6 month old having nightmares or night terrors?

[iloveholidays]

I'm hoping someone else might have experienced this and offer some words of advise/comfort.

My 6 month old regularly wakes after an hour (used to be half an hour) after being put to bed in the evening (7pm). She wakes up hysterical, crying, tears and its a struggle to calm her down. Quite often we'll put her back down, put on her mobile and she'll settle after 5 minutes, however it is very upsetting.

I thought it would pass but it now seems to be occurring during her lunchtime naps as well - again after an hour of going to bed. I thought it was to do with sleep cycles and being tired, but I've been reading up on night terrors and wondered if this is it?

She sleeps fairly well during the day, an hour in the morning, 2 hours at lunch (apart from the 10 minute wake up) and half an hour in the afternoon. She sleeps from 7 - 6:30, with a dream feed at 10 although currently cutting this out.

Sorry its so long winded - just hoping someone can help as I find it quite upsetting. Contemplating going to the doctor...

Thanks

I think she's too young for night terrors. Maybe she's teething and she wakes with sore gums? A lot of babies wake up crying and really upset. Our DS has only stopped doing this most times recently past 2.5yrs.

You have my sympathies, DD1 had these and they were awful. Hers started when she was about 6 months and she would wake up hysterical and did not even seem to be aware that we were there as she would be crying out for us even though we were right in front of her, and she wouldn't let us pick her up or cuddle her. They could often last for up to an hour . I can't offer any useful advice I'm afraid, we never found anything that stopped them they just gradually became less frequent but did not really stop until she was nearly 6. They did seem to be worse when she was overtired or when she had a high temperature.

Sorry not to be able to help, I searched and searched for a 'solution' to prevent them but could only gain comfort from the fact that this did occur to other children and that she would grow out of it, also she never had any recollection of it happening which was a relief. I hope your dd only has them for a short time, it is horrible for you.

Thank you. Ches - I don't think its teething, as she's woken in pain before but its not the same. She wakes up hysterical, tears everywhere, impossible to calm down and looks at my blankly. She also goes back to sleep 10/15 minutes later which I don't understand if its teething.

LostGirl - thank you for your message. I think you are right about the overtiredness. I've just spoken to my boyfriends sister who's DD3 had them and said it happened when she cut out her daytime nap so let her sleep again and she now rarely has them. I've been so keen to get DD into a routine that I wake her from her daytime naps which I've decided to stop. I usually wake her at 2 and she's still asleep now at 2:55!!! I'm now feeling guilty for waking her up each day.

I think I just need to hope they don't occur so regularly if I let her sleep more during the day.

Thanks again - any more comments appreciated.

Don't feel guilty, we just found that dd would definitely have one if she was over tired, but never found a reason for why she had them on the numerous other occasions, so it certainly wasn't the be all and end all. Hope it will make a difference for you though, best of luck.

My dd (8.5 months) has started doing this and I was going to post about it today. We co-sleep and she was lying next to me last night while I was reading and she just started to scream. She was extremely upset but when I picked her up her arms were floppy and her eyes shut like she was still asleep.

She cried so much she couldn't latch on. I kept saying "DD it's mummy" and kissing her face but nothing. Eventually she seemed to become aware of dh's voice and then latched on and fell straight back asleep.

It was really quite scary. I wasn't sure night terrors or nightmares could start so young but it was so strange I don't know what else it could be.

So no advice, sorry iloveholidays but lots of sympathy!!

I found this

and this

My dd started having these at 4 months-ish which is why we started co-sleeping. It definately improved her sleep but this still happens every now and then (perhaps monthly).

Thanks everyone. DD is definitely worse when she is overtired, however had a lot of sleep yesterday and we had the most successful nights sleep ever last night.

The logic that the more tired you are the better you sleep doesn't seem to work with babies.

She went down at 7 and I didn't hear a peep until 6:20 this morning I've only been dropping the dream feed this week but would still give it to her if she woke so really successful. I'm not going to get my hopes up but I've decided to definitely let her get herself into a routine and ignore the books. The only problem is that I didn't sleep well as I kept expecting her to wake up!

I think I've now realised that its important to get her into a routine which suits her rather than what the books say!

I'm just going to hope they occur less frequently - its too emotional having one everyday. More for me than her probably

Hulla - hope things get better with you. I bet you jumped out of your skin as she was next to you - its bad enough hearing it through a monitor!

My other half has a week off next week and we're off to dog sit at his parents. Think its a good opportunity to try different things with her day time naps to see what helps the best.

At about 6 months my son started waking almost exactly 45 minutes after putting him to bed. He'd be screaming, but if I went in and just patted his head and went "shhh" he'd turn away and go back straight to sleep. I tried leaving him once or twice to see if he'd settle himself, and he just got even more hysterical. This happened for about 2 months almost every single night, and then suddenly stopped and hasn't happened since (touch wood).

Quite often he'd be on his tummy, I think that he came into a light sleep at the end of a sleep cycle and thrashed about, ending up on his tummy, and that woke him. Now he has learned to sleep on his tummy he's much better.

I honestly know why this is but, its creepy it is not scientific and I have evidence of what makes my baby do what they do when they wake up scared to terrified and screaming .
Anyone interested with an open mind feel free to ask !
But, it is really not nice at all and in some instances your baby will stop due to them just not being as sensitive anymore to what it is :)
Three of my children out of 8 have experienced this and as older children one now 15 and the others 14 and 8 and now my baby my older ones have some real creepy stories they could tell you but, they are all different in the way of some have it often some don't then they exchange stories etc with one another after their experiences .
What I found uncanny that when all three have the exact same thing happen but, as true as I type it is what it is no denial . Mostly not night or sleep terror that's just science in a lot of instances mine being one of them science cannot justify it what so ever ..
It is unexplained as usual .

Hey, my daughter does the same. Please tell me more about your stories x

Wolfgirl91

Please tell me your stories. My 6 month old seems to be scared, not sure why. Just recently moved into a new home 2 months back but all of a sudden seems to be waking scared a 1/2 hour into sleep. And continues to wake every 1/2 hour until we co sleep.

Thanks!

I've taken the bait.
My little girl does this, can take forever to calm her down it's as if she's terrified.
I've no answers but it's reassuring to know that others are experiencing this.
@Wolfgirl91dont keep us all waiting. I'm assuming it's something to do with a 6th sense.