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Original poster

Bloody hell

23 replies

Pappybear · 20/08/2018 22:52

Just had 2 year old dd up screaming (I mean absolutely hysterical, hell for leather, back arching, shockingly wild) for 45 minutes. She was fast asleep and woke up out of the blue. I tried absolutely everything (singing, cuddles, calpol, offering food / drink, asking if anything hurt) but it all made it worse.

Thought it was stomach ache at first, but it was almost like she was just having the most insane tantrum in the night. It was unrelenting.

Finally got her settled by asking which Charlie and Lola she wanted. Initially in the night garden was making her get even more upset. And she's now lying asleep on my legs after passing out on the sofa.

It was a bit terrifying tbh.

OP posts:
Anonymumtum · 20/08/2018 22:53

Night terrors?

Anonymumtum · 20/08/2018 22:53

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror

Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 22:54

Yeah I did google that. She's a bit on the young side, but it's a possibility. What normally happens? Are they awake?

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2 year olds
madeyemoodysmum · 20/08/2018 22:54

Yes night terrors. My dd had them for a few years She would seem awake terrified but didn't know me

She would then conk out like nothing had happened.

DollyDayScream · 20/08/2018 22:56

One of mine did this a couple of times. Se was an easy child, so it was worrying when she would sobbing for hours in the night. We even tried giving her (and the rest of us) medicine for her worms. We never did work out what the issue was and she "grew out of it".

Anonymumtum · 20/08/2018 22:56

DS had one once. I believe they are asleep. It was terrifying! He didn’t know me, I couldn’t calm him at all. Just screaming and screaming and trying to escape

Mamimawr · 20/08/2018 22:56

My daughter had them quite a lot. She would look through me and scream for me.

DollyDayScream · 20/08/2018 22:57

Autocorrect went a bit nuts there, but you get the idea.

Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 22:58

Gosh, it's so scary. Is there any advice on what to do should it happen again? I really hope not, was awful! Although maybe easier to deal with if you know what it is.

OP posts:
Redisthemagicolour · 20/08/2018 22:59

My daughter had these too. Horrible things. Screaming for me whilst staring unseeing straight at me. Worse when very hot or poorly and also went through a bad phase when she was getting dry at night. She’s 8 now and only really has them if she’s ill.

thaegumathteth · 20/08/2018 23:01

My daughter had these - one time I remember trying to comfort her and she was recoiling away from me terrified.

Only thing I’d say is - is she hot? Sometimes a fever can cause similar.

JohnLapsleyParlabane · 20/08/2018 23:02

Is she potty trained? We have had similar with DD, and putting her on the potty, and the resulting mega wee, had an amazingly calming effect

frippit · 20/08/2018 23:04

My son had this a few times aged around 4 to 6. It was very unsettling to see him crying and screaming with fear but unable to see us, as if he was still asleep but looked awake. I used to put the light on and pick him up, and try and wake him, but he didn't seem to snap out of it. Eventually after 10 mins or so he just went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.
We were left traumatised but he had no recollection the next day. He grew out of it thankfully.

Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 23:05

Not hot. The only thing is DH put her to bed tonight and she was pretty upset then because she only lets me put her down. I wonder if that was something to do with it.

Not sure whether to be grateful it could be night terrors. For a moment I thought I'd poisoned her with my sausage casserole.

OP posts:
Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 23:08

Interesting you say that @JohnLapsleyParlabane she's potty training at the moment. Doing really well ( more or less got it). I was trying to encourage her to use the potty when I thought it was tummy ache, but it was making her worse.

But again, I did wonder if that could have been a factor.

OP posts:
one2three4five · 20/08/2018 23:11

You have my total sympathy, my son has night terrors (he's five and a half), and they are terrifying. The first one he had actually made me cry because he was petrified to go near me, and it looked like he was awake. I genuinely almost called an ambulance because I had no idea what was going on and it was like he had woken up in the middle of the night with total memory loss, he didn't know where he was, who we were, and was just screaming that he needed to get out. I had never heard of night terrors so my panicked conclusion was that it must be some sort of brain trauma or something! Fortunately DH is more rational than me in a crisis, and an ambulance was averted, and calm was restored after about half an hour! They are AWFUL things to witness, and there is nothing you can do Sad

Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 23:16

Really sorry some of you have experienced the same. I was on the verge of going to a & e tbh. But like you i luckily have a more reasonable DH.

OP posts:
Givemeallyourcucumber · 20/08/2018 23:16

Hi,
My DD gets night terrors. The only thing that helps her is a drink of water. It always seems to snap her out of it and she goes straight back to sleep. However getting her to drink the water can be a challenge!
It's so horrible to watch them be so terrified and they just look straight through you.
DD gets them if she is over tired, ill, is upset before she falls asleep or going through a transition stage.

AnnieAnoniMoose · 20/08/2018 23:18

One of my goddaughters had then very badly at that age. I was living with them and sharing her room...well, her floor 😣 I’d settle her and she’d just drop off and start again, I’d lie on the floor next to her cot bed and hold her (gorgeous little chubby) hand. Night after night after night. They had already started before I moved in and I moved in to help them out after a traumatic event. It wasn’t especially traumatic for the DC, but I’m guessing there was enough that her mind was processing it at night. It’s like when they start crawling, then walking, their sleep is often very disturbed processing these new experiences.

Night terrors are awful, but mostly for the adults, the kids seem unaware of them and not noticeably more tired the next day. The adults on the other hand ...

Givemeallyourcucumber · 20/08/2018 23:20

one2three4five
The 1st one DD ever had was really scary. I also cried! DH is also far more calm and rational than me and rained me in from calling an ambulance/police/fire brigade!

MeetOnTheLedge · 20/08/2018 23:30

Mine had them around that age too, it went on for several months then we put a dimmer switch on his bedroom light and started leaving it on low and he was fine after that.

Original poster
Pappybear · 20/08/2018 23:33

Oh good idea @MeetOnTheLedge maybe a night light

OP posts:
lavenderlove · 20/08/2018 23:46

My ds did this quite frequently from age 1-2. I think it was night terrors and would generally happen about 3 hours after he had fallen asleep. It was awful, he would look at me absolutely terrified and crawl/run away screaming to hide in corners Sad I tried lots of things but I usually just had to wait for him to come round a little bit then he would watch an episode of peppa pig or something and fall back to sleep. He grew out of it and he never remembered a thing about them in the morning! X

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