Hi all,
I have a 4.5 yr old who is typically an excellent sleeper. Goes down at 8pm, and sleeps straight through the night till 7:30 or so. No diaper, never has to get up to pee. About a year ago, he started getting night terrors, usually around 9:30pm, where he would scream and thrash around for a few minutes. I found that turning on the light and talking to him calmed him down pretty quickly, and he would go back to sleep in a few minutes.
But he has a bigger problem - occasionally, like once a month, or sometimes more frequently, he will wake up around 2-4am, and not go back to sleep for HOURS. Last night he woke up at 2, and didn't fall back asleep till 5:30. Often, he'll wake up around 3:30am and not go back to sleep at ALL! He is fully awake, and claims that he just can't fall back asleep. Often, as he starts to fall asleep, he has a terrible nightmare and wakes himself up again before he is really asleep. Sometimes it seems like he has anxiety and has terrible dreams on these nights, other times he seems completely fine, but just unable to fall asleep. He is pretty good - mostly stays in his bed, but I don't get any sleep on these nights either.
Is there anything I can do? I was just about to call the pediatrician about it, but they tend to be pretty useless with problems like this, so I thought I'd check in with you knowledgeable girls first! I've tried giving him benadryl, and it does nothing.
It's easy to forget about it b/c it doesn't happen a ton, and I know there are plenty of kids with bigger sleep issues, but I feel like I should try and figure out how to help him when it happens, or prevent it.
Thanks for reading!
Rachel
I have a 4.5 yr old who is typically an excellent sleeper. Goes down at 8pm, and sleeps straight through the night till 7:30 or so. No diaper, never has to get up to pee. About a year ago, he started getting night terrors, usually around 9:30pm, where he would scream and thrash around for a few minutes. I found that turning on the light and talking to him calmed him down pretty quickly, and he would go back to sleep in a few minutes.
But he has a bigger problem - occasionally, like once a month, or sometimes more frequently, he will wake up around 2-4am, and not go back to sleep for HOURS. Last night he woke up at 2, and didn't fall back asleep till 5:30. Often, he'll wake up around 3:30am and not go back to sleep at ALL! He is fully awake, and claims that he just can't fall back asleep. Often, as he starts to fall asleep, he has a terrible nightmare and wakes himself up again before he is really asleep. Sometimes it seems like he has anxiety and has terrible dreams on these nights, other times he seems completely fine, but just unable to fall asleep. He is pretty good - mostly stays in his bed, but I don't get any sleep on these nights either.
Is there anything I can do? I was just about to call the pediatrician about it, but they tend to be pretty useless with problems like this, so I thought I'd check in with you knowledgeable girls first! I've tried giving him benadryl, and it does nothing.
It's easy to forget about it b/c it doesn't happen a ton, and I know there are plenty of kids with bigger sleep issues, but I feel like I should try and figure out how to help him when it happens, or prevent it.
Thanks for reading!
Rachel
