Let's talk Night Terrors

[mrsdee1982]

I think C is developing night terrors.  Multiple times now, she has "woken up" in the middle of the night hysterical.  Screaming and crying.  The kind that sends both DH and I right into her room without any time to see if she'll calm down, because obviously something is wrong.  But when we get to her, she's not really awake.  She'll open her eyes, but it's becoming apparent that she isn't awake.  We'll hold her and rock her and tell her over and over again that it's ok and mommy and daddy are right here.  This can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes.  Then she'll slowly kind of come out of it and wake up.  Once she's really awake, she'll calm down and usually we'll watch an elmo video or two on the phone and then lay her back down and she'll go right back to sleep.

So, these are night terrors, right?  What else could be going on?  Are we handling it right?  Any advice from BTDT moms?  And please tell me she'll grow out of it.  

[mrsdee1982]

Hmmm, interesting carrots. I have no idea what she could be stressed about though. And these usually last 25-35 minutes. Like just straight up screaming bloody murder for that long. I wonder if it could be due to her developmental leaps? It's been happening off and on for a few months now, but getting to be more frequent.

Is this something I need to bring up at her next appointment to her ped?

[mrsdee1982]

These are very different than her normal, pissed off wake ups. For example, Friday and Saturday night she woke up SUPER pissed because of teething. Lots of tears. Lots of screams and cries. But she was very clearly AWAKE and very clearly bothered by something. She was receptive to me (Standing in the crib. Shouting MAMA! MAMA! Reaching for me when I came into the room. Settling down as soon as I picked her up, etc...). But last night, she was still on her belly when DH and I went in to her room. Not receptive at all. Eyes were open but it was like "lights are on but nobody's home". Just staring straight through us. When these happen, it is very clearly a different type of wake up.

[veggiemo]

mrsdee1982, my SIL has this same issue with her son. They finally took him for a sleep study (he's almost 4) and it turned out he has super low iron levels which can cause them. Did you have your LO's blood drawn for iron/lead levels yet?

[Bluedaisy]

I haven't dealt with these as a parent but my little sister had them. She was about two when they started though and it turned out it was a food allergy.

[mrsdee1982]

veggiemo, We did, and she had borderline low iron levels. I guess we need to get better at remembering to give her the supplement.

[veggiemo]

Aug 8, 2016 11:27:00 GMT -5 mrsdee1982 said:

veggiemo , We did, and she had borderline low iron levels. I guess we need to get better at remembering to give her the supplement.

Maybe try some iron rich foods too (beans, kale, I don't know what else without googling). Diet can be a big part of it too. As Bluedaisy said it could be something she is allergic to or not agreeing with her. Keep a food log as best you can for the next few weeks and see if you can connect some dots.

[belle0720]

Gianna went through a short phase when I'm pretty sure she was having night terrors. She'd start crying and whimpering but laying there, not seeming to actually be awake and then it'd turn into screaming. We basically did the same thing as you, rubbed her back, told her it was okay, mommy and daddy are here, held her. I also thought it might be gas so I tried gripe water and gas drops, but I have no idea if those helped or not. It didn't last very long otherwise I would have talked to her pediatrician about it. Sorry C is going through this, I hope you guys get it figured out!

[purple]

No advice, mrsdee1982, but I hope you find a solution. It sounds stressful for all of you.

L has terrible nightmares sometimes, but those are quite different.