night terrors

[mummytojames]

i was wodering if anyone knew anything about night terrors my ds is nearly seven months useualy a good sleeper but this past week the longest straight sleep is four hours then waking up screaming thinking maybe hunger he refuses his bottle tried bringing him into our bed he thinks play time dp refuses to do cc he's totaly against it and says it could be the fact he's teething but he stops crying as soon as you pick him up and wont settle unless hes on his mat in the living room was told by my mother it could be ight terrors as she has heared of them before but she dont know anything about them realy
please help im trying to drive for over a hour a day taking my mother back and forth to work this week and last and doing it on four hours sleep

these things always happen when you've got something important on!

ds (9mo) has woken up wailing (really wierd cry) and is sometimes awake, sometimes not quite and we've only been able to link it to teething (which calpol a few nights in a row fixed) or him catching a chill over those really cold days a month ago (he couldn't get warm without lots of cuddles and a hot water bottle).

If it's an out-of-sorts type cry then cc will not likely help as he's actually upset about something. But if the wakings become a habit then leaving him to settle himself may help get him back on track. My HV said it's not unheard of at this age, but usually night terrors happen when they're 18mo+. HTH.

thanks karen lets hope that it is teeething and it dont become ahabit i was thinking cc but dp wont here of it he thinks its cruel

Don't worry about sleep terrors unless you are unable to wake up the child while he's having the dream. And not even then... unlike nightmares, children can't remember what was the dream about with sleep terrors, I will put it to teething as well...

thanks chandra the problem is he's waking us up and he's wide awake screaming tonight though fingers crossed he has screamed twice so far but managed to sleep through it

Could be ear-ache? The pressure/pain is often relieved when picked up and held upright......

My DS has night-terrors, but I personally thought that came a bit later on in their developement? Not sure. I wouldn't do cc in this case either. If you mistake it from night terrors, it sounds like he is distressed/upset. Have you tried giving him calpol to see if that works? At least it would give you an idea whether he is really in pain or just can't sleep and want his mummy.

agree with the others. Maybe try one dose of calpol tonight about 20mins before bed and see what happens. All sorts of 'hidden' pains come out at night.

I don't think night terrors start that early. Dd occasionally lets out a scary sounding high pitched squeel in the night but then goes straight back to sleep. I often don't though! I'd avoid getting him up if I were you, try not to wake him completely.

Agree with some of the mums, night terrors tend to start around 2-2.5 years old and are apparently more common in boys than girls. Ds started having them around 2 years old and they are more prone when he is over tired. I used to hate it when he would scream telling something or someone to go away. Even on occasions he has fought me when trying to settle him. Now what I do is just sit on the end of the bed and watch him so that he doesn't hurt himself because he really hits out.But if your ds is having terrors, I promise you it sounds distressing but they don't remember it in the morning. It could be teething like the others have said. Sorry not much help but sympathys as trying to get through the day on little sleep is exhausting.

MummytoJames - I don't think it sounds like night terrors from the fact that he stops when you pick him up. When my ds had night terrors at about 18mths old he would be hysterical.... lashing out, screaming, throwing himself backwards and NOTHING would stop him. It almost felt like he was terrified of DH and I!!
I would just have to ride it out and hope he didn't hurt himself. It was very distressing, but only lasted a month or so.

It definitely sounds like your ds is looking for comfort. My ds did this and we fell into the trap of taking him in beside us..... he soon got used to it and now (nearly 3yrs old) he is still coming into our bed every night. I don't mind though, he's very cuddly.

If your dh is so opposed to cc, I don't understand why he's not the one playing with your ds in the middle of the night. Just refuse to get out of bed and let him deal with it and see how long his principles last. This is what I suggest. First let him wail for a little while to make sure he would just squawk and then go to sleep which babies do IME. Then let your dh go in an check him over for wet, cold, pain, calm him down and leave. Repeat. If he settles with you in bed and you don't mind that, then that's another option but from what you say, it doesn't seem like that will help. Certainly, playing with him on the playmat is really not a good idea IMO, but if your husband insists, then let him

Agree with Aloha. Was surprised that your DP was taking this stance but doesn't seem to be providing much input. Would take him to the doctor to get checked out, then try calpol and then if still a problem look at some form of cc.

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I have a friend with a 10 month old who regularly wakes 3-4 times a night and she breast feeds him even though she herself believes that it's not necessary and they should leave the baby to cry a bit. It's her dp who insists they don't do that as he believes it leads to psychological problems later. I totally agree here with Aloha, it makes me really mad to see my friend so exhausted because of his principles! Only once did she get him to get up at 5am for the baby as she was ill and he was such a miserable git about it she ended up getting up anyway and he went back to bed!!