Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

night terrors

49 replies

ohdeaeyme · 21/04/2017 22:40

my 2 year old gets night terrors 2/3 times a night 4-5 nights a week.. often go on for up to 6 hours long.

this isnt an aibu but more of a please tell me these end for good? been going on for months and theu are awful. i know she doesmt recognise me.fully but its heart breaking your toddler seeing you anx runninf and hiding in fear whilst screaming so loud the neighbours can hear

OP posts:

yellowfrog · 21/04/2017 22:48

I have no idea about night terrors in kids (sounds awful for you both, I'm really sorry), but have you tried not speaking to him/her at all while it's going on? Just holding them/being there? Sometimes I think speaking to a person having terrors is more frightening for them than if you try to keep a very low profile.

Original poster

ohdeaeyme · 21/04/2017 22:51

wont let me touch her. if i stand outside the room she hits her head or her hand against the wall causing bruising on occasion. i try reassure her everu couple of minutes that im right there. if i try touch her she runs away from me screaming.

when she eventually calms into my arms she sobs and shakes for a good half hour

OP posts:

yellowfrog · 21/04/2017 22:52

Poor wee lass. I assume you've been to the GP?

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 21/04/2017 22:56

My five year old gets night terrors. They're less severe now than they were when he was younger - more like nightmares than actual terrors.

Definitely speak to your gp if you haven't. We were also told to try Belladonna (herbal medicine)

yellowfrog · 21/04/2017 22:57

Belladonna (herbal medicine) - crikey, I hope you mean homeopathic, because the herb/plant belladonna is really poisonous!

plaintomatopasta · 21/04/2017 22:58

My 27mth old has had them from about 18mths old and they are horrific so I completely sympathise. He was quite violent with them at one stage and would have little bruises on his arms from the cot bars so I found I had to be quick and pick him up. He went through a phase when they were slightly less but I think it was the dark nights that helped. A mum on Facebook has a son of 14 who goes through phases of them now but not nightly like you are. She suggested to me a bed canopy and, ridiculous as it sounds, it really cut them down for a while. He started waking himself up on it because it was crackly so I don't know if that helped. I've recently night weaned too which has brought them down to only one or two a night. All this could be coincidence though and he's just growing out of them. Most stories I read end with "he/she grew out of them by 3/4 at the latest" so there's hope.

Big hugs for you both

plaintomatopasta · 21/04/2017 23:00

We went to the gp btw and they gave us a strong antihistamine that's usually used as a premed in hospital so we could sedate him... made him dizzy and scared and I would t use it because he was more scared.

HereWeGoRound · 21/04/2017 23:01

My daughter started having night terrors when she started dropping naps, around 26 months old. They went on for about 6 months but seem to have tailed off now that she's more used to not napping. Hers weren't as extreme though, maybe lasting 6 or 7 minutes. She'd be completely asleep but eyes wide open and acting out a dream, often standing up and waving or pointing towards something, muttering words, often screaming. She'd all of a sudden flop back onto her bed, eyes closed, sound asleep. Very frightening to watch, but she had no memory of it the next day.

Karanka · 21/04/2017 23:03

Our eldest suffered from this when she was 3/4 - she didn't scream, but she would point to things that weren't there, speak utter nonsense, or appear in our sitting room crying but not be able to tell us what was wrong. It happened every night for a while, then was more sporadic, and eventually disappeared. I hope it settles down for your DD soon.

The one piece of advice I got was don't try to discuss it with them in the morning, because the child will have no memory of it, so it can confuse and upset them.

CoffeeAndCakeEssentials · 21/04/2017 23:05

Do they start at a regular time? Our DS has night terrors which always started at a regular time. We were told to go on and turn / stir him about an hour before they were due to start. It resets their body clock apparently. Do this for 2 weeks and they should stop was the advice we got. We we've incredibly lucky and they stopped within days.
We also found, and still do find, if DS gets too hot he has night terrors so now sleeps with a window locked open to keep the room slightly cooler.
Might be worth a shot? Good luck, the terrors are heartbreaking and quite terrifying to watch

leccybill · 21/04/2017 23:09

DD had them between age 4-6. No advice, just sympathy, it was horrible.
You could set your clock by her, always around 11 on clock. I used to go in and wake her around 10.30 which worked a bit.

SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower · 21/04/2017 23:12

What do you do when she has them?

We went on for months before we realised that taking DS out into the hall, into a light area, and gentle waking him up would slowly pull him out of it. I couldn't hold him, he'd thrash about so much, but trying to calm him in the dark bedroom never worked. He would scream and scream, no matter what we did.

