Night terrors, have you found a cure or is it a phase?

7 replies

greyriver · 22/04/2006 18:58

DD jolts 'awake' screaming, hot sweaty, totally inconsolable, doesnt recognise me or DH, wont suck dummy, wont take bottle of warm milk to help her calm down....nothing.....she is totally hysterical, crying, kicking, and would harm herself if left in her cot because she thrashes around so much hitting her head etc. It happened for the 1st time last week, now its happening at her dinner time nap everyday, and it also happened last night. They happen for around 30-40 mins and its like she wants to be asleep, but can't get back to sleep...

Please does anyone have any advice? Its really upsetting seeing DD do this, and even more so when we can't console her. Did you find it was linked to too much stimuli before nap/bed time? I have tried to search the archived messages but its not bringing anything up. DD is 15 mo by the way.

tia x

OP posts:

jsmum · 23/04/2006 08:55

We had something like this happen with DS last year and it turned out he had an ear infection. He was obviously waking up in pain and would be inconsolable for up to 30 mins. Might be worth taking your DD to the GP to get her ears checked just in case?

rosycheek · 23/04/2006 09:03

DS1 used to do this from about the age of 2. Never could figure out what would trigger it, sometimes thought that happened more when he was over tired. Agree that it is very upsetting to see, but there really is not much you can do, IMHO, you just have to wait and they will (eventually) calm down.Then give lots of hugs. Ds would never remember anything about it. He's 6 now and they are becoming less frequent and less severe, he tends to come out of them quite quickly now. Definately go to GP though to check there's no infection or anything. Hope all goes well.

sandyballs · 23/04/2006 09:44

My dd did this a few times when she was 4 and a friend recommended that I pick her up and put her on the loo, bit difficult when she's thrashing about, but it worked. She did a wee and calmed down, and it worked every time. Don't know if this is any help to you though as she is only 15 months.

cece · 23/04/2006 09:55

Agree about the wee - DD often woke up like that and think it was because her bladder was full.

Alos ds has been a bit like that lately and last week was diagnosed with ear infection.

cordobagirl · 23/04/2006 10:37

DD2 had this around 1 year old. It's very traumatic, isn't it? The good news is - only for you, not for her. We were advised to just keep her safe from hurting herself -all that thrashing around. There's a theory that it's when the body's awake but the brain is asleep, but not sure now substantiated that is. Anyway, our DD2 grew out of them after a couple of months. I always thought it was when she was overly tired. Also coincided with house move (to foreign country) so maybe stress related? Anyway, she's nearly 4 now and hasn't had another since 1-ish. HTH,

Julie

Heathcliffscathy · 23/04/2006 10:41

definitely think that it only happens with ds when he is overtired...

Original poster

greyriver · 23/04/2006 21:17

thanks everyone, very interesting about other peoples experiences being down to your lo's being in pain because she has been pulling at her ears today i 'm going to take her to doc tomorow, plus her little eyes have started to become a bit gooey this afternoon, i have also been checking her teeth all week to see if its realted to teething and i spotted one new tooth has just broken through and another bulging, so from what everyones said the pain thing certainly seems to fit in with everything now. God its so hard to figure it out sometimes, I just put her ears hurting down to her teeth, but i am defintaley going to get her checked out tomorow from what everyones said, thanks for your advice x

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