...

I would also be interested in knowing whether we should try to wake them during a NT.  Also, have you noticed if your son gets a bit more (or a lot) agitated the day after he had a NT

Thanks!

Laura
 

[newmomott]

HI,

Its very hard when they're so young going through something you can't do anything about.

Our son has been normal every day after a NT.  I did notice that in addition to being overtired, if he is over stimulated he will have one.  We're on vacation now visiting both sets of grandparents so his schedule is off, he is  being held more often and its hard to keep it quiet in the evening.  I'm guess this is why he has had more in recent weeks.

I don't know if this has anything to do with NT but our son is also easily frightened.  He also had one during his day time nap.  If I hear him wimpering (a sign he is going to have one) I will try to wake him up and have been sucessfull with this.  Also on my husband's side of the family there's sleep walking and sleep paralysis - if you do a google on it you will find them closely related.

His pediatrician said it was nothing to worry about and that it was something that frightened him (dream) before he went into deep sleep.  I've done more research since then and found that when you're over tired you will go right into deep sleep and your body doesn't have a chance to shut down properly which can cause a NT.

either way its scary not knowing but I'm beginning to handle them a little better although I think I've aged 10 years in one month


hope this helps

newmomott

[rebeccadara]

my son just truned 5 mths on the 8th and he as being having something like night terrors they start when he is in a deep sleep and they've gotten so bad that he is now afraid to fall asleep i have to leave a lamp on all night or he will not go to sleep if he wakes to the light off he starts to cry it takes so long to get him calm down i'm a nwe mom and not sure what to do does anyone have any adivce thanks

[Habor]

Hey,

My son started having NT from almost birth and th e last big one when he was around 3. His "fits" has always been very scary, because he would hit, scream, run/crawl away and wouldn´t be able to calm down.

We have never awoken him cause he was so scared of us, and after a while he would calm down by himself og wake up. We could see that he was so scared of us, that he would hurt us with anything he could find (knife, toys etc.) just to keep us away.

We started to do 3 things, that have keept them away or at least made them smaller.

1)minimum 1 hour of sleep or rest in the afternoon
2)minimum 1 hour of rest before bedtime(no wild games but only calm play)
3)No food 1 hour before bedtime.

He always got at strange side-affect to his NT, his temp could fall a couple of degres.

It´s been a long time since he had one, but we can still see them just below the surface. He will start to moan in bed, he will feel cold but the NT dosen´t come.

Hope you can use my answer.

Lots of luck

Henriette from Denmark

[aircrewbrick]

My daughter is 5 months old and what your describing as far as no sleep seems to be right on the money. She didn't want to sleep last night so we put her in the car and drove her around the block, within 5 minuites she was out. However, that night she had a night terror. The first one we know of. She started crying and moving like something was wrong, so we tried to console her, finally I noticed she wasn't opening her eyes so I mentioned that she might still be asleep. Immediately after that my wife touched our daughter below her eyelids and gently pushed down, she woke up and was calm and happy. Just thought I would share. Thanks for the tip about the sleep everyone...

[momofmanyfeet]

my son just truned 5 mths on the 8th and he as being having something like night terrors they start when he is in a deep sleep and they've gotten so bad that he is now afraid to fall asleep i have to leave a lamp on all night or he will not go to sleep if he wakes to the light off he starts to cry it takes so long to get him calm down i'm a nwe mom and not sure what to do does anyone have any adivce thanks

Night terrors happen after the child is in deep sleep and has transitioned out of it.  Your 5mo doesn't have the intellectual capacity to be afraid to sleep.  There is much going on at 5 months that could be the problem.  Sleep regression, teething, growth spurt, intellectual growth spurt, to name a few.  When babies get to a certain age, your bedtime routine might not work anymore because they are more aware of their surroundings.  You might notice that even while they are awake and you walk out of the room they will cry.  They do not have the ability to understand that an object is still around if it is out of sight.  That might be why when he wakes during the night he cries.  Babies need that constant attention from mom/dad, so maybe you need to tweek your nighttime routine to assure him that you are there before he gets too upset.