When Will It End?

Sawyer is killing me, I tell you, killing me! I have written about his night terrors before but lately, the pattern he has been repeating has caused me to think that his nighttime waking was due to something else entirely. However, last night around 1:30 a.m., I had finally gotten Sawyer settled after another "episode" and I was all keyed up so I got on the Internet and did a little research.

In the Google search bar I simply typed, "Waking a child from a nightmare." I think the third hit was a link entitled, simply, "Night Terrors." To my surprise, I had been right all along and that is, indeed, what Sawyer is suffering from. The symptoms fit him to a "T."

For example:

Most common in children between the ages of 2 and 6 years - Check.
Although usually considered to be normal or benign, they are often very scary and distressing to parents who often overreact, especially during a child's first night terror. - Distressing, definitely.

Read the following that I got off the Internet and you'll have an idea what we go through almost every night without fail:

Symptoms
When you hear how most experts describe night terrors, it is easy to see why parents find them distressing. Children who have night terrors are usually described as 'bolting upright' with their eyes wide open, with a look of fear and panic, and letting out a 'blood-curdling scream'. (Yes, yes, and yes again!)

These kids will usually also be sweating, breathing fast and have a rapid heart rate (autonomic signs). And although it will seem like they are awake, during a night terror, children will appear confused, will not be consolable and won't recognize you. (Right on the money.)

Typical night terrors last about 5 to 30 minutes (about 15 in our case) and afterwards, children usually return to a regular sleep (yeah, for maybe 10 minutes before repeating the pattern). If you are able to wake your child up during a night terror, he is likely to become scared and agitated, mostly because of your own reaction to the night terror, especially if you were shaking or yelling at him to wake up (or pouring water on his head!). Instead of trying to wake up a child having a night terror, it is usually better to just make sure he is safe, comfort him if you can, and help him return to sleep once it is over.

Okay, that last sentence is the crux of our problem. If we didn't have all hardwood floors . . . if we couldn't hear every little peep, every door opening, every cough and sniffle coming from every bedroom . . . then maybe we could just check to make sure Sawyer was safe and go back to bed ourselves. But there is NO sleep to be had when Sawyer is having a night terror. EVERYBODY hears it. And I am, frankly, exhausted. There is a lot going on here (more about that in a future entry) and I could really use a good night's sleep. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I posted about waking up one morning and realizing I had slept straight through. I guess I jinxed myself!

It's totally different from the sleep I used to lose when I had to get up to nurse a baby. At least in those moments the house was quiet and I was relaxed; after each of Sawyer's night terrors I am spent but also wide awake (hence the Internet research at 1 a.m.!).

Here's the rest of the info I got off the Internet:

Diagnosis
The diagnosis of night terrors is usually made by the history of a child 'waking' early in the night screaming and being inconsolable. Night terrors are most often confused with nightmares, but unlike night terrors, a child having a nightmare is usually easily woken up and comforted.

Treatments
No treatment is usually necessary for routine night terrors. Since they are often triggered in children who are overtired, sticking to a good bedtime routine and making sure your child is getting enough rest can help to prevent them. (Except for church nights, bedtime is 8:00 p.m. and Sawyer typically wakes up between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. How much more rest can he get???)

For children who get frequent night terrors, it might help to wake your child up before the time that he usually has a night terror. This is thought to interrupt or alter the sleep cycle and prevent night terrors from occurring (it also works for sleepwalking). (Are you kidding me?!!)

Unlike a nightmare, children usually don't recall having a night terror. (He remembers NOTHING. He laughs when we describe how he acts during a night terror).

Also unlike nightmares, night terrors usually occur in the early part of the night, about 1 to 4 hours after going to sleep. (Sawyer's night terrors almost always occur between midnight and 1 a.m.)

Most children outgrow night terrors as they get older. (He can't outgrow them soon enough for me! I know, I know, Tyler outgrew them, but when you're in the middle of one you think it's never going to end!)

And that's all you ever wanted to know about night terrors but were afraid to ask!