TV, radio or some other 'real' noise seemed to help. Singing sometimes worked. Anything to slowly wake him up, rather than trying to talk him out of it. For the bad ones we had to talk quite loudly to wake him , and he'd shift and the crying would change and we'd be able to console him.

I had night terrors as a child, and I still have them as am adult. Sometimes when I'm woken I feel like I'm paralysed and it feels like a long time before I come round. Better than being stuck in it though.

I can only speak from personal experience, but do what you can to rouse her.

CointreauVersial · 21/04/2017 23:15

At least she won't have any memory of them happening, even though it's distressing for you.

DS had them, between the age of 9 and 11. Always an hour or two after falling asleep, and he would run around the house like a crazy person, terrified, sobbing and lashing out.

We didn't really find any "treatment" as such, just waited until he grew out of them. And he did eventually.

LordTrash · 21/04/2017 23:16

This sounds very frightening for you. DD1 had night terrors from about 2-3 years but not so extreme i.e. I could touch her etc., she just wasn't properly awake/conscious. What worked for her was being taken to the toilet - whether it was triggered by a full bladder or the toilet thing just snapped her out of her mindset I don't know, but it seemed to work.

She had them for about 4-5 months, never had them again.

SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower · 21/04/2017 23:16

My parents would ignore mine, BTW.

CointreauVersial · 21/04/2017 23:18

We never actually woke DS during the terrors, just led him back to bed (which often took a while), then I would shhhhh him and stroke his head....then suddenly he would just flop back into a deep sleep.

hiccupgirl · 21/04/2017 23:20

DS had them from 2-4 - his were always 2-3 hrs after falling asleep and were much worse if he was overtired.

In the end we found we had to wake because if we left him, he would keep going back into the night terror again and it could last hours with him screaming and shouting over and over. We'd keep talking at him and calling his name until he came out of it but it could take a long time sometimes.

He hasn't had any for 3 yrs now but does still have nightmares every night.

KayTee87 · 21/04/2017 23:20

Your poor daughter.

I still had them on occasion until I got pregnant, ds is now almost 9months and they seem to have gone away now.

Flightywoman · 21/04/2017 23:23

Go to the GP and get a referral to a sleep clinic - they should be able to monitor at that frequency and hopefully help.

I get them as an adult and don't usually know I've had one, I didn't know for years that I did till my husband told me - I don't know if I had them as a child.

WashBasketsAreUs · 21/04/2017 23:27

When you say night terrors what do you mean? Waking up confused/ scared/ not knowing what or where they are?
My grandson started doing this for some reason and although I've never had this problem I tried something I'd read about. If for example your daughter usually wakes up at about 12, shake her awake about an hour/ half an hour beforehand. Not enough to wake her up properly, just enough to disturb her, enough to make her lift her head from the pillow but still sleepy IYSWIM.
My daughter in law was being woken every night by her little boy screaming, it started from nothing, no particular reason that can be picked up on. We had him here overnight and I told her about it, and that I was going to try it. First night I did it he was fine. She carried on for the next week, stopped it dead.
From what I can remember when I read it, it is supposed to break the sleep/ dream / nightmare cycle that can be the cause of night terrors? Can't really remember. Anyway, it worked and I've suggested it to others and it's worked for them. Might be an idea to give it a go? Hope that helps x

CointreauVersial · 21/04/2017 23:36

Night terrors are a specific "thing"; they occur during deep sleep, usually early in the night, and the person is asleep throughout and will have absolutely no memory of it happening. Not the same as nightmares, which are just bad dreams, during REM sleep.

Breaking the sleep pattern might be worth trying.

SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower · 21/04/2017 23:44

I was very much aware of mine. Well, I was aware of terror, then waking. My parents told me I'd been screaming in the night.

skyzumarubble · 21/04/2017 23:47

Night terrors tend to occur in the early part of falling asleep and they don't last that long. I'd be concerned and asking a gp for advice. Dt2 still has them age 2 but they only last around 20mim max. She's also developed into sleepwalking now.

skyzumarubble · 21/04/2017 23:49

Sheraagh - what you were experiencing wouldn't gave been a night terror - by definition the child would have no memory. Yours may have been a nightmare?

Runzilla · 22/04/2017 00:03

My youngest son had them when he was around 2yrs. He would 'wake' absolutely terrified and screaming but not recognise us, usually about an hour after going to bed. It took a while before I realised he wasn't properly awake. The only thing we found that worked was to take him straight to the front door and get a cool breeze on his face. He would wake up then and calm down and be carried back to bed. They're upsetting for parents but ours just lasted a few months, with maybe one every fortnight - more often if we were away from home.

Flip

1 2