Parenting Forums

Posted: 12 March 2006 at 9:57pm | IP Logged

Hi,

For some weeks now Ethan wakes up crying in the night but can't be comforted - his eyes are shut and its as if he's still asleep. He doesn't move around or lash out or anything - just cries for anywhere between 5 mins and 30 mins I'd say maximum. He seems to get really irritable with himself.

At first we just put it down to bad dreams but I've just read M2J's article () and also looked at some other stuff on the internet and now I'm wondering if it's possibly night terrors he's experiencing.

There was one night he was crying and it was like he was awake and he was acting like he was awake and talking etc but it was spooky as if he wasn't really awake - if that makes sense!

I'd really appreciate other people opinions/experiences of this.

Thanks

Gemma x

Posted: 12 March 2006 at 10:13pm | IP Logged

This does sound like night terrors babe and Im sorry there isnt much advice I can offer other than that I put into the article. If he wakes at the same time every night try to wake him 10 mins before the time and trhen re settle him almost straight away, this breaks the Rem sleep. If like Joshua and at random times then all you can do is comfort him. Do not try to wake or restrain him. Some sites to wake them during the night terror but it is not advised by most to do so. Move away any thing that he can hurt himself on..toys in bed or on the floor etc Night terrors can be linked with sleep walking so make sure all external doors and windows are locked and secure. Most importantly be there when he comes out of it!

It is the worst thing in the world to see, believe I know babe. You need to stay strong for him, trying not to get upset inthe bedroom with him. Dont move him rooms as this will confuse him when he arouses. And as hard as it is to watch, please remember he will not remember the terrors at all. He will be aware he has woke up and may be upset but he will have no knowledge of why and will quickly settle back down. Try not to discuss it with him in the morning..he wont remember but if your telling him that he is having bad dreams he will create false images of a bad dream and this may cause worse sleep problems.

If he is hurting himself in the terror you need to inform your gp so that if he has recurrent marks or bruises it will be on his medical notes from the start. Sometimes it is useful to discuss it with your HV but to be honest mine wasnt brilliant and only told me the things I knew and are in my article..but I guess there's not really much that can be said. If the night terrors being to last longer and longer...over 1 hour then go see your gp. It may be necessary to get a mild sedative to avoid the child having the same sleep pattern...I believe the idea is to put them into deep sleep earlier therefore skipping a rem stage but I havent really done much looking into that. Joshua is now on sedatives but Ive not looked into too much at the moment.

I hope some of that helps, I know a lot of it is in my article and I hope i havent just re written it lol feel free to pm if you need a chat xxxxxxxxxxx

Posted: 12 March 2006 at 10:18pm | IP Logged

Thanks M2J x

They are random and thankfully they don't seem to bad at the moment, he's just waking up and crying - hopefully they won't get any longer.

Think I will mention it to the hv the next time I see her.

Thanks once again x