re: OT Parents- Night Terrors

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Anybody dealt with this? My three year old the last two nights has woken up crying and talking nonsense and rolling around the bed. It lasted like 5-10 min. before she finally started calming down to where I could talk to her/read her a story or whatever before falling back asleep.

Does this kind of thing usually happen nightly for a while or something that comes and goes etc..? Anyway you guys have found to help prevent them or any other info can help? It's pretty rough seeing her like that.

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I find that my son who is 4, has these more often than not, when he is completely exhausted from a long day of playing. For instance, yesterday, he spent all day swimming. He was whiped out. He woke up about 7-8 times last night screaming and talking jibberish and pointing at the wall. I just talk to him for a couple minutes and let him know that its not real, I am and here for him. He falls over and goes back to sleep. It only lasted for an hour or 40 minutes maybe.

My son did this once about 7 years ago. Freaked the frick out of us. Just stay with them, speak softly/quietly, they will calm down and go back to sleep (actually, this is a misnomer, they are still asleep - it's a form of sleepwalking).

Never did it again. Can't explain why it happened.

His mom (my wife) has done this once as well in the last 5 years, but we chalked that up to Benadryl (it is a possible side effect with long term use).

One of my twins had these when he was younger. Sometimes they would last up to 45 minutes. It was scary. His eyes would be open but he was still sleeping. He would scream and cry and there was nothing I could do until it was over. It has been a few years since his last one and I hope he never has another.

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goddamn kids to creepy shite

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One part was really funny though. He was crying really hard when I went in there once, pointing at the wall, and I asked him what's wrong, then he went from all out crying to making this silly noise he makes all the time. The fell over and went back to sleep....I had to laugh about that. I felt bad for him, because he was genuinely freaked out. He was just tired. He was out in the sun swimming all day.

Kid probably realized his dad wasn't an OT Baller

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I'm shocked that this seems to be common.

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Extreme fatigue makes your brain do/see crazy shite. There is a reason its used for torture.

Take a damp cold rag and pat it on her face - most times that will bring them back to full conscientiousness. My son seemed to have his episodes when he was fighting sleep and extremely tired; if your daughter is taking in caffeine, I would restrict that for a while and see if that helps her rest better. Good luck!

Hot toddy before bed. 1 for them 2 for you.

My son had them on and off from about 2 to 6 or 7 years old. Absolutely scares the shite of you, no doubt. His eyes would dart, he would sweat, and he would talk 7 kinds of smack on top of the almost convulsive tremors. I read up on it back then, and the worst thing to do is startle them awake. I would slowly wake him up and get him to focus on me. I found that if I put him back to bed immediately he would have another dream, so I would get him to walk to the kitchen and get him a glass of water then a trip to the bathroom before heading back to bed. I never figured out what triggered it.

My kid is 5 now. She has done it in spurts. Scary sometimes.

1. First she woke up and came in our room pissed about whatever. She was sleep walking. About 3ish.
2. When we started with her pre-k she'd have night terrors where she was basically battling kids on the playground for whatever. She grew out of it as she got used to school.
3. Occasionally she'll come in scared at night.

For us it has come and go. Believe it or not things that helped were:

1. She needed a bigger bed so we got one.
2. New pillow.


If you think about it you have to remember that their limited experience means everyday is a flood of new experiences. That's a lot to dream about!