My 4 year old daughter is having night terrors. . . . ?

Question

I brought her to our pediatrician and he said that she will grow out of it. I'm not sure. She wets the bed because of it and is terrified of going asleep. It's the same every night, we wake up hearing her screaming blue murder in her sleep and cries while asleep too. My husband has to hold her down because she kicks and punches the air yelling 'get away, help daddy,mommy'. It's so scary, the doctor said that under no circumstance's are we to wake her up, and it's so scary to watch her going through this. Is it something more serious? Should we get a second opinion? What are your opinions on it? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I had terrible night terrors when I was young and now my daughter has them. I would get up and run around the house eyes open screaming. I was about ten when I grew out of it. My daughter is 5 and she rarely gets them now, before it was every night. It is very scarey but I think your dr. is most likey right. Hang in there mom! It'll pass. Good luck!

Answer 2

every kid have nightmares i do too when i was a kid. but maybe she is watching something on the television that she thought was real thats what i use to thing. maybe it would help if before she sleeps tell her a fairy tale story

Answer 3

If the doctor couldn't tell you why you couldn't wake her up you should get another opinion just in case his answer was not satisfying.

Answer 4

I'm convinced that night terrors are related to toilet training. I have four kids and all of them have experienced this. If you think about it, they don't start until the kids are potty trained and you know yourself that she's wetting the bed. I think their bodies are telling them to go to the bathroom while they're in dream state. They can't wake properly and therefore end up in a half awake/half dream state that must seem terrifying. I agree that they will grow out of it but I know of steps you can take to minimize them as well. Limit her drinking before bedtime and have her go to the bathroom before bed. A couple of hours after, wake her gently to go to the bathroom again. Do this and you'll see an extreme decrease in the terrors. Her bladder will be empty and she'll sleep more peacefully. Good luck :)

Answer 5

My son had them around this age. It was awful. It is completely different than a nightmare. They do not remember them and you cannot snap them out of it. I went to the doctor and tried to find a way and I finally did.

We read to put them to bed normally. About an hour after they are asleep,  go to their bed, turn on the light and have them sit up and say hi mommy or hi daddy or anything so you know they've woken up briefly, then turn out their light. This wakes them out of a certain stage of sleep. It sounded bizarre but we were so desperate we tried it. It worked the first night we did it. We continued doing it for about a month and he has rarely had one since.

On occasion after that if he had a particularly crazy day and was overtired it would happen briefly- as soon as we implemented waking him up again it stopped. Now he is 8 and can't remember the last one. Good luck!

Answer 6

Night terrors are NOT like everyday nightmares.  I had them when I was a kid.  I often had no recollection of them.  My parents said I would try to run away right out the front door because I was so scared.  I have heard as well that you should not wake the child up.  I would still go get a second opinion or se if she could go talk to someone that might resolve the problem a little quicker.