Can babies have night terrors?

[Penthesileia]

I just about leapt out of my skin about 1/2 an hour ago when my 7mo DD suddenly screamed out and cried inconsolably in her sleep. When I picked her up she was still asleep, and after I gave her a big cuddle she stopped, and was calmly asleep once more. She's sleeping normally now.

I assume it was a night terror, but she seems a little young for it (I've just read something online which implies that they start around 18mo).

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Was it a night terror?

DD had night terrors (I assume) when about 18 months. She would cry inconsolably, as you said, but would not wake up. I would carry her, cuddle her, but she would just go on screaming until I started feeling a bit edgu myself, then gradually calm down again and be asleep. Scarey. Luckily only lasted a couple of weeks.

DS1 started that at about 5 months old.
To cut a long story short, he was at a higher risk of developing meningitis and the inconsolable crying had us at A&E about 3 times with him.
We were even told by a junior doctor that it was probably wind! Right after she asked if he was my first...bloody cheek.

Anyway, our neighbour was a GP and the next time it happened we called for him to have a look. He said it looked like a night terror but that he'd never seen it in a baby so young.
Then we saw a consultant. He said that because he was crying with his eyes open and laying flat on the bed, making no effort to stand up in his cot for us to pick him up....and that it also seemed to happen exactly 2 hours or so after he'd gone to sleep (apparently the time when they switch levels of sleep), that it was what he called 'confusional arousal parasomnia'.
er, i think it's a type of night terror.

anyway, there's not a lot you can do really apart from try not to panic. it's recommended you don't wake them but i always found stroking them brought them round enough to stop the night terror eventually. for me, it was also nicer to lay on the bed with him (who sits and watches their kid in fear and doesn't do anything?).

it used to happen more if he'd missed naps and was over tired. and i also found it stopped around the time i stopped moving him away from the cot sides. (an idea given to me by a paediatric physio who said maybe needs to feel the cot sides for spatial awareness, she linked it to him being overdue and big and needing to feel where he was in space).

thankfully he stopped around a year after they started.

Then his little brother had a few around the six month mark too. typical.

it's more terrifying for you as the parent I think, as they don't ever recall it.

Thanks for replying!

Hmm - I wonder if she's more tired than usual? This past week I've struggled to get her to take a 3rd late afternoon nap, and she's only had about 20 mins, when previously she's had 45-60mins. I thought maybe she was (already ) dropping the 3rd nap. Maybe I need to make sure she really gets this nap.

I think my heart has about returned to normal pace now!

My DD is 16 months and has started having night terrors recently, screaming and screaming back arching, pushing us away when you pick her up to comfort her, eyes always closed, but hers seem to be happening around 3/4 am, we put her down around 9pm. It also seems to have started since she had an abcess (vaginal) which disturbed her sleep because of where it was. Im not the youngest of Mums and the lack of sleep is really started to affect me lol