Night Terrors

That's what we've been dealing with the last couple weeks. C was about 18 months old the first time she got one. They come randomly. She usually has a few every month, but for some reason, she has had one every single night, sometimes a couple times a night, for the past 2 weeks. It is so heartbreaking. For anyone that isn't familiar with night terrors, here is an explanation. This is taken from www.nightterrors.org:

Confusional arousals (or night terrors) often occur in infants and toddlers, but may also be seen in adults.These episodes may begin with a person crying and thrashing around in bed. The individual may appear awake, confused and upset, yet resists attempts by others to comfort or console. It is also difficult to awaken a person having a parasomnia. The episodes may last up to half an hour and usually end with the person calming, waking briefly, and then only wanting to return to sleep.

For C, her night terrors usually happen around midnight. She starts screaming and crying for me. J and I will go in and she is usually sitting up in bed, with her eyes wide open. I will try to comfort her, but she pushes me away and yells for her mother. It is totally upsetting. I feel so bad that she doesn't recognize J or I. I can tell she is panicked and really scared. It will last for up to 45 minutes. The last few times we have taken her downstairs, turned the lights on, turned the tv on (thank goodness for Barney dvds) to help her wake up. Once she is awake, she wants to be cuddled a bit, but most of all, she wants to go back to bed. She never remembers anything the following morning.

The more I have read about night terrors, the more I am beginning to understand that they can be brought on by many things. Stress, a change in schedule, change in surroundings, being over-tired. C is experiencing all of that. She has a new brother, she has stopped taking naps and we just moved. Also, sleep disorders are hereditary. Sleep-walking, sleep-talking and night terrors are all considered sleep disorders and I am the queen of sleep-walking and sleep-talking. I haven't slept-walked for a long time, but when I do, its awful. I always talk in my sleep. I think I passed my crazy sleep situation on to C.

I have talked to her pediatrician a few times this week about her night terror episodes. We have ruled out a lot of potential causes. The doc told me to stick to C's nighttime schedule every single night and filter EVERYTHING that C comes in contact with: audio, visual, etc. If the night terrors don't start getting better soon, the doc will refer me to a specialist.

In my heart, I really think that the night terrors are just a phase she is going through and having a very over-active, inquisitive imagination. I am so grateful that she doesn't remember them the morning after.

Last night was the first night in 2 weeks that she didn't wake up screaming. I'm sure my neighbors are happy. I hope we're starting a new trend here. I am keeping my fingers crossed for tonight.

Just because this is interesting - here are some different culture's explanations for night terrors. This is also taken from www.nightterrors.org:

• Ancestral ghosts - Southeast Asians
• Hag - Irish and Scottish
• Cats - Chinese
• Spectral foxes - Japanese
• Djinn - Arabs
• Guilt - Romans and the Egyptians
• Witchcraft - Mexicans
• Vampires - Europeans
• Demons - Medieval Europe

I'm super glad to know that Vampires and Spectral Foxes are not the reason for C's night terrors. I think if my parents tried to tell me the reason I slept-walked was because of Ancestral Ghosts or Demons, I would never want to sleep again. Scary!