Is my 2 year old having night terrors?

[WeAreAllAdults]

My 2 year old (26 months) has started having what I assume are night terrors. Though I'm not too sure? It's tricky where he can't communicate what's happened very well. And he's my first child so I've no experience of this before.

He's always been a good sleeper and has one nap during the day still. He gets into bed at 7pm and asleep by 7:30pm until 6:30am. He only tends to wake in the night now if he's the wrong temperature, lost his teddy etc.

In the last two weeks he's been waking, sometimes every night, crying and screaming. It's usually around the same time too, between 9:30 and 10:30pm. He rolls and slams around his cot kicking and screaming, thrashing his arms like he's trying to bat someone away from touching him and he throws everything in his cot out. This goes on for around 10-20 minutes but he's awake the whole time because he's talking to/ yelling back at me when I try to ask him what's wrong or talk to him in a soothing way. He won't let me pick him up to comfort him and if I try he really lashes out at me.

I feel so sorry for him because he's so distressed and I just want to help. I just want to reassure him and show him he's safe but I can't.

Does this sound like night terrors? A quick google suggests not possibly because he's awake and aware that I'm there? Could anyone offer any advice please if their children have experienced something similar?

As I understand it, it's more likely to be nightmares than night terrors. Sympathies, it's really hard.

certainly sounds like it to me. Does he know you're there? acknowledge you at all? I know you say he is shouting back at you but does it make any sense, like is he replying or is it just random shouting?

DS does it and he does the thrashing about thing, cant pick him up because he throws himself backwards - doesn't know we are there, he is asleep. Usually has his eyes open so when he first did it we thought he was having some kind of fit but alas it was night terrors. He sometimes talks/shouts/screams but it doesn't usually make any sense.

We usually just stay with him until its over, make sure he cant hurt himself, say soothing words. I am not sure what else you should or could do to be honest!

I don't know why it happens, although we have found some correlation with him being overtired during the day, and then having a night terror that night. Our doctor also said it can be linked to them having tonsil issues, which in our case is true because DS are too big for him, poor kid.

@beeyourself Thanks for your reply and sympathy. It's certainly really hard.

@JoanMavisIcecreamGirl I think he knows i'm there but his responses are all "no!" based. So I'll ask him if he wants a hug and get "No!" or 'Shall I sing you your favourite song?' "No song!". 'I'm going to sit quietly next to your cot, ok?' "No sit!!" All the while he's either still thrashing about or sat up in his cot and sobbing his eyes out.

I'm sorry your DS suffers with them. It must be so hard to see him go through it so frequently. Will he need to have his tonsils removed at some point? Sorry if that sounds daft but I've no experience or knowledge or tonsil problems yet. Always willing to learn though!

My DS has been experiencing some tummy troubles this last week so maybe it's all down to that? I know he's been in pain from it so maybe that could be triggering things?

that is strange! I wonder if he is having nightmares and then is just scared when he wakes up? DS doesn't respond to us at all if we ask him questions, but the rest of it the thrashing and sobbing sounds the same. Could well be the pain I guess, its weird because it seems to happen out of nowhere.

It is awful, and we only found out about his tonsil issues when he was 9 months old and he woke up and I honestly thought he was about to die because it sounded like he was struggling for breath. Took him to A&E (111 didn't deem an ambulance necessary!!!) and the doctor was really shitty and just said "its obviously his enlarged tonsils" and im like sorry what? nobody had mentioned it previously!

He's had tonsillitis quite a few times since but the doctor said they don't take them out any more unless they get it something like 10 times in 12 months, and you have it diagnosed by a doctor and put on record every single time! they did say there was a chance he would just grow into them so I am hoping that will happen to stop the tonsil issues and hopefully the night terrors too, although he should grow out of that eventually apparently!

we are so used to the night terrors now but its still awful to see, he recently had one when he was staying with my parents, and although we had pre warned them I still don't think they were prepared for how bad he was!

he doesn't remember them at all, which brings me some comfort.