Inconsolable
screaming... Uncontrollable thrashing... Open yet unseeing eyes...
These are all
symptoms of night terrors.
This
dramatic form of sleep disruption can occur in children at any point between 3
and 12 years of age and peaks around 4 years old. But how do parents know when their
child is really suffering from a night terror and not just a bad dream? How do
we know what to do when they occur?
Barbara
Quintana of Fishkill was extremely concerned when her son, Monty, started
having screaming fits after she put him to sleep. The episodes started when he
was 9 months old.
“The night
terrors were so bad that when I put him to bed at night, I would literally be
praying that he would not have one,” she recalls.
Quintana took
her son to see Dr. Christian Hietanen at Premier Medical Group: Pediatric Division in Poughkeepsie. After
a series of questions, Hietanen confirmed that it was indeed night terrors and
gave her some helpful tips to get her through each episode.
“The most
important thing is not to try to cuddle them or get them out of it when it’s
going on,” she says. “It just makes it worse!”
READ MORE: A pediatrician's advice on getting your child to sleep
Quintana and
her mother would watch helplessly as Monty screamed and threw himself around.
They made sure not to interfere or turn on the lights. After anywhere from 10
to 30 minutes, the night terrors would stop. Monty, who is now 5, outgrew the
night terrors by the time he turned 2.
Symptoms of Night Terrors
According to
Kerrin Edmonds, a certified child sleep consultant and founder of the baby and
child sleep consulting practice, Meet You In Dreamland, night terrors can be
pretty severe.
“A true
night terror is quite violent in nature and usually involves the child leaping
from their bed, with agitated sleep walking or running with a real look of
terror on their face and may include loud screaming,” she says. “A true night
terror also includes the possibility of the child hurting themselves or
breaking things. This is much rarer to see.”
Confusional Events
Through her
research, Edmonds also found that there is some confusion between a true night
terror and what is also known as a “confusional event.” Confusional events
occur when a child’s body is in a deep stage of sleep and trying to come out.
“During
these transitional periods, the body’s ‘drive to wake’ and ‘drive to sleep’
meet head on. Most of the time they can make these transitions smoothly — they
might just moan, roll over, grab their blanket, etc. But sometimes when these
two drives meet, they collide head on and in a sense create a collision with
the brain and body and this creates a sleep terror or confusional event.”
Punching and hitting
Jen Alleva of
Fishkill spoke to therapist Beth Reiman of Family Works in Hawthorne to try and
get to the bottom of her son Nick’s sleep disruptions when she noticed they were
a bit more intense than the average nightmare.
“When I
first started dealing with it, I pulled him out of bed, afraid he would wake
the baby, and he flipped out on me; punching and hitting me. It took me three
times longer to calm him down because I moved him,” she says. “My pediatrician,
Dr. Jaime Odell in Yorktown Heights, told me if I pinpoint the exact time it is
happening, I may be able to bypass it by gently moving or semi-waking him up to
disrupt that transition period.”
Alleva’s
pediatrician also noted that night terrors occur when a child is falling asleep
and his body moves into a deep sleep. This is what makes it difficult to wake a
child if this happens.
“Just talk
softly and gently, possibly rubbing their back, trying to smooth them over to a
calm, deep sleep,” she said.
READ MORE: Tips for raising mindful kids
What should you do?
So what
should you do if you think your child is experiencing night terrors? Let’s
recap the advice given to us by the moms featured above.
Leave them
in their crib or bed, and do not disturb them. If the child is going to harm herself,
or seems violent, the consensus says only then should you interfere.
Staying by
her side and keeping a close watch on her is key. Letting the episode play out
and run its course may be hard, but it seems to be the most effective remedy.
Do anything you can to soothe her and make her feel comforted without moving
her.
“Night
terrors are fairly common and most children grow out of them before their
pre-teen years,” says Edmonds. “Knowing the triggers can help you prepare for
your child's next episode and being proactive and making the appropriate
changes to counter act them could keep them at bay or minimize the duration.”
While there
is no treatment for night terrors, you can help prevent them. Night terrors can
occur in children who are overtired or ill, taking a new medication, or
sleeping in a new environment.
Try to
reduce your child's stress and establish and stick to a bedtime routine that's
simple and relaxing. Make sure your child is getting enough rest and prevent
your child from becoming overtired by staying up too late.
Understanding
night terrors can help you get a good night's sleep yourself. If night terrors
happen repeatedly, talk to your child’s doctor about whether a referral to a
sleep specialist is needed.
Theresa Narvesen lives in Wappingers Falls
with her husband and daughter.