In fact, they are just a pain in the bum. There is screaming, more screaming and the noise just gets so loud!
Not only is there a lot of yelling and screaming from the child who is having the night terror but there is also hitting, kicking and trying to do things that might hurt the terrorised child.
Being overtired can lead to night terrors. I do find that if my little boy hasn’t slept he does have a night terror.
My little boy has suffered from night terrors and they seem to happen every now and then. However, for the past week (starting from mid-week last week and to this week) he has had a few nearly every night.
He was not well and did have a fever for a few days so I put it down to the fact that he wasn’t well. I have even picked him up earlier from childcare to help with the lead up to bedtime and allow for quiet time. This plan didn’t work and therefore I was up again all night dealing with an upset kid.
I’ve had “NO” Screamed at me so loud I think that I have lost part of my hearing.
So what is a night terror?
A night terror is when a child wakes violently after a few hours of going to bed and is still asleep although appears to be awake.
Night terrors usually happen to preschool and primary school kids, and in time they grow out of it.
It is hard to calm the child when they are having a night terror due to the fact that they don’t know you are there and are dealing with something upsetting.
Night terrors are not nightmares. “Night terrors are part of a group of Non-REM sleep arousal disorders or parasomnias. Your child may remember being frightened, but without specific dream content and will not usually remember the night terror the next morning.” (https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/fact-sheets/nightmares-and-night-terrors)
What are the signs of a night terror?
Seems awake but is still asleep, don’t try and wake the child. If you do the night terror will last longer.
Wakes screaming
Thrashes around, hits, kicks and tries to hurt you if you are there.
Throws things
Tries to hurt themselves
Yelling things that make no sense. My little boy just yells, NO!, and sometimes other things about what he doesn’t want to do or wants to do.
Sometimes the child having the terror has their eyes open but is not awake.
Sweaty and breathes heavy
One thing that was screamed at me while Alexander was having a terror was, “I WANT A T-REX!” I then said, of course, we can get you a T-Rex, and then he took a deep breath and rolled over and went back to sleep.
I must say that I am glad that he has no memory of me agreeing to get him a T-Rex. Honestly, we don’t have room for a T-Rex and currently struggle with the items we wish to keep.
Super glad my little boy has no memory of me saying he can have a T-Rex.
Things I have noticed that might mean a night terror could occur:
Overtired
Sick
Fever
Upset/Worried
Teething
Sleeping is what all tired little kids should be doing. Yes, I’m hoping that I get to have a goods nights sleep soon.
What can you do while your child is having a night terror?
Since your child will be not asleep or awake they will not understand you are there and could lash out. Stay in the room and make that your little one will not hurt themselves, for example falling out of bed, hitting their head on the corner or end of the bed or possibly tip items onto themselves.
If your child is talking try and talk to them, however, if they become more agitated and scream more loudly when you talk (this happens with my little boy) just sit and be quiet and say some calming things every now and then.
What I say to my child while he is screaming and having a night terror: It’s okay you are safe, you are in bed and all right, Mummy is here, calm down, it’s okay.
Once he calms down and the screaming, kicking, and hitting subsides I try and let him know I am there and sometimes he wakes up and other times he rolls over and goes back to bed.
If he does wake he gets some soothing cuddles with mummy and a drink and then goes back to bed.
Oh and if your little one is overheated that could bring on a terror too!
Make sure to not touch your child as this can agitate them and make the terror worse and last longer. If the child is going to hurt themselves or you need to move them this is fine as it is an emergency but might cause the child to freak out a bit. Once calmer you can touch and reassure the child.
Night time and crossing fingers and toes it is a night free of night terrors.
Things I am doing to trying to calm down before bedtime
Quiet time
Bath to relax my little boy
Time in his room reading books and just relaxing before he goes to bed
Cuddles
Stopping his TV shows and making sure we have some playtime with his LEGO or cars.
Sites that can help if your child is having night terrors too:
Do your kids have night terrors or if they are older did they suffer them too? Have they outgrown them? They are common in preschool and primary aged children but after primary many outgrow night terrors.
I hope my little boy outgrows them soon as they are exhausting for both mummy and my little boy.
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I have spoken to many women about their pregnancy journey, and then their birth stories. Most of the things that they dreamt or thought about never actually happened.
While at Problogger last year (Alexander was eight months when I attended Problogger in 2016. I was having a funny conversation with other bloggers and the topic of my fears and worries while pregnant with baby three was discussed.)
New born baby – This cutie is looking very relaxed and has no idea about all the drama that went on before they were born.
