Our middle son has night terrors! Do you know anything that will help?

Have you just asked him what would make him feel better? Does he remember the episodes? Their was a while my son went thru this caused by a small nail hole beside his bed and he never mentioned it till I asked him, but he thought bugs would come from outside through the hole and get on his bed. That little hole must have pressed on his mind for weeks before we figured it out.
My niece was afraid monsters would come in her room at night, So we made a monster stop sign and it did seem to help her as long as she could see the sign.
I am just saying it could be something really minor to us as an adult, but just awful for a little guy. Good luck.

That's so sad. I am sorry but I have no information.

I'm sorry to hear his is suffering from this. My cousin has these, and her mom was told to make sure that she was not too warm during the nights.

Calcium may help greatly! Try a good liquid calcium ( like Isotonix). It absorbs easily and tastes rather like lemonade. It has certainly helped everyone I know who is taking it sleep well- has gotten rid of night cramping and restless leg syndrome and I wonder if it may help him. ( It sure can't hurt to give it a try!)

I used to teach Child Psychology. Night terrors are usually more troubling for the parents than for the children because they don't usually wake up completely. Oftentimes children do not even remember them in the morning. The research seems to show (Helen Bee c.1999) that they occur when there is a very quick transition from deep sleep to being nearly awake. They are not related to any kind of emotional problem, but are more likely when the child is physically exhausted or under unusual stress. Definitely give a call to your son's pediatrican with your concerns, but night terrors are not usually an indication of anything serious.

Good luck!

I'm sorry that he's going through that. :(

I hope you will be able to help him. Does he remember the episodes at all?

That must be scary for you. All I can find on them is that they are usually worse on the parents than the child. There is no real treatment, but once you get insurance again, it might be something to talk to the pediatrician about.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/night_terrors/article_em.htm#Night%20Terrors%20Overview

crude it cut it off, but you webmd sent me to http://www.emedicinehealth.com and I found info there:)

Now I want to cry. I wish I knew how to help him but I have no idea!

That is familiar to me, unfortunately. My youngest son had them too. We thought it related to his father disappearing when he was around 4 yrs old. He would scream and scream during the night. I'd get my oldest son up and we would take turns holding him and trying to talk to him. Most of the time, he didn't really "wake up". He would say words, sometimes about monsters and things coming out of the walls. Sometimes he wouldn't say anything, just scream and scream. It was very upsetting and I felt so bad that nothing seemed to change it. He eventually just quit having them, thank heavens.

Good luck, Faith.

Poor little guy. I have not ever had that happen with my kids. I hope the doctor can give you some suggestions.

I'm dealing with thsi with my 3 year old. Hang in there, and try to stay calm, stay with a "set" routine at bedtime, and reassure... It WILL get better! *HUGS*

that's heartbreaking! Our 3 1/2 yr old son goes thru this a few times a month. I asked his doctor about it on his last checkup and he said there's nothing they can really do about it. They "wake up" as totally different people....not themselves at all, and it seems like there's nothing you can do to console them. He said that these commonly occur in really intelligent kids (so that's one positive) and it's because their imaginations run away with them while they're sleeping and can produce some pretty startling images.

Hopefully your doctor is able to help you more than ours did, and hope he's able to get some better sleep!

I don't know what to tell you. I never experience this with my two

I have them myself once in awhile...personally, my mind seems to work in overdrive when I am exceptionally tired...and then they happen....I agree that a doctor might help

i have no idea, but i hope you get the help you need

Poor kid. My daughter went through this and when she did wake up scared we had a "monster light." A flashlight she could use to scare them away.

My middle child had these. He did out grow them. He wasn't awake when he was screaming and being inconsolable.

Sleep labs have shown through sleep studies, that Night Terrors happen due to increased brain activity.

Night Terrors :
Run in families.
Are not dangerous.
Can last 10-20 minutes.
Occur in stage 4 of the sleep cycle.
Can happen at any age.

It might gradually help to wake your son up before the time that he usually has a night terror. This is thought to interrupt or noticeably alter the sleep cycle and prevent night terrors from occurring (it also works for sleepwalking). You could wake him and have him go to the bathroom and get a drink of water.

