7.5 long years of NTs with my 7.5 year old son....

[ewinters2004]

My son had his first night terror at 4 months old, and I was lucky to have a pediatrician who knew exactly what it was he was going through (but has since retired). He is almost 8 and is now running when the terror occurs. It has been a long battle, and I have done everything that the doc suggests, that other people suggest, nothing helps. He has not had a traumatic childhood, has a highly structured home life. I am getting to the point where I don't know what to do. I knew someone who is believed to have hung himself during a NT episode. This condition seriously scares me to the point that I keep a baby monitor hidden in his room so I can get in there as soon as I can, in order to keep him from getting hurt during an episode (I have done this since the very first episode). When my son was a baby, if we woke him up a few times after he was sleeping it would usually keep the NT from happening, but doesn't work as well now that he is older and his daily activities are more varied do to going to school, so his exhaustion levels are more varied as well.  Sometimes I just don't wake him soon enough I suppose. He has been having episodes 3-4 times a week lately, and it hurts my husband and I to see him so terrified. Don't let people tell you that your child is possessed or other nonsense. Also don't listen to those who tell you to not go in the room when your child is having an episode. Once a child can stand they can be hurt when trying to "escape" their visions. It is a sleeping disorder, and not much is known about it. I am so glad to have found a forum with other people going through the same thing. But honestly I would do anything to end these night terrors that I fear will go on for many more years, perhaps the rest of his life. Any new advice would be helpful. The fan, aromatherapy, noise-makers, etc. have not worked for my son. Any new tips would help.

[Amy]

Dear E winters,
I too am new to this site and pleased tohave found more info. I've been reassured by the fact that my daughter is not the only one to get them so regularly-before I thought something was seriously wrong. My daughter also runs from these terrors-read my post on "New to night terrors,some help please"-it's the 5th post on it and the tale will let you know that I too am now terrified of these night terrors. My house has been made NT safe as possible now but I still can't go to sleep completely relaxed. My daughter,like your son also has a very structured,secure routine and nothing I've tried has worked. I have never ever heard any suggestion of her being possessd but have heard alot of mumblings about it being psychological.This has left me a bit perplexed and worried and I refer to this in the only othr post I've written which is the last in the "wake or not to wake" letters.
Yesterday I went to a parent's meeting at school and my girl's teachers told me she was a child who is extremely intelligent and mature for her age and that she is relaxed and content at school. They said she's very popular with the other children and comes across as extremely secure within herself. I didn't tell them about her ight terrors-it is just so difficult to understand why they come. I find it upsetting and also unfair,if that makes sense.
Well,good luck with your boy and let us hope they grow out of it. My biggest worry is that they'll carry on in adulthood. Does anyone know if people who have them as adults all had them as a child too? Are there any statistics as to how many grow out of them.I really hope it's rare not to grow out of them. I know of 4 children here who have had a lot less since reaching 10/11 and I'm clinging on to that!

[ewinters2004]

Hi Amy. I know how you feel. This is a good place for us to have people to relate to. NTs are not easy to talk to with anyone, even our family. They have never seen him have one, so don't have a complete understanding of what happens. They think it's just some nightmare, and we all know it is not. I really didn't want to write of the one person I knew who had NTs from childhood.... When he was 16, they found him hung in his tree outside of his window. They do not believe it was suicide, but thought that he was trying to get away from whatever was chasing him. It was such a tragedy at our school. I had never heard of night terrors until his passing. So when they told me my son was having night terrors it really scared me. It has taken him this long to start running. We have moved his room to the basement where it is not possible for him to jump out the window, and when he has an episode I meet him in the middle of the stairs so he doesn't try and go out my back door. It is hard because now it wakes up his little sister, whose room is beside his, and she really has no clue what is going on. My son too sounds just like you little girl. Advances in everything, carefree, popular... I do not believe he has anything wrong with him, but I do fear that they won't end. This is something we've dealt with his whole life. We just have to keep hanging in there. I must ask you though... Do you have to buy a new pillow for your daughter like every 2 weeks? My son sweats completely through his pillow until it's brown. And we keep his room cool, and he runs a fan. I have never seen anything like it.

