4yr old night terrors/nightmares?

[bellamysbride]

DS was not a great sleeper as a small baby but has slept like a log since then. He started school a week ago and was pretty upset leaving me the first few days but since then he has surprised me by walking in of his own accord and enjoying it. He has however been completely shattered. So tired that he almost falls asleep in his early tea. Since his first day he has been screaming out a few hours after he goes to bed and then repeatedly for the rest of the night. When I go to him he seems to acknowledge my presence and will have a sip of water or even go to the loo but he doesn't seem to be fully awake. I am exhausted as i am up and down every few minutes to him. However I really feel for him as his sleep is so disrupted at a time when he needs it so desperately. We have tried bringing him in with us but he is just as unsettled.

Any advice or experience to help him through this stage would be so, so welcome.

That's hard!

My DS goes through phases of it but we are 'lucky' in that he will do it exactly an hour after going to sleep then once he has settled again, that will be it for the rest of the night. This can go on for weeks at a time, then it stops, then starts again for no reason.

I felt awful because he has been doing this for a few years and we always thought he was just ignoring us as he seemed to be awake because, like you say, he would go to the toilet or have a drink and have his eyes open but it occurred to us a little while ago that he isn't actually awake. I asked him about it the next day and he had no recollection and doesn't know that he has ever done it.

We did find that he was drenched in sweat each time (quite a hot sweaty child anyway) and when we swapped his quilt for a thin blanket and shorts pyjamas, the last lot stopped straight away and he hasn't had them since, although the quilt has just gone back on because its getting cold.

I think the fact that he was very hot and sweaty was causing it, sometimes it appears to be a dream, but a lot of the time it isn't.

You have my sympathy with it carrying on all night!

Thank you Crap. (Cheered me up just to write that). I am feeling knackered so goodness knows how he feels having to do a full school day. I think what worries me most is not just the disrupted sleep but that something is making him so anxious. We have had such an idyllic summer and now my poor boy is completely sleep deprived and worried.

I don't think it's temp related. Is your son generally an anxious type or not particularly?

Sorry no advice but just to tell you that we have been (well still going) through this. DS started doing this when DD came along. It's getting better now (6 months on!), he does it maybe once a week. I personally think it's going through changes that unsettles them.

Sorry, ours isn't anxiety related, I don't think. He doesn't seem particularly anxious, he loves school, couldn't wait to get back, loves seeing his friends and learning. I think it our case its definitely when he gets too hot or sometimes its because he needs a wee and instead of waking up and going, we get this instead, that's very frustrating. I have noticed he does it when he is over tired too, usually pretty much guaranteed then. Can you try putting him to bed earlier if you think he is so tired from school?

bella I could have written your post. My DS is only just 4, he started reception a week ago. He goes in ok, but today cried a bit before leaving home and said he was sad at school :( most nights since starting he has been having nightmares and has been screaming or arguing in his sleep.
It makes me feel really sad for him. I also have a 6 week old DD so DS has had a lot of changes to adjust to. He spent 3 years at his nursery and it as like a second home to him, I think he misses the teachers, kids and the familiarity of it.
Fingers crossed for both our boys to adjust quickly.

Btw, in DS's case it's not night terrors, in his case night terrors looked differently and as per PP experience, often happened when he was overheating.