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Original poster

Night Terrors

8 replies

Eve4Walle · 18/05/2009 20:13

I've posted on Mumsnet before aboutthis, but not on sleep.

Please can someone help me?

DD is 5 and has started having the most terrible night terrors. She sleepwalks downstairs and see things we can't see because she's dreaming. Very often she screams very loudly and it takes up to 20 minutes to calm her and get her awake again. Usually this happens once or twice a week but has been much worse lately - every night for a week.

It's terrifying for all of us, but especially for her and we are at a loss of what to do now. We've tried waking her 30 minites after she goes to sleep, as was sugessted by our doctor, and it doesn't work because she's dreaming when we wake her so is counter productive.

Please, if anyone knows anything about this or knows someone who does, please let me know. We are in desperate need of advice on hoe to get through this.

OP posts:
kid · 18/05/2009 20:17

My DS had night terrors when he was about 3, they were awful.
Luckily they didn't last too long and he seemed to stop having them.

I'd suggest making a note of days and times that they happen to see if there is any pattern. Something that I have read about them is to wake the child up before the terror starts. If they have night terrors everynight at 9pm, wake them up at 8:55 so they are not in a deep sleep and then they will be unlikely to suffer a night terror.

frustratedmom · 20/05/2009 01:27

IS she going through growth spurt. we always got worse night terrors when ds was growing. Also can be mad worse by some medicines,
we found atrovent, ceterizine hydrochloride (hayfever med) and calpol actually made the night terrors worse.

have you tried a stair gate to hinder sleep walking progression (sorry probably a stupid question.)

ang24 · 30/07/2009 19:47

Can any one give me any advice , have 5 year old daughter , has very bad night terrors can last up to an hour and has at least one a night been going on for about a year now . Tried waking her up about 40 minutes after going bed but now actually puts her in to one , tried changing her room around and swapping her room with her sister . thing i'm most concerned about is she only has them at home if stays at my mums never has one and very rarely has had them at her dad's . Doctors no help what so ever . any one have any other ideas searched whole of net can't find any thing else . she is getting violent with them aswell bitting kicking punching . its very upsetting as you can imagine especially as she is so frightened when in one but thankfully never remembers any thing about them

Moosy · 30/07/2009 20:05

I don't know if it will help at this age but when DD1 started having them at 18 months I took her to the cranial osteopath and it stopped them happening. This was recommended by a friend who said it had helped her 2 year old. Might be worth a try?

Kaza1 · 30/07/2009 21:08

Hi my DD is 3yrs and has been having night terrors. I know what you mean about seeing things as my LO was screaming at me and actually punched me in the face really hard. Night terrors occur when instead of making the normal transition from deep sleep to REM the LO gets caught between the two stages. Their bodies are active but their minds are not so they won't remember anything about the night terror (which I find comforting). They usually happen in the first 2 to 3 hours of sleep. Don't wake them but offer verbal reassurance. NT usually last 10 mins but can last up to 40 mins waking them can prolong the episode. Try to keep routine consistent and don't let them get overtired. (i've lifted the above from the BW solves all your problems). hope things get better and good luck. I think its worth remembering that it is more distressing for us than for our LOs. Karen x

ang24 · 01/08/2009 05:24

thank u for all your advice but tried all u suggest , don't u just hate when no one can give futher advice ? my baby has gone to her dad's for a week . Want to see what happens there as never been there for that long . thank you for the lady that suggest cranial support booked her in for 10 days time . They think may be able to help her thanks again let u know how she gets on xx

jaxxyj · 14/08/2009 14:07

my ds has NTs for 5 yrs - hes 11 now and they are down to 3 or 4 a year. i took him to a herbalist who suggested to cut out refined sugar and white bread as it causes stress on the body. We havent cut it out completely (still has chocolate on special occassions and eats pizza) but if he starts eating loads he gets one again. hope this is helpful

ang24 · 18/08/2009 21:25

thank you for that ,i will give it a try

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