I hope you find out soon. Keep Us posted ok?
Tens Stars

Im sorry you are going throught this. I hope your sons doctor will have some answers for you. My boys have not had them, but a few times here and there. I just hold them, play with there hair, and talk low and calmly to them. It seemed to help my boys. I wish you the best of luck Faith.

I have to agree with Nanina Hawk,here..the waking up of your child prior to the event
to go to the bathroom or get a drink would be helpful..
itt is heartbreaking to hear his sobs..so very sorry you are all experiencing this..I hope he passes out of it soon..

Geez, that made me start to cry. Poor Alex....I hope it doesn't last to much longer. Maybe see what he is watching at night. Sometimes I can dream what I have watched just before bed.

The person that mentioned it happens to smart kids its exactly what my doctor said and its genetic. We are lactose intolerant, which means dairy can be a big problem. I try to only buy juices with Vitamin C knowing Calcium is necessary.

You might try giving him a little more calcium and we would wake up our daughter before the night terror. The good news is she out grew them, but not the allergies. Her allergies are worse today, then as a child. Good luck and hope he out grows them quickly.

Hi Faith,
I'm so sorry your son is going through that.
I went through that when I was a child, and still go through it on some level. But I'm older and don't get upset like that anymore.
What Night - Terrors are is your mind trying to work stuff out that it does not understand. It could be anything, and it could be many things.
There is NO medication to treat such episodes. The only thing that will help is talking to your son about What it is that he had just dreamed about, What had woken him up, Why he doesn't want to be alone or go back to sleep.
Its important that you get him to talk about it and you explain things in a way that can put his mind at ease and let him get some rest, real rest.
Keeping a dream journal next to his bed with a ready to use pen will help too. Him writing them down can help get them out and even reading them back sometimes can even spread a little more light on the feelings.
He could be stress out about something too. ( I know a lot of people think that kids don't have stress but really when your a kid you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and hardly a way to process it all and not let it weigh on you from time to time.) Stress that is wearing someone down doesn't always get recognized by the naked eye. It can be easy to hide during the day, but stress will find you at night if it goes unchecked.
When a person sleeps, that's the time when the mind will try to work out any of the days problems. It is when you can either rest at ease or wake up screaming because something is bothering him so much that the mind doesn't even want to go there. So everything just becomes a nightmare. And that nightmare can be carried with him when he wakes up, terrorized by the feelings that are rushing through him that nightmares create. Everything is dark, or cast in shadow if there is a night light, both can be frightening when anyone just suddenly wakes up from having a parade of horrible images play through their mind. He might not feel connected when he first wakes up, thinking what ever it is he's not resting through is going to still be there when he wakes up. You need to find something that can in a sense kind of ground him when he first wakes up. Then have him try writing something in his dream journal even if it is just a single word, and scribble in the date and time later. Next try talking to you. Ask him, What is wrong, did you have a bad dream? What was the dream about? You know that was just a dream, right? Are you ok now?
Tell him how it was just a bad dream and reassure him that you are always there for him when ever he needs you. And then you have to be there. He may try telling you in ways that might seem like just nothing, but you should make a mental note of everything and compare it to the dream journal. Opening up isn't easy all the time and might come out in art work, the way he plays with toys, little things he says that you might normally think is just kids being kids. When there are Night Terrors, you really have to look see it.
You also might want to consider picking up a dream-catcher. They are not expensive and they are devices that the Indians used to trap their nightmares in leaving behind only the good dreams.
( there is more lure behind what dream catchers are and do and what they where for and they're origin, but it seem that I have written a small novel here in your comments already, and there-fore wont get into the lure behind them too.)
I hope if you do what I suggested that it helps. Feel free to email me any time if you have any questions or concerns.
I really hope things get better for the little guy. I'm sending him all my good wishes!

they say its a age thing i dont know

my oldest has the same thing..he's been doign it for years and he just turned 7. i heard they grow out of it

That's awful!

poor kid. My cousin's daughter had them when anytime she had a fever but has since outgrown them.

I wish I could help, but I do not know of any children that have them!

Faith, I just went to Google and found so much information on
night terrrors in children. You might want to check that out.