Question: MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH OUR SON ADAM’S SLEEP TERRORS FOR AT LEAST 18 MONTHS. HE IS TURNING 4 IN JANUARY. WATCHING HIM GO THROUGH THESE EVENTS, THAT HAVE EASILY LASTED UP TO 50 MINUTES EACH TIME, IS HONESTLY AGONIZING. HE HAS A PEDIATRICIAN APPT COMING UP IN JANUARY, AND I AM THINKING OF GETTING A REFFERAL TO A SLEEP DISORDER CLINIC.
HE IS NOW ALSO HAVING BAD DREAMS THAT WAKE HIM AND KEEP HIM UP FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT. I WILL ADD THAT HE HAS ALSO GONE FOR 3 OR 4 MONTHS, WITHOUT 1 INCIDENT.ONE MOMENT I READ THAT SLEEP TERRORS CAN BE DUE TO A TRAUMA IN HIS LIFE, AND THEN I’LL READ ANOTHER ARTICLE THAT SAYS, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THERE IS NO REASON FOR THEM.AS I AM WRITING THIS, I AM ALSO LACKING SLEEP, SO MY THOUGHT PROCESS IS NOT AS CLEAR AS IT COULD BE.
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Me son has been having sleep terrors since he was 2 years old. He is going on 14. I too had him to the pediatrician, did a sleep eeg to check for night seizures. I am now JUST accepting he has nothing neurologically wrong with him. There is another website that has night terror triggers this may be helpful to you. There was no major event that EVER happened to him that would attribute to these episodes. We are now looking to eliminate triggers or possible triggers for these episodes. I do understand how helpless you feel when your child goes thru this, it really sucks actually for lack of a better word. My son can never be touched during these episodes. When he goes into them I speak quietly to him and walk him outside to cool down. We think a trigger for him is that he overheats or is overtired. We cut out all sugar by seven p.m. and are looking to next watch his gluten intake. not sure about that one…but all we can do is try. Oh, I forgot, when younger these episodes could be nightly for very long periods than taper off for a month or 2 then start again. Now they are sporadic but much more intense.
I have also been dealing with my son’s Night Terrors from early childhood until now (age 13).
We’ve had two sleep studies done. One recommended a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy (t/a) due to some marginal apnea episodes and the other displayed extreme sleep architecture disturbance for which they prescribed melatonin.
All of this served to decrease the frequency/intensity, but unfortunately there is no magic bullet pill. There is no cure. Most kids grow out of it. Mine has not. We hold out hope that he one day will.
Our best results have been from maintaining the best sleep hygiene that you can: regular bed times, strict routine with baths including aromatherapy and calming bedtime stories. (not as easy as they get older) No TV or electronics of any kind for at least an hour before bed. Limited sugar or food for at least an hour before bed.
If he has a bad night, we got a 504 plan with his school that allows us to take him in after he wakes up naturally. We found that waking him up “on time” for school after a bad night led to sleep deprivation which is a trigger for another bad night the next night. Bad nights, thus lead to more bad nights until you break the cycle with a weekend or just let him sleep in during the weekday to break the cycle. His schools have been very accommodating in this regard. Your mileage may vary. The sleep studies help convince the school. I doubt they would have been as accommodating without them.
Melatonin has seemed to bring the intensity of the night terrors down if not the frequency. The t/a procedure seemed to bring down the frequency, but that was about the same time we started letting him sleep in, so it could be a combination of both. Also a video recording baby monitor will help convince the doctors and the school that this is a serious issue. Find a specialist. Most doctors will not take this seriously.
Note that you cannot alter the bed time ritual the next night after he gets to sleep in or you get a feedback loop that teaches him that it’s ok for him to stay up late because he’s “special”. Even if he’s not tired, bath, stories, and no electronics until he’s asleep, even if you have to stay in the room reading book until it happens. (Easier said than done if you have multiple kids, but do your best.)
I wish you all the best and sweet dreams,
Sleepy Dad
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