'Night Terrors' Advice....?

Scotty #

Hi, just wondering if anyone has been through similar and might offer any advice/experience.

I have a 5 year old boy who lately (last 2 months or so) has started to experience what appears to be 'Night Terrors' when being put up to bed after falling asleep downstairs. Otherwise he is a great sleeper.

First time it happened he fell asleep on the couch and was there about 40 mins before I went to put him up to bed. When I put him into bed he sat up and looked absolutely terrified. He started crying hysterically and it took a few minutes to calm him down. His eyes were open and he was responding to questions but when asked what was wrong he just said he didn't know. It lasted about 10 minutes and he would calm down and become 'terrorised' again several times over the 10 minutes. He had no recollection the following morning.

Since then the same thing has happened 5 or 6 times but a much milder version.

That was until last night were he had a fairly severe episode again. The look of terror on his face is actually quiet frightening to ME! It's hard to describe but he looks like the grim reaper, or the devil or something, is chasing him. His eyes were wide open and he looked wide awake but again this morning he had no recollection.

So anyway, after google-ing a bit last night I've come to the conclusion that it's Night Terrors and he'll probably grow out of it. I did read that it can be caused by a traumatic or stressful events. He had a kidney removed about 10 months ago and some aspects of this were extremely traumatic on him. He refused to have the 'feeder' thing put in his wrist and it took 4 nurses to hold him down while the doc put it in. He was hysterical during this but there was no other way. Also, after his surgery, due to a nurse making a **** up, there was noone with him when he came round form anaesthesia. By the time we were allowed in he was extremely distressed (So was my Mrs!).

Incidentally he is still a little anaemic after loosing the kidney and this is what causes him to fall asleep downstairs early in the evenings sometimes.

So just wondering if anyone else has been through this and can offer any advice? How long did it last for you? What's the best way to calm them down? I've kinda been hugging and reassuring him in the bed till he calms down and falls asleep but my Mrs thinks it might be better to bring him back down stairs and wake him up altogether. I know the best way to avoid it would be to ensure he's in bed before he falls asleep but with the anaemia it's not always possible. You can turn your back for 2 mins at 4pm and he'll be asleep.

Thanks for any replies.

metrovelvet

My son used to get these but he was a lot younger than five so it may not apply [he also had surgery btw, twice]. When he would wake up in terror I would wrap him him and take him away from the bed to a different room, turn on the lights low and try to calm him down. The change of scenery seemed to help and I would let him stay up until he felt safe and better. I would even sometimes take him outside the house for a few minutes to look at the moon or something to take him out of the place his mind was in.

CK2010

if he falls asleep downstairs can you not wake him up downstairs and bring him up to bed awake and let him fall back asleep once hes in bed?

it might be the fact that he has moved into a different environment all of a sudden without knowing how, like if hes asleep/only somewhat awake when he realises this he may not register where he is or why he has moved, just that something is different.

if its only ever happening when he has been transferred from downstairs then its probably either to do with the fact that he has been moved and is confused by this or that something usually calms him before his 'planned' sleeps which is lacking in his 'unplanned' (on the couch naps) sleeps- a bedtime story, routine, cuddles. best to try figure out what this is now so that if he starts to get these terrors during his 'planned' (put to bed in his room) sleep you may have some idea why.

it could also be that he hears things before his unplanned sleeps on the telly/radio and then this is in his head and disorientates his dreams/sleeping. like when we'd fall alseep in front of tv our dreams/even if we dont have a dream, our sleep kind of incorporates the audio. again, this wouldnt be present in his 'planned' sleep.

it could be none of these things but if its only happening when hes transferred id be likely to assume its something that differes between the two scenarios that causes them more so than something unrelated. thats not to say that the difference is only a 'trigger' for something unrelated. like, the above things could trigger certain memories from what happened at the hospital- the fact his mum wasnt there/the fact he was moved in his sleep and came round from anasthetic in a different environment etc.

or it could all be a coincidence and hes just prone to night terrors and it just so happens that they occur when he falls asleep on the couch! you never know really.