[Amy]

Yes,my daughter sweats a lot at night too,especially on the head. I thought she had a lot of nts in summer due to being hot. However it's pretty cold where I live at the mo.and her room is cool to say the least! I change her pillow often too because it's brown.She's sweating less at the mo. but the nts are still as frequent.
These last three nights I've tried something which has made the nts much calmer. When I put her to bed it's always the same routine-soppy night words and blowing kisses. As soon as i hear her start an nt I go in before she's hysterical and repeat those same words and actions as if she's not having an nt at all.I'd noticed that cuddling her or stroking her head and saying calming words was actually making it worse. Anyway,this new attempt has resulted in her blowing me her usual kiss,wittering a bit and then saying the same things she said when I left her to go to sleep and then she's fallen back to sleep. She has then had one quick shout a bit later but hasn't screamed and got up. She doesn't wake up during this repeating the bed routine as I can see her usual nt asleep open eyes and she doesn't remember a thing in the morning. Maybe this won't work at all for anyone else but it's yet another thing to try!
At Christmas she shared a room with little bro (2and a half) and he got really scared with her nts and was jumpy at night time for a while after getting back home. This is a tricky one.Luckily he doesn't hear her often but it does alarm them. I always put my daughter to bed early-by 8pm and so the nt is often before 1030pm so I'm lucky it doesn't disturb my sleep-I can deal with it before going to bed. If this fits around a um's routine then I recommend it because dealing with an nt when you're yet to go to bed is so much easier than when it interrupts your sleep,being woken up always makes people more anxious.
Fingers crossed they grow out of it.

[ewinters2004]

Yeah, I put my kids to bed between 7 and 8 every night. He has them within an hour, so I am still awake. He is so fast now. I hear a scream and take off running, because within 3 seconds he's at the top of the stairs. We haven't held him during terrors since he was a baby ( he started these at 4 months), but have had to try and keep him from running once we have him beside us. It breaks my heart when his Dad or I actually turn in to something when he has these. Doesn't happen often, but during a really bad terror we change too. It is just not right. Thanks for replying to my post -Erin

[ewinters2004]

I am so over this. It is an every other night terror right now. And he hasn't been to school in 2 days. We have been relaxing and just doing happy things. But he is still having them, so I do not believe his are do to exhaustion. He sleeps in a cold room, if you ask me (and I sleep with my bedroom windows open even when it's 5 degrees out!). His sister's room is so much warmer, because we have a separate heater in his room so he's not too hot. I just wish there is something I could do! Tonight I tried the bathroom trick that people have suggested, once again it did not help (I think it actually made it worse!). I have tried everything. It breaks my heart because tonight he was able to tell me that he was watching something rip his sister's eyes out, and then he started the gibberish talk. I just want to sleep good, and I haven't since his frequency has picked up. Sorry, just had to vent since my husband's sleeping.

[Amy]

Oh you poor thing!! What an awful thing to hear him say in a nt. I think that these nts get more sinister as the child gets older because their imagination is really active and they push themselves to the limit of their fears. Have you noticed how even small babies are strangely drawn to things that make them scared,like being chased.
My daughter has her nts EVERY night and that is what is hardest for me as it doesn't give you much time to pick up hope. When I've tried something new it's stopped for one night and then I feel really bad when it just comes straight back the night after. She stopped them for about 2 months from late August to November and I ws so pleased,I could handle them if they just came every now and then but since Nov it's back every night and it is depressing for the parents.Then we had the awful episode of her going over the balcony and we're more scared of them than ever.I'm not scared she can do herself harm in the house now but am scared they won't go away and she could do herself harm when older.
These last 3 nights I've calmed down the nts no end but who knows how long this will last. The moment she starts crying(she too is out of bed and up the stairs in no time)I go to her and just ignore it's a nt and say the exact words we said when I tucked her in last night. I blow her a kiss and then say night little one etc. etc. She gets back into bed and then may just start up again so I repeat it. Yesterday,with terrified eyes and between the screams she then said "and could you pass me the grey one" I said "oo yes,here you are-night now" and she fell straight to sleep and didn't do it again.This just goes to show how hard it is to understand these nts. It really is strange though and I fully sympathise with you when you say "It just isn't right"-I don't know how many times I've gone to bed saying that. Can your son remember things about what he says in his nts? My daughter never remembers hers at all. We could hope that these awful things are just words they shout and they don't actually see the images? Don't think that your son neccessarily had that image in his mind-maybe it was just jumbled words of things he'd never dream of,coming from a very intelligent little boy who cares for his sister very much. Focus on what he's like during the day,he's obviously a very content,clever boy with a vivid imagination. Surely these night things will subside as they get older.We probably suffer more than them because of this nt-let's try and console ourselves!
Good luck for this night.

