Can someone explain night terrors?

[Anonymous]

Colton is almost 16 months and I truly think he is doing great as far as reflux and eating goes but he still is waking up in the middle of the night crying. If it is night terrors what can I do to stop them? He doesn’t act like he has a bellyache or is refluxing. He is the most happy little fellow during the day but night time is a whole different story. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on what might be going on? I would think if it was a stomach ache he would show signs during the day too. I don’t know now I am just grasping at straws.

[Anonymous]

Could he have outgrown his Zegerid dose? If he still needs it for reflux, 16 mg seems like a low dose. His reflux could be causing him pain or discomfort at night because he is lying down, even if he is comfortable during the day.

Has he always awakened at night? Are his wakings any different now than they used to be?

How often is he waking up? Is he fully awake when you go to him? Or is it more like he’s crying/screaming but not fully awake?

My middle child, Eliana started having nightmares or night terrors at about 15 months of age. I talked to two doctors about it and they both said essentially the same thing. That it’s common at that age. That you should go to them when they wake up and comfort them but not take them out of bed. They both suggested a night light, but said that sometimes it creates shadows in the room which might produce more fear, so watch for that.

Does he sleep in the dark now? Sometimes children who slept in the dark as infants develop a fear of the dark as they get older.

Over tiredness will cause more night terrors, so make sure he’s getting enough daytime sleep and going to bed early enough that he’s not over tired when he goes to sleep. Over tiredness will also cause resltless sleep and night wakings even without nightmares.

How verbal is he?

One thing I noticed with Eliana is that her nightmares or night terrors were often related to her daytime fears, like bugs, fire engines, dragons, etc. Also, she frequently had nightmares about something she saw on a child’s movie or program that frightened her. For instance, she had a period of time where her nightmares were always about monsters because she had seen part of the Monsters, Inc. movie and was afraid of it. She is more fearful by nature than my oldest, so I have to watch what she is exposed to during the day in order to decrease her nightmares.

[Anonymous]

Christine we just recently cut Colts Zegerid down that low. He was taking over 40 mgs. at one time. He has done much better since he is on a lower dose. I am begining to think it might be his molars. He just cut one so maybe the others are on the way. I have always been able to tell when he is refluxing and this at night isn’t reflux.

[hellbennt]

maybe there’s something at http://www.askdrsears.com?

hope this helps!

~laura

[Anonymous]

Our Ped said that some kids are just prone to night terrors. He wasn’t much help as to how to determine whether or not that is the issue though. He did say that he thought Hailey’s string of nightwakings at the time were probably night terrors because she would be crying hard and I would go in her room and she would be asleep but rolling around and crying. I would also go in sometimes and find her sitting up yet still asleep. Her string of nightwakings passed after about a month.

Have you tried giving some Motrin before bed just to see if it helps? How about sleep training? Is he just not able to fall asleep after waking?

[Anonymous]

I think the best way to describe what he is doing is just plain restless. Then he will cry out at times too. I have been giving him motrin because I know he is cutting teeth. I am going to try and give him tylenol tonight when he has one of his moments just to see if it works. If it does then we can rule out reflux which I doubt it is anyways. He usually has one of his episodes around 12 so I don’t want to give him anymore motrin that close to his last dose. Is it possible this has something to do with him just learning to walk?

[Author]

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