3 year old night terrors

[Anonymous]

DS has been having night terrors on and off for about 6 months now. Some nights he sleeps 8-7 like a rock and others he is up screaming his head off 3-5 times a night. He goes back down immediately but it’s very abrupt and freaks me out. Pediatrician said this can happen and they usually grow out of it but was very vague and gave no timeline. Has anyone experienced this and is there anything I can do to help??

[Anonymous]

Mine did this until he was around 5. I used to blow hard in his face to startle him because our son would stop breathing - it was like he forgot how. I would also bring a cup of water and have him drink it if I could - before the holding of the breath. Holding the cup and drinking seemed to give his brain something else to focus on. Our doc also said he'd grow out of it, and he did. She also told me that if he did faint from holding his breath, he'd start breathing again once he fainted. Awesome.

[Anonymous]

When our kid was going through this, I found a few random tips that helped. First, avoid footie pajamas or having them wear socks to bed. (Probably not a factor in summer!) Second, it might happen if they feel the need to pee but don't wake enough to go. A "dream pee" might help.

[Anonymous]

Wake him up when you go to bed (the dream pee is a good reason to do this). It can reset their sleep clock and avoid the night terrors

[Anonymous]

First, I am so sorry this is happening to your child. As an adult this can be terrifying so I cannot imagine a little one being so scared they are screaming.

Can you log the days he sleeps through the night/does not and jot a few notes? Do you know what his nightmares entail? Then perhaps you can see if there are differences, maybe that night he was on the iPad before bed instead of looking at a book, etc.

You could try something to calm him before bed like a diffuser with child safe essential oils, I have had success with ‘calm them down and sound asleep’ from eden’s garden.

I wish I could be more helpful but if the professional is saying it will pass, hopefully it will.

[Anonymous]

My son had night terrors when he was that age and a for a few years beyond. As the OP and others know, they are quite intense most times. I can still remember them as if they were yesterday. He is now 15 years old.

His night terrors did eventually ease but then he began sleep walking. Only a few times here or there at first but it increased over the years until a point when he was up walking about the house, but fully asleep, multiple times a week. It was quite distruptive to his dad and I but he rarely remembered a thing the next morning. Had a full overnight sleep study done and he was found to have moderate to severe sleep apnea. He NEVER snored so apnea was not on our radar at all.

Turns out that in some kids night terrors are a result of sleep apnea (the terrors are the result of interruptions in specific sleep cycles and brief but repeated breathing disturbances) which then shift and manifest as sleep walking as a child ages. My son now sleeps with a cpap every night which allows him to have quality sleep. He no longer sleep walks when using the cpap.