Night Terrors

This posting is for my future reference and for anyone else who may need this info. My sister Heather always finds the info that she needs and it is very helpful to me also! Below is my comment to her posting about night terrors and also her original posting.

Heather thank you for sharing that! Devin and Krissy were both restless sleepers! They would Talk in there sleep and sometimes walk! Now Shealeah seems to have a night terror situation going on! Yesterday she did not take her nap and finally it was bed time and she fell asleep with in seconds of getting into bed and I would say with in the 90 min time she was screaming or I should say crying hysterically and we could do nothing to comfort her! I took her into the living room to rock her so Dave could sleep and she still seemed very upset after a little bit she seemed more alert and responded to me so I decided to go to the computer to play her favorite youtube video= the yummy funny gummy bear video, she loves it and cheered her right up and we went back to bed with no problems after that. We are going to talk to our doctor about it too. Let me know what your doc says and I will do the same. Love ya sis Hang in there! Love your big sis :O)
May 27, 2009 3:00 PM

Night Terrors

I hadn't heard of night terrors until our old neighbor Kelly Wallin (who is going to medical school) mentioned to me that he thought what I was describing about Madi sounded like what happened with their daughter Brinna. It's scary in the middle of the night to hear your child scream out as if they are in so much pain. The times I've been awake and heard Madi going into hysterics in her room I've gone in to try to comfort her or to find out what's wrong. She doesn't respond or if she does she can't tell you what's wrong. It's very nerve racking trying to figure out if she is bleeding somewhere or what to do for her. Brett told me that he had this when he was little and it freaked his parents out. I would have to agree 100% with that. We haven't talked to the doctor about it because I didn't think it was something that could be helped or was even that big of a deal. I mean people have nightmares and she doesn't do it all the time. Last night just after Brett came home for lunch (at 10:30PM) Madi started screaming. She just kept saying ouchie but wouldn't tell me where. We ended up putting some of her medicated skin lotion on her and giving her a benadryl. We thought maybe her skin was itchy. You kind of just pull out all the stops and try to assess the problem. She then let me rock her for about an hour. I just looked night terrors up on WebMd and this is how they describe it. I just think it's good information to have and I am going to bring it up at Madi's next doctor visit.
Night Terrors:
The sleep disorder of night terrors typically occurs in children aged 3-12 years, with a peak onset in children aged 3½ years.Sleep is divided into 2 categories: rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (non-REM). Non-REM sleep is further divided into 4 stages, progressing from stages 1-4. Night terrors occur during the transition from stage 3 non-REM sleep to stage 4 non-REM sleep, beginning approximately 90 minutes after the child falls asleep.Night terrors are distinctly different from the much more common nightmares, which occur during REM sleep. Night terrors are characterized by frequent recurrent episodes of intense crying and fear during sleep, with difficulty arousing the child. Night terrors are frightening episodes that disrupt family life.An estimated 1-6% of children experience night terrors. Boys and girls are equally affected. Children of all races also seem to be affected equally. The disorder usually resolves during adolescence.Night Terrors Causes Night terrors may be caused by the following:Stressful life eventsFeverSleep deprivation Medications that affect the central nervous system (the brain)Night Terrors Symptoms In addition to frequent recurrent episodes of intense crying and fear during sleep, with difficulty arousing the child, children with night terrors may also experience the following:Tachycardia (increased heart rate)Tachypnea (increased breathing rate)Sweating during episodes Unlike nightmares, most children do not recall a dream after a night terror episode, and they usually do not remember the episode the next morning.The typical night terror episode usually begins approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep. The child sits up in bed and screams, appearing awake but is confused, disoriented, and unresponsive to stimuli. Although the child seems to be awake, the child does not seem to be aware of the parents’ presence and usually does not talk. The child may thrash around in bed and does not respond to comforting by the parents.Most episodes last 1-2 minutes, but they may last up to 30 minutes before the child relaxes and returns to normal sleep.If the child does awake during a night terror, only small pieces of the episode may be recalled. Usually, the child does not remember the episode upon waking in the morning.When to Seek Medical Care Sleep disruption is parents’ most frequent concern during the first years of a child’s life. Half of all children develop a disrupted sleep pattern serious enough to warrant physician assistance.In children younger than 3½ years, peak frequency of night terrors is at least 1 episode per week.Among older children, peak frequency of night terrors is 1-2 episodes per month.If your child seems to be experiencing night terrors, an evaluation by the child’s pediatrician may be useful. During this evaluation, the pediatrician may also be able to exclude other possible disorders that might cause night terrors.
posted by Barnes Family at 12:09 AM on May 15, 2009