Is this a night terror/nightmare?

Here is what happened last night:
Tony woke up at 10:30 SCREAMING his head. Crying, screaming DADDY {he was at my BIL's} and screaming CAR. I brought him downstairs, tried to comfort him, give him milk, etc. He threw a fit, he was throwing himself on the sofa, wouldn't let me touch him, and kept saying NO mama, No mama... :cray: I started crying too... but anyway, NOTHING would calm him down. He kept pointing outside and saying Daddy Car, so I got spooked and called Dan { I thought he knew something had happened, can you say Paranoid??} Well, he finally let me give him Motrin but wouldn't let me hold him, so I took him upstairs and this is about 20-30 minutes later, he's still screaming like I was stabbing him and when I put him in his crib, by the time I turned to go towards the door, I heard him drop and he was OUT! Not one more peep out of him. Was this a Night Terror? Is that what it's called? I've only heard of them. Could that happen with his eyes wide open and all? :umm: Whatdo you all think?

TIA ladies.

 

Maggie did similar, with her eyes open, and it was a night terror. They are the worst - freaked me out, and she never remembered a thing. But that would be sort of what it sounds like to me. She only did this twice, so hopefully someone else with more experience can weigh in.

The one thing I do remember is that if it is a night terror, supposedly they last longer if you try to hold them and comfort them - and that was the hardest part for me.

 

Em, I totally believe the last part, that if you try and comfort them it only makes it worse. If I tried to hold him he screamed even louder. :cray:

 

Sounds like a night terror to me. When I have them (ug I STILL have them), Dh says I look awake but clearly I'm not. I hope this was an isolated incident for your little man. Scary.

 

Definitely does sound like it could have been a night terror Liz. Those are not fun. :hug99:

 

Yep. Sounds like that is what it was (time he woke up, things he was saying, how long it lasted, all of those things you described fit the bill). Hannah gets them in spurts. They are rough, rough, rough. Just go in there and make sure he is safe. But do not try and hold him.

I have read up on this and a couple things they say that can help: turn on the lights, and if he gets them repeatedly (Hannah will get them for like three or four nights in a row and then stop for awhile), wake him up before they usually happen. So go in at at 10 or so, arouse him, and then put him back down to sleep/soothe him back to sleep.

 

Thanks ladies. :hug99:

QUOTE(twoin2005 @ Mar 31 2008, 04:42 PM) [snapback]697387[/snapback]
Yep. Sounds like that is what it was (time he woke up, things he was saying, how long it lasted, all of those things you described fit the bill). Hannah gets them in spurts. They are rough, rough, rough. Just go in there and make sure he is safe. But do not try and hold him.

I have read up on this and a couple things they say that can help: turn on the lights, and if he gets them repeatedly (Hannah will get them for like three or four nights in a row and then stop for awhile), wake him up before they usually happen. So go in at at 10 or so, arouse him, and then put him back down to sleep/soothe him back to sleep.


<_< Oh gosh, I didn't know they could happen repeatedly. It's that time right now, so I hope it doesn't happen. Thanks for all those great tips.. looks like I did everything I'm not supposed to. :blush:

 

QUOTE(TwinLove @ Mar 31 2008, 07:27 PM) [snapback]697214[/snapback]
Here is what happened last night:
Tony woke up at 10:30 SCREAMING his head. Crying, screaming DADDY {he was at my BIL's} and screaming CAR. I brought him downstairs, tried to comfort him, give him milk, etc. He threw a fit, he was throwing himself on the sofa, wouldn't let me touch him, and kept saying NO mama, No mama... :cray: I started crying too... but anyway, NOTHING would calm him down. He kept pointing outside and saying Daddy Car, so I got spooked and called Dan { I thought he knew something had happened, can you say Paranoid??} Well, he finally let me give him Motrin but wouldn't let me hold him, so I took him upstairs and this is about 20-30 minutes later, he's still screaming like I was stabbing him and when I put him in his crib, by the time I turned to go towards the door, I heard him drop and he was OUT! Not one more peep out of him. Was this a Night Terror? Is that what it's called? I've only heard of them. Could that happen with his eyes wide open and all? :umm: Whatdo you all think?

TIA ladies.



Sounds like a night terror. The only thing that has ever worked for Maya is a bath. Fill the sink with warm water and sit him in it. Even fully dressed. Maya always came to and started playing. It has worked everytime for us. But she has the same kind screaming and acting like me touching her is painful with eyes open too. But the water always does the trick.

 

Did you catch Dr. Oz on Oprah yesterday? He was talking about night terrors (among other things). And yes, I agree with the others that it sounds like a night terror.

My boys have both had a number of episodes that I'd classify as confusional arousals -- they were just crying hard for no apparent reason while not responding normally to me and then the crying stopped suddenly and they were asleep. Trent is the only one so far who has ventured into the territory you've described. Turning on the lights has worked well for us to wake him. He seemed so perplexed as to why I was waking him in the middle of the night and once he'd "snapped out of it", he went right back to sleep. Our big thing is prevention since overtired seems to be our trigger. They had problems when I tried to make the 2 naps to 1 switch and I gave up on it several times before they finally were able to switch without these issues.

 

My oldest son used to have those, and they aren't any fun at all. I found that if I talked to him in a very calm, soft voice repeating "it's ok" over and over, he would usually settle down. Sometimes it would take a while though, and he never wanted to be touched. It's such a bizarre thing, it makes you feel so helpless. He would get them in spurts too, and then go months without them. I think his last one was around age 5. Your son may not have one again though, I hope not! Good luck!