Toddler terrors

[Ajdad]

Hi All,

I’m hoping Dads are allowed to post here, it’s a time of desperation for me and my OH,

Our DD, who is now 3.5, has become a terror at night, she awakes and just screams without reason for sometimes up to an hour, and will only allow my GF to be near her. It usually takes up to an hour for her to calm down and my gf ends up having to lay with her for ages pleading to stop screaming, this is also not idea as my partner is 36 weeks pregnant!

She used to be a great sleeper but that seems to have gone since Christmas, as well as the fact her tantrums have become so frequent we are just struggling right now, she just seems irrational and on edge all the time.

Any tips are welcomed and sorry if this is the wrong place!

This really sounds like it could be sleep terrors. My son started having them around 4. They really aren't in control of them at all. My son would sit up and SCREAM in terror It would look like he was awake but he really wasn't "with it" at all, and everything I've read about sleep terrors suggests that they aren't actually awake even if they look it. There's not much you can do other than what you already are doing - you can't talk to them to calm them down or reason it through with them. You just have to be there to help them settle. I found staying calm and lying next to my son and just gently stroking his back or his arm worked well. It also really helps if he doesn't overheat at night which seemed to make them more frequent.
The only positive with sleep terrors is that it isn't like nightmares- they aren't really aware of what's happening and don't seem to feel upset or distressed the next day (unlike us as parents - I sweat the first time it happened I thought my house was possessed by ghosts because he just kept staring past me at something not there and screaming, shaking and teeth chattering in terror).