Parents: Is there anything that?

Question

I can do to help my 7 yr old son through night terrors?

He has been having them nightly for the past 3 weeks. He doesn't remember anything about it. They usually start 1-2 hrs after he has falling asleep. He will "wake up" and be screaming and come looking for me and it will take almost an hr to get him back to sleep. This is starting to take a toll on him and the rest of us.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Answer 1

i am not a parent, but i have a little sister... and these things happen...

don't allow him to eat at late nights, and go to bed early... no scary movies, probably a funny cartoon before bed...and a bed time story.

Answer 2

First look to see if anything has happened to upset him in the last few weeks.  Has he had a bad experience with a friend, sen a fight between you and dad etc.  If he has then work with him on resolving it and if not then move on to the next step.  Make him really comfy before bed, read a story, spend a few extra minutes tucking him in assuring him that nothing is going to happen to him etc then let him drift off, waking him up a few minutes before it normally starts is a good thing, even if you do not fully wake him if you wake him enough to let him know that you are there can break the sleep pattern enough to stop the dreams.  When my kids were small I would tell them to go to sleep and think about going to the beach that weekend or something else fun and exciting and they dreamed of that instead.  If it all continues no matter what you do then it might be time for a trip to the doc for a check up.

Answer 3

You can try two things:

first, make sure he's getting enough total sleep, since being overtired can cause night terrors.

second, wake him up about 15 minutes before he would generally start having the night terror, then let him go back to sleep.  this disrupts the cycle somehow and often stops the night terrors.