Is it a night terror?

[bleary]

DS (11 months) always been a pretty good sleeper now waking at random times of night, usually when entering a light sleep phase, and screaming the place down, as if he's being tortured. nothing seems to comfort him, and he really struggles if held. i turned on the light the other day and showed him his room, and that seemed to help a bit. not sure if this is night terror or nightmare. seems to be going through separation anxiety at the moment.
any help?
bleary

Sounds like a night terror to me. Apparently if there is a definite pattern to them (like happening at same time each night) then waking them just before its due can stop them. My dd gets them sometimes - we've found the best thing to do once we've established that she isn't really awake is just to leave her be - trying to wake her up/cuddle her just seems to prolong it and make her worse.
FWIW she seems to be worst when she's overtired.

my ds is 6 and has dreadful night terrors - we have an appointment set up by our gp to see someone about it soon. I have to wake him up from it as he gets so hysterical that he runs around, terrified by things we can't see. It's really distressing.

Ds1 used to have night terrors, he is now 6 but they began when he was 2 and stopped whren he was about 5.
They say that they are more common in boys and usually they befgin from the age of 2. Although your ds may have started them early.
In the beginning we used to wake him up, which apparently can be dangerous, so we left him to scream and kick out until it was over. We used to sit at the end of the bed just to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself, in the morning he had no recollection of them and he is fine now. They do grow out of them.
I hope it isn't night terroprs as your ds seems a little young, but if it is as distressing as oit is to witness, they do not remember them and he will grow out of it.

Bleary, my 13 month old dd did exactly what you describe when she was 11 months old. She had always been a good sleeper and then started waking at about 3am crying hysterically every night.If I picked her up she would push me away. Nothing would comfort her. I went to the HV who said it probably wasn't night terrors because she was too young, but she may be anxious about something, and just comfort her as well as you can while she is upset.
I found that if I offered her a bottle of water it calmed her down and she went back to sleep. She has now stopped doing it. It just lasted about 6 weeks, so with luck it will just be a phase for your ds aswell.

i've just read this thread and numerous others about night terrors..and I'm truly amazed and feel a little down as a result, because my ds6 (soon to be 7 in nov) has been suffering with night terrors for years now and its never clicked to me about what they were..i always assumed it was a very very bad dream..

Over the last 2 years, the night terror episode has gradually got worse..the symptoms are exactly as described, and he won't remeber a thing in the morning..but i'm just a little sad with the way we've dealt with it..we always would try the soothing, calming approach, but because that never worked, we ended up shouting at ds to calm down..i feel soooo bad now..

can;t wait to tell Dh when he comes home..i definitely think an irregular sleep pattern is the cause of night terrors..nights when ds is asleep by 8.30, he is fine..nights when ds is not asleep by 9.30, is when we expect him to have a night terror

does anyone know when they grow out of this?..is it normal for a 7yo to have night terrors?..shud i see the GP about it?..cupcakes, pls keep us informed about ur visit to see someone abt it..thanks

Wow, I think my ds has this! He wakes up pretty regularly screaming and screaming and cowering away in corners etc. I have constantly tried to hold him, hug him, calm him etc. but to no avail, in fact this makes him worse. Now I ignore it and he calms down, although it goes against all instinct to ignore it. Thinking back this started when he was 2.2.

Hi! My ds (5) gets them every now and again, when he's overtired. It's usually half way through the evening and they are HORRIBLE! I've always known what they were but really, you are powerless to do anything. He screams over and over again, crying, tears, eyes wide open and occasionally reaches out and tears with both hands at something only he can see.

What I do is constantly talk to him and pick him up and put him on my knee. I've read up about it and the 'experts' say that it makes no difference whether you do this or not, they are completely unaware, but believe me, it makes you feel better. He has a snuggly which is usually pushed away during the night terror, but gradually I can persuade him to take it and he calms down. Never remembers in the morning.

It's awful talking to your child, saying mummy's here, and they are looking past you into the distance at something that must be terrifying for them.

He has only had about 6 or 7 attacks and they come together (like 3 nights in a row etc).

Sure they won't last much longer. Getting enough sleep and regular bedtimes etc I'm sure is the key.

i think your absolutely right scotchick..since this revelation (i didn't even know he suffered with night terrors, until recently..just thought they were very bad nightmares) we have made more of an effort to get him down extra early..and touch wood..he's not suffered with any night terrors since..i suppose we've spoilt him in the hols too, allowing him to stay up until 9.30..but we now know not do this..

i just LOVE mumsnet!

Thank you all. Poor little mite had one last night - and they do seem to occur halfway through the evening. And we've just realised that they usually happen when I've not been home in time for bedtime, so DH does bedtime and DS hasn't seen me since early in the morning. God, I feel guilty. But that's a whole other thread, isn't it?
I do agree, sandi, mumsnet is FAB