Does your child suffer with night terrors ?

[majic30]

AFTER YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SCREAMING DURING THE NIGHT WE COULD NO LONGER BARE IT. ON AVERAGE OUR 4 AND A HALF YR SON WAS WAKING AT ONE POINT UP TO 12TMS A NIGHT HYSTERICAL. IN THE MORNING HE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER AND NOR DID HE WHILST HE WAS IN FULL SWING !! THE ONLY WAY I COULD DECRIBE THIS WAS AS IF HE WAS HAVING A FULL BLOWN TANTRUM.
EVENTUALLY MY RELATIONSHIP BEGAN TO SUFFER AND HE WAS SEEN BY A CHILD PYCHOLOGIST,THEY DID AN EEG TO RULE OUT EPILEPSY [WHICH IT WASN,T]AND CONFIRMED THAT HE WAS SUFFERING FROM NIGHT TERRORS. HES TRYED A DRUG CALLED MELATONIN WHICH MADE HIM WORSE, BUT NOW WE,R TRYING ATARAX A NIGHT SEDATION WHICH TOUCH WOOD IS WORKING 2ND TIME AROUND.
MY SON ALSO HAS REALLY BAD ECZEMA SO BAD HE WEARS A SLEEPSUIT WITH MITTS ON AT NIGHT,AND IS REGULARLY MOISTURISED DAY AND NIGHT. I WONDER IF IT STEMS FROM SOME KIND OF TRAUMA WHEN HE WAS A BABY BEING WET WRAPPED WHICH HE ABSOLUTLEY HATED ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE ? I HAVE BEEN TOLD HE,L GROW OUT OF IT, BUT HES STARTING SCHOOL SEPT,IM SURE THE CHANGE WILL EITHER GO ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!!!! MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED.
OH AND MYSELF AND PARTNER TAKE TURNS DEALING WITH HIM USUALLY BY MY SON ENDING UP IN OUR BED.

Hi majic30, my ds 4 yrs and 7 months suffers night terrors. It began when he was 2 and half. He has two types, one where he will be screaming and shouting get off and you go in to settle him and he has no knowledge of you being there and will continue to cry till he goes back off to sleep by himself. The other is when he looks almost posessed and will scream and when you go in to settle him, he will push you away and kick and fight till you leave him again to back to sleep by himself. We are used to them now, there no pattern to them they tend to happen more when he is overtired and had a really busy day. I just sit and the end of his bed ytill he settles himself now. I don't leave him even if he cannot hear me just incase he hurts himself. He too suffers from eczema and mild asthma but has almost grown them out now. The terrors are not nice to witness are they, but I hope he grows out of it. He is not on any drugs and they are getting less and less now. I havebn't offered any advice so apologies but wanted you to know that it can be tiring can't it, that is one of the reasons why I haven't put ds2 6 months in the same room as his brother yet for fear of being frightened to death by his brothers terrors.

Oh Majic, that does sound distressing.
DS does have night terrors, and it really is disturbing to watch, isn't it? He is like a child possessed, will get out of bed and sit on the landing, and can never be comforted or calmed; he resists and fights everything we offer - even if he has been screaming for it in the first place.
It happens when he is overtired and over-excited, and also when he is not well or has a temperature, so I suppose your DS may be feeling itchy or sore in his sleep but is too deep asleep for it to wake him. Could he have Piriton, which takes away itching sensations?
We have learned that the quickest way to end an attack is not to intervene at all. Any attempt to cuddle him or speak just provokes and prolongs the attack.
And I believe they do grow out of it - not sure by what age.

I used to have night terrors, and I can assure you that the 'sufferer' isn't suffering. You really aren't aware of it while it's happening. Almost the worst thing you can do is to try and intervene during a night terror. During an NT the best thing to do is just to sit quietly by your ds and wait for it to pass. He will probably be totally unaware of you, and just go straight back to sleep, but occasionally the screaming and thrashing can wake the sleeper, in which case it is reassuring to have Mummy there.

NTs often happen at certain stages of the sleep cycle, mine always happenend between 1/2h to 1.5h after I fell asleep. If you can see a pattern in your ds's NTs then try waking him up just before one starts. He may not need to be woken fully, just enough to change his sleep state. This might prevent the NT happening. ALternatively, if you could spend a night or two with him, you m ight see a pattern of movement or twitching that might herald an NT, and use that as a cue to wake him.

Being over-stressed, over-excited or over-tired where all factors that increased my likelihood to have an NT. I'm sure that diet has an effect as well, though I can't remember exactly what it was. As your ds has exzema you probably have to keep an eye on his diet already, but it might be an idea to have another look at his diet in any case.

thanks very much , having someone whose experienced this condition is quite reasurring, its just so awful to see and very very exhausting and a constant battle.