[ewinters2004]

Yeah, it's definitely worse for the parents and his sister. He has no clue. He thinks he has never even had a nightmare, at all. He has never had a regular nightmare. I do think he sees these things, just because he will try to fight them or try and block his body as if they're coming at him. I don't know. It's funny because he too just went months without having them, and in November it all started up again in full force. And I read another guys post and he said the same thing. Last year during this time he was having them really bad as well. So I don't know what that is about! Who knows. I know we all just reach for answers hoping we can cure our kids. But in my head, after all these years, I'm still telling myself that this is going to go on forever. I really hope it doesn't!! But I think he was born with it. Like your daughter he had abdominal issues as a newborn. He was on a prescribed laxitive at age 1. I guess your breast milk makes a chemical that makes a newborn go for the first 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, the chemical is no longer in your milk. At 6 weeks he stopped pooping. He would go 23 days without going (and you know how much a normal baby goes!). So he too was always fussy. Always having enemas and suppositories and testing done. But the very first night terror was so different from any of his fussing. That scream will forever be in my ears. I could always tell when he was having one because the doc told me so much about it. I took him to the hospital the very first time he did it, and they were just confused. So the next day his pediatrician knew exactly what was going on. And thank God that he was right, because it could have been worse if we didn't know what was going on. Specially him being our first-born. Good luck to you tonight as well Glad to have your support and someone else to talk to!

[LJ]

Hi, I just found this site tonight and decided to post. I don't usually post on any site, but I guess I was alittle suprised to see so many others going through something we have been through. I have 3 children. My oldest daughter didn't have any problems sleeping, however my other two did. They are now 18 (son) and 11 (daughter). They both had bad night terrors and sleep walking. Everything I write about is from our experiences with night terrors with our children. I feel like my son had it all worse than my daughter, but I don't know if it's because by the time our daughter was having these problems we were use to it and our son was starting to "out grow" the night terrors. Yes, thank heavens they have both outgrown both night terrors and sleep walking. But, I know how horrible than can be. Our kids had them not just everynight but multiple times a night. Plus the sleep walking. Thank goodness our kids always came to us when sleep walking and we could guide them back to bed. My kids would scream as if someone was killing them, and calling "mommy" over and over. What can you do but hold them and tell them your there and it will be ok. It's horrible when they are calling for you to help and they can't see you are there. But, my kids would wake up after a little bit, and look at me then slowly lay back down and be back to sleep before you could blink. I never had any problems with them running when in a night terror or sleep walking. Alot of sleepless nights I can tell you. Alot of times after an episode, I would lay awake afraid another was going to come, just to finally fall asleep when the next one did come. I'm sorry your child is going through this, it must be hard for both you and him. Good luck!

[ewinters2004]

Thanks so much for your story. I pray he outgrows these, but honestly I am losing hope on that. So when he does, it will make me feel ten times better than if I'm expecting him to outgrow them. LOL. Horrible thinking I know... But your story gives me some hope that he will outgrow it. The running is new. That's what scares me. Not only running but thrashing and such. I just don't want him to get hurt. But I get to him as quick as I can so hopefully we can avoid any accidents. Hope you have a good night LJ. Take Care and thanks for posting

[Amy]

