Is there a way to get rid of night terrors?

Question

My 4 year old brother has been having night terrors ever since hewas born. He use to get them every night until he was about 2, now he get's them anywhere from 3 times a week to once every week. Every time he has them. he'll wake up and just cry. A couple weeks ago, he woke up and cried for about 30 min. and about 3 hours later he woke up again crying. I try to ask him what happened in his dreams but he just changes the subject. Is there any way that I can figure out what's going on in his dreams or help get rid of them?

Answer 1

No but recently people feel that night terrors may be caused by having an overbearing sister...

Answer 2

try reading him a nice story before bed something with no monsters or anything like that in so he dreams about the book. a nightlight may help as well. you really need to try and find out what he dreams about though.

Answer 3

I have baby cousins who cry in the middle of the night too, i think its normal for a child to cry during there childhood ages, but if you still worry maybe you should try seeing a doctor or something.

Answer 4

My daughter had night terrors around the age of 3 months old as an adult she still has trouble sleeping.

When she was a baby/child I would keep a night light on this helps to at least have them orientate where they are when they do awaken startled and scared.  I also used old fashion bed time stories like 364 bedtime stories they were gentle and happy.  A warm lavender bath might help so can a sound machine of something like ocean waves or crickets.

Do make sure he gets a check up by the doctor, but personally, I would not take him to a shrink or get him medicated for the condition.  You don't want him or you to deal with something that only masks conditions for the rest of his life.

Answer 5

My husband's nephew had them until he was a teen. They tried therapy and it still didn't help. Ask your parents to make sure that he is not being exposed to anything terrifying on TV. My son started having bad nightmares after my husband let him watch Harry Potter (He was 3 years-old at the time). At this age they can't differentiate between reality and fiction. Even the news with reports on the war can scare a young child.

Answer 6

sleep with him or give him a night light or a TV to distract him and a teddy bear

Answer 7

I would ask the doctor about it.  It maybe nothing but since it is a concern of yours bring it up to your parents and the doctor.  Also keep a log as to what has happened during the day and all to see if there is a pattern to the terrors.  The doctor will be your best bet after you do the field work.

Answer 8

Is he eating before he goes to bed, sometimes that keeps the brain to active. Maybe exercise, would help him sleep better. Has he had any drama in his life? Could need some couselling. Does he sleep with a teddy bear, something to help him feel secure? Don't let him watch scary shows, read a book to him before he goes to sleep.

Hope it ends soon for him, lil buddy shouldn't be tormented like that!

Good Luck, let us know!

Answer 9

Is he having nightmares or night terrors? There is a difference...

Nightmares are like those you and I have, where we process things while we sleep etc., and have bad dreams. Are you/your parents able to comfort him in the middle of the night? If so, it's nightmares, and you can do things to help ease him into bed, like a nightlight, no TV right before bed, keep scary things to a minimum etc.

Night terrors, on the other hand, make a child wake up crying/screaming and it's like they don't even recognize that you're there, nothing you do will comfort them. In fact, talking to them or trying to comfort them actually makes it worse. You just kind of have to stand by and watch them to make sure they don't hurt themselves if they're prone to thrashing about during one. Typically, if a child is having night terrors, they don't remember it, whereas a nightmare the child can, if they want to, tell you about it later.

There isn't a whole lot you can do for night terrors except make their room is safe, a night light is good, and watch to make sure they don't hurt themselves. Most children grow out of them by the time they are 6 years old, at least that's what my son's doctor told me.

Answer 10

Comfort him. But dont let him sleep in your parents bed.. yeah it might help but it can cause SERIOUS sleep problems in the future.. thats the mistake my aunt made but her children eventfully grew out of the sleep problems.  

Answer 11

The best advice is to have him sleep in his parents room for a while longer, but liberals usually HATE this advice.