When I was pregnant with the twins I had horrible thoughts. I watched a film when I was about five months pregnant and I ended up having terrible dreams. Now, this film was a horror film and just horrible really. One scene had a person put on a tea trolley or hospital trolley (never sure what to call them). In the film, this person met a terrible end and I found it hard to watch.
My dream was being on this trolley as a pregnant woman with twins. They were then trying to tell me that the babies were coming and if they didn’t come they would take matters into their own hands. I was shackled to the trolley and it was uncomfortable, scary, and freaky. They were going to cut me open to save the babies. I of course was screaming, NO! They are not ready. It is too early and stuff like this.
The room I was in was like the bottom of a hospital that was all tiled and not kept very clean at all, it also reminded me of some shows that use disused railway stations as it looked rather like those.
I woke very upset and was thankful it was a dream. Maybe horror films when pregnant is not a good idea!
Flash forward to being pregnant with Alexander and I had all sorts of concerns. They were the following:
Due to having one baby, this child will be HUGE and be horrible to have.
Since I thought that this child might be enormous I would need a C-Section.
The baby would not be head down and cause issues.
I knew that the baby was due on the 7th of January and had no idea that he would come exactly on his due date. I did have thoughts that I might have a New Year’s Day baby and be on the front page of the local paper.
“Local woman gives birth to the biggest baby on New Years’ Day 2016”.
As you can see I still was panicked about having a HUGE BABY!
Scans did show that my third child was indeed on the small side. This however did not relieve my very active imagination and concern.
I was fully aware that this was only one baby this time. This baby could spread themselves to every corner of my insides and be a record weight. I know… I was so fixated on the baby being too big.
I did have my reasons to be freaked out about the birth. The first birth (with the twins) was not fabulous and mind you birth is not pleasant on any level.
The midwifes at the local hospital kept on insisting due to age that certain things would happen and that it might be classified as a high-risk pregnancy. Oh, how silly I thought.
I have already had a high-risk pregnancy with twins and all was well. I do understand things can change but why freak out the mum to be with what ifs. I ended up having a very healthy pregnancy and all was well with our third little person.
If help or intervention was needed to save the baby or myself I would have not stood in their way, however if it is not needed and all is well, then I say let nature decide when the baby comes and don’t intervene.
Maybe the hospital helped with my visions of horrible things happening while pregnant? I think they contributed in a small way. Wanting me to be induced for no actual reason, saying that I will develop gestational diabetes due to age I’m sure was not helpful. For the record, I had my third child naturally on his estimated due date and was lucky not to get gestational diabetes.
All my concerns were unfounded.
My baby was tiny compared to what my brain thought it would be.
This is what happened. I had a normal to smaller sized baby that was very healthy. Lucky nothing went wrong and all my fears were unfounded.
All the scans kept on saying how small it was going to be, however, I could not tell myself that this would be the case. I was freaking myself out.
It also could have been the fact that my second pregnancy with Alexander lasted longer than my first. The twins were born at 34 weeks and 2 days. Alexander came exactly at the 40-week mark. This meant more time to grow. More time for anything else to happen… I did not know but I knew that anything past 34 weeks was overdue for me.
Did you do this?
Are you currently pregnant and freaking yourself out?
What is the weirdest thought or dream that you have had while pregnant?
I just want to say that all the things that you are thinking could happen will most likely not happen so just relax and enjoy the day. Enjoy the time being pregnant if you can, and if you are able take a nap. You might be too busy soon to rest so get in now. Although this might be hard if you are working or have other children.
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The last week Julia has not been well and ended up with a fever Thursday night and Friday day. She is much better now! Yes you say, but now Lillian is ill and has thrown up… I know just when I thought we were on the mend.
Last Thursday night Julia woke screaming very loudly and would not stop. She said that there was a monster in her room. She was overheating, and just boiling. We gave her some painkillers, cold water, and a cuddled her and of course she and sister wanted to stay in mummy and daddies bed as they did not want a repeat performance of the monster. Friday night was not great as she was still out of sorts, but at least they started in their beds but Julia was up and down all night.
I am pleased that Julia is feeling better and hope that this bug is only bad for a couple of days as what has happened with Julia. Going out this weekend might not be something we can do but at least it is the weekend when we are all home to help them get better. More cuddles the better right?
I did have plans to go off and get the kids hair trimmed and neaten up at the hairdresser but that can wait. I also wanted to go off to the shops down the mountain, but again this can wait. Not sure if we will be all well for swimming again this week as we missed last week as well. 🙁
Has your house been inundated with sickness already? Winter has just started and kids have been ill. Hoping it all goes away soon! I have been the chief cuddler in the house and it is nice, but would be even nicer to not have kids ill. Don’t get me wrong, having a nice cuddle with my little munchkins is so lovely but it is even better when people are well.
