1 year old had night terror

[nuggles]

So Sunday we celebrated my sons 1st birthday - had lots of family round and he had a fab day.

Didn't go to sleep until 10pm ish and an hour late he was crying hysterically in his sleep. We couldn't wake him he was limp crying with his wide open and glazed over. No response to us whatsoever. It was the single most frightening moment of my life.

Hubby and I were both so terrified that we almost called 999 because we didn't know what was going on. A few minutes later my son woke and seemed back to normal.

From googling this it seems to be a night terror. I'm so confused as it says they don't usually occur until around 3years old. Now we're both so scared it'll happen to our son again and are really cautious not to overwhelm our son during the day.

Anyone have any tips on what to do if this happens again?

[AmeliaEarhartinBerlin]

we had that with one of ours.... it was a pretty regular thing and it was terrifying at first. And yes - we couldn't get him to wake up... just bizarre... not even with all the lights on!!! I think that I read something about neural overload when I looked into it.... anyway, the triggers seemed to be too much activity or over-stimulation during the day... any time that I didn't stick to a fairly strict routine, the night terrors would happen. The other trigger was fatigue... he didn't sleep a lot but I had to make sure that he was well-rested. (Kids that are overtired have a more difficult time dropping off - or so I have experienced...) I think that one thing that helped was making sure that he didn't have a sugar-y dessert - and also, ensuring that he had a high-carb snack before bed (eg toast or cereal - but not fruit-y yogurt. The NT lasted until he was about 4 - I think.... it wasn't easy .... and I do wish you the best!

[nuggles]

Thank you, that's made me feel a bit less on edge about them. Still terrifying though.

Will try high carbs before bed and stick to a bedtime and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks again :)

[PalcumTowder]

My son (2) has had them since he was a baby, getting worse at 1. The first time it happened I thought he was having a sezuire, and like you, nearly called 999.

If it helps, I don't think they remember it at all once they've woken. The only thing I can do with DS is hold him until it's over. I also haven't noticed any pattern to them, they're just random.

Hopefully it won't be a frequent thing. They are so terrifying.

[babyblackbird]

My son had these around the age of 5. His were triggered whenever he was overtired and definitley if he was running a temperature. Also if he generally got too hot in his sleep. I think the advice is not to wake them up but we always did by bringing him out of his room and sometimes putting a flannel on his head to cool him down. He would actually run around whilst screaming and hallucinate. He never remembered in the morning. Our poor daughter found them terrifying to listen to as he was so distressed. They do tend to grow out of them thank goodness.