my girl had a traumatic time with the IVs too, and something similar regarding anasthetic occured once with us too- usually one parent can accompany them down when they've to go under but for some reason they wouldnt allow either of us to go down cause it was too late (theatre had been busy and her procedure kept getting pushed back all day from the day before so we felt quite hard done by that it was out of our control as to what time it was at and yet we we were being punished, for want of a better word, because of it!).

anyway it was distressing for all involved having her screaming for us as she was brought down to the anaesathist absolutely terrified by some random nurse, but i think parents take it alot worse than they do! her main concern when she came round was gettin food cause she'd been fasting for days!:rolleyes:
so it may not be anything to do with the hospital and you're just reading too much into that-i dont mean that as an insult just something to keep in mind.

hope this helps!

smelltheglove

Sounds terribly like sleep paralysis which I suffer from yself quite badly. I sympathise with your child. As for advice on how to calm him I cant help you there, I know myself how it can be and how much it can frighten me even though I know what it is that is happening. Basically it is like a dream but you are awake, for some lucky people it is a good dream, called lucid dreaming, but for others it can be nightmares.

You son may be too young to understand or to listen when you explain how he can wake himself up. Have you thought of bringing him to the doctor? I went to the doctor once who suggested sending me to a sleep clinic which I turned down due to having a new baby.

Anyway, if you google sleep paralysis you may get mor einfo on it, the key to waking the body up is focussing on one area rather than trying to scream for help btu a 5 yr old most likely wont understand this. Another thing that can be helpful is human touch. After much research I found info suggesting you are less likely to suffer when being touched by someone, now when I feel an episode come on I will wake my husband and ask him to put his arm around me, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt (esp if hes half asleep and just drops his arm over me). It may be an idea to sit with him whilst he goes to sleep, just stroking an arm or a cheek to see if it will help.

I would definitely advise a visit to the doctors though as it is a frightening experience.

Sleepy

I'd be inclined to go along the lines of what CK2010 is saying. Given that he had a traumatic episode waking up in different circumstance than he went to sleep in before, it'd seem likely that it's the change of location that's triggering the panic attack he's experiencing...

Try wake him up next time he falls asleep on the couch and see if that makes a difference.

Scotty #

metrovelvet wrote:

The change of scenery seemed to help

Yea that's what his mam was suggesting though last night she got into the bed with him 'til he settled.

CK2010 wrote: »

if its only ever happening when he has been transferred...

I think it;s the fact that his sleep is being disturbed (which only happens when he falls asleep downstairs). I'd say if I were to go to his room an hour after he naturally falls asleep and give him a shake he would get the terrors too...?

Waking him downstairs first is a good idea though. I'll try that next time. I think we'll have to wake him ASAP too if he falls asleep downstairs, before he gets to a deep sleep.

smelltheglove wrote:

Sounds terribly like sleep paralysis

I'll check that out tonight.

I think a visit to doc is definitely in order though. Seeing him look 'possessed' like that is quite frightening though if it is NT's then they say people never remember what it is that scares them (one of the things that separates NT's from regular nightmares) and if you ask him at the time he won't answer or says he doesn't know.

Thanks all for the advice.

LegacyUser

My son suffered from these also last year when he was four.. Horrible experience and exactly how you described..

Same as you son it was always after been transfered from one place to another when in a deep sleep.. When It initionally started i could even go into the room to him as he would scream even louder and stare at me as if he didn't recognise me.. So frightening...

i looked it up and followed the recommendation on any website I could come across but found it mainly was to do with his bladder.. He always needed to go for a wee but couldn't tell me. Thankfully it has not happened for a good few months now but anytime it does I bring him straight to the bathroom and he has a wee, stops screaming, comes out of the terror, says goodnight and goes back asleep... He does not remember a thing..

Just to point out when my lad had them he had not been throught anything stressful in his life, well nothing as major as hospitals anyway.

Ickle Magoo

My wee man went through a stage of getting the night terrors and he'd look terrified and be clawing around, sometimes even eyes open but still asleep. I used to pick him up and hold him close and tell him "It's okay, you're safe at home, this is mummy, it's okay" and he would gradually relax and go back to sleep again. He grew out of them after six months or so - horrible to have to deal with.