Video: Sofie Makes Silly Faces
I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but she has had a great sleeping pattern since about 8 weeks old {when she started extending her night time sleeps between 5 to 6 hours a night}. But lately, the last month and half or so, she has started "waking up" every couple of hours between 9 and midnight. Every night. At first I thought it was just a phase, maybe she's hungry or wet or uncomfortable.
Nope. . . . . It happens every night. {It already happened once tonight.. I put her down at 8 pm and it is now 10 pm-ish, and she started crying about 20 minutes ago}
I've been doing a little reading on babies and their sleeping patterns, and I'm thinking that Sofie may be having night terrors. Basically night terrors are different from night mares in that you can wake up from a night mare, but you are asleep during night terrors. The reason I'm assuming that Sofia is suffering from night terrors is when I go into her room when she starts crying she doesn't react to me.. If I pick her up she keeps crying, when I change her diaper or try to rock her, nothing works.. I do try to not speak to her when she is having a night terror because I have read that the child can hear you and you inadvertently become part of the night terror and then scare her even more!
Some nights its not so bad.. just a few tears and usually her teto and kiss make it better, but it has happened a handful of times where she is absolutely hysterical and nothing works. It breaks my heart to see her thrashing around in her crib, or screaming till she is red in the face while I'm holding her.. It kills me to know that I am powerless to help her. On the few nights that it has been really bad, I have managed to wake her up and give her a bottle. That normally gets her back to sleep, no problem..
Next time I take Sofie to the doctor I am going to mention this to him to see what he thinks.. Meanwhile, I am open to any and all suggestions if anyone has gone through this before. I feel absolutely helpless
I just want her to sleep in peace..
That's all for now..
Hugs
I read the below on the Dr. Sears website...as a Pediatric nurse I would recommend his book to any parent, he has a great deal of information that is easy to understand. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteNight terrors occur within 2 hours of falling asleep.
Night terrors are harmless and each episode will end on its own.
Why does a child get night terrors?
Night terrors are an inherited problem and occur in about 2% of children. It is as if the child is having a bad dream during deep sleep and cannot wake up. Night terrors are not caused by psychological stress, but they seem to be associated with being overtired.
Can night terrors be prevented?
The following exercise has been shown to stop night terrors in 90% of children. For several nights, keep track of the time between falling asleep and the onset of the night terror.
Then, wake him up 15 minutes prior to the expected time of the episode, get him out of bed and fully awake for 5 minutes. Do this for seven consecutive nights. If the night terrors recur, repeat the seven nights of awakenings.
Thank you love! I really appreciate the info!!! I'll try this, and definitely I will look into the Dr. Sears book! =)
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