Yes thanks LJ-it's so good to hear stories of such regular nts being grown out of. I hope that will happen too. I know a few people here whose children have grown out of them in teenage but they weren't as regular as my girls-every night now.My main worry is the regularity of my girls nt-when they're part of every day for over a year it's hard to imagine they'll stop. My girl too runs and thrashes a bit which is really scary. Last night I tried what I thought was helping but it didn't work so well.After the third episode I did a very stern "Shhh-that's enough now!!" I feel really mean doing this but have found that it clicks her out of the nt much better than cuddles. If she comes to me to cuddle then I cuddle her briefly and guide her back but I've given up going to her first to cuddle and comfort because it was making her get really hysterical. She's got a sore throat now and ,like many others on this site, that always makes the nts worse.It's true that they seem to intensify in winter and subside around end of summer. I really understand never wanting to get your hopes up that they'll pass-it's better to prepare for the worst then enjoy the surprise!

[sengels]

Hi Erin...your son reminds me so much of mine.  He started having night terrors when he was 2 and now he is almost 7.  At first i didnt know what they were but i could hear him shuffling around in his room with this blank look in his eyes go in his closet, stand on a tub of clothes, and just stare at me.  Pretty freaky at 2 years old!  And every now and then he would scream histerically but only every now and then...Between 5 1/2 and 6 years old it was becoming so frequent that I started googling and it found out it was night terrors.  I also have tried everything that you have but nothing works.  One thing that i have tried that you did not mention was Calms Forte 4 kids.  Specifically for night terrors, growing pains, etc.   They are only sold at whole foods that I have found I guess because they are herbal.  Small white pills that disintegrate quickly.  They did seem to work for awhile but then he would start having them again.  I may try once more.  He also sweats profusely and sleepwalks.  He has slept walk right past me and my husband, walked to the front door, and opened it before i walked him back around to his bed.  His episodes only last 1-2 minutes at the most and usually occur 1 - 1 1/2 hours after he falls asleep so I just stay awake until he passes up that time before I go to sleep.  He has freaked out my babysitter, my husband, and my 3 year son who sleeps in the same room as him.  Just recently the night terrors have been affecting my younger son.  Last week I heard very loud screams and went in there with my "night terror" son yelling my younger son's name loudly and my younger son sitting in his bed crying.  And just last night he did it again with my younger son leaving the room crying while my other son followed him.  Very freaky to say the least!  Im wondering if I should take my younger son out the room cause it is now affecting him.  I feel so helpless and am also worried that he won't grow out of it!

[ewinters2004]

I will have to try that... Only whole sale food store is 90 miles away in another state, but am due to go up there in the next month. Small towns are nice, but not so convenient! Thanks so much for the tip

[maryo]

I am 54 years old and female.  I experienced NT's as a child through age 13.  I remember the aftermath of the last one.  I never could remember what my NT was except that ants were in it and the NT involved doing something that was impossible to do such as counting the grains of sand on a beach and texture and shape were involved as well.  I also remember that I would have one sometimes when I was getting sick such as a virus.  Indeed, a gentle person in the room is helpful.  I never ran; just sat up in the bed and watched the NT continue across the foot of my bed.  Two of my own children were a little on the anxious side and one experienced NT's for a short time.  We also, have a very stable home environment.  The other one experienced anxiety about being away from me to the point that I took her to a social worker who works with children with anxiety.  My daughter told this very competent therapist that she experienced bad dreams sometimes and the SW taught my daughter how to change the outcome of her dreams which did, indeed, work.  This might be helpful for Nt'S as well.  Hope this is helpful at all!

[sengels]

Ok....so I tried the Calms Forte 4 Kids last night again and increased the dosage this time.  It says you can take up to 8 dosage so I gave him 3 in a 45 minute period before he went to bed (that is 3 pills every 15 minutes).   He did not have a night terror last night which was awesome since they have been coming daily.  I cant say for sure whether this was from the Calms Forte or he just had a good night but I definitley will be giving him it again tonight!  Love this stuff as its not a med but more like an herbal supplement for sleep disturbances.

Btw Erin its all over the place online.  Its made by Hylands.  Same company that makes teething tablets.  I would definitely order before i traveled 90 miles if you are wanting to try.