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Night Terrors!

872 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  heidirk 
#1 ·
My DD has recently started having night terrors just about every night. She starts screaming and hollering at the top of her lungs, kicking and flailing at the air. But it's not just once a night. It's anywhere from 2x to 4x/night. I hear they're typical, her Pediatrician says it's normal for kids her age. He told me not to try to wake her and to let her stop on her own.

It's SO hard to do that, but when I try to wake her up, she hits me. If I pick her up, she struggles, she doesn't even want me to hold her hand. Even Dr. Sears says to let her be
. I've tried to let her quiet on her own, but after 4+ years of AP-ing, not tending to a screaming child is just impossible!!

Anyone have any experience with this? What do I do? How can I cope with this and help my DD?

Oh yeah, we don't cosleep anymore (she decided to move when she was 3), but she has her own bed in my room.
 
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#2 ·
Night terrors are pretty freaky! I was usually able to settle ds down with cuddling, soothing talk, and back rubbing though it sometimes took a while. No way could I just ignore it! Just because they don't remember being terrified is no reason to not try to comfort them, imo.

Like all sleep disturbances (insomnia, sleep walking, etc), they tend to happen more when someone isn't getting enough sleep. Usually they happen earlier in the night, like within the first few hours of sleep. Trying to make sure ds was well rested seemed to minimize his night terrors. It's been a while since he had one, at least a year. Perhaps that's because he is solidly out of naps (he was a late napper, still took them some days at age 5 and 6.)

Good luck. I hope they stop for your dd soon!
 
#3 ·
Hmm... well, she gets anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep/night. Plus she naps for at least 30 minutes/day. Is there such a thing as "over-rested"? Could that be an issue?
 
#4 ·
Our Ped. said that kids should sleep from 12-15 hours total per day. I'm not sure of the age range on that but she told me that at our last well child (my DD is 3 1/2) which was about 6 months ago.

DD has had a few night terrors too...it's insane! I have just figured out that they were actually night terrors so I can't really help on the whole "what do I do" thing!
 
#5 ·
I don't think over rested would be the problem.


Night terrors are the result of getting 'stuck' between stages of sleep. It's almost definately developmental for your DD, just like sleepwalking. It really isn't something you can prevent, unless you'd want to try an herb that helps the brain do it's thing during sleep.

DS had them in a mild way, he would just wake up screaming, but he'd back into the corner of his bed, and look right through you like you weren't there. It was, hands down, the creepiest parenting moment ever.

I do give him the Herbs for Kids Valerian super calm. just one dose before bed.
 
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