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number5
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23 Aug 2009, 8:06 pm

My poor little 4yo Aspie boy has been having night terrors every single night at exactly the same time for the last week. He starts crying and screaming, sweating, and shaking, but he never gains full consciousness during the episode, even as I hold him and talk to him gently to calm him down. He doesn't seem to remember anything in the morning. Tonight I'm going to try to wake him about 15 minutes before I expect him to start screaming in hopes of breaking the cycle (I read somewhere that might work - worth a try). Has anyone else had experience with night terrors and possibly have any advice? I can't think of any new stresses or changes that might be triggering them. Night terrors are definately no fun. :(



Aimless
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23 Aug 2009, 8:23 pm

I used to have them as a child and as a young adult. I know as an adult they were caused by stress. They are horrible. I would wake up suddenly and feel like there was a malevolent presence there. Did you ever see the movie Silence of the Lambs? Remember the scene in the basement where the killer has on night vision goggles and she can't see anything? That's what it feels like. I know now it was about family stress. Your son may be worried about something he can't express. He may not have the words. Something that you wouldn't ordinarily notice. When I was young my grandmother would periodically talk about taking me to live with her upstate. Her reasoning was that she had more money and could offer more. My parents just ignored her but never considered that I might be really terrified that they were going to give me away. I was never reassured that they would never abandon me. My grandmother I think had a personality disorder-she was a nightmare. Anyway my point is there could be something he is stressing about that you wouldn't immediately think of.



exhausted
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23 Aug 2009, 8:51 pm

i wish i had advice, but i don't. i have night terrors too--still, as an adult, i still have them, and they're pretty similar to the ones experienced by Aimless. they wake me up frequently--no real dreams/images. just a sudden sense of overwhelming fear.

i'll keep watching this thread, though--hope you get good advice, in part for selfish reasons. (i'd like to know what to do myself.)

just on an "intuitive" level--think it's good that you hold your daughter when she has them (of course, assuming she's one who likes touch, and you would know that better than anyone.) a sense of safety is really important. the world can be a pretty bewildering place for anyone--i suspect for those on the spectrum even moreso.



Aimless
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23 Aug 2009, 9:06 pm

exhausted wrote;

Quote:
just on an "intuitive" level--think it's good that you hold your daughter when she has them (of course, assuming she's one who likes touch, and you would know that better than anyone.) a sense of safety is really important. the world can be a pretty bewildering place for anyone--i suspect for those on the spectrum even more so.


Once my mother put her hand on me lightly when she was aware I was having a nightmare and practically had to scrape me off the ceiling.



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23 Aug 2009, 10:05 pm

My older son had them when he was little and if you touched him he would freek out realy bad and yelled the monseter got him help. I only tried to pick him up that one time durring a night terror. He thank god out grew them after a short time but then stoped sleeping all together. 8O We did make sure that anything he saw on tv or movies was very, very mild movies G rated only. We also never ever fought even over what flavor of icecream to buy in front of him little kids can deal with there parents fighting and they shouldn't have to. The doctor also told us to make sure he went to bed with a good story in his head his favorite story book and the same song everynight. This for the times he did sleep helped. Best of luck and sweet dreams to your child hopefuly :).



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23 Aug 2009, 10:39 pm

I used to have night terrors.

I can't say for sure that it's nothing to do with movies/TV but I have noticed that most children who have night terrors seem to be only watching G or PG movies. I'm not sure if they're too sheltered and it's causing night terrors or if it's the parents sheltering the kids. In any case, it's usually not a viewing problem.

Things that worked for me.

1. Being told by my mother that it was my body's way of making me wake up to go to the toilet.

2. Having an easy reach bed lamp that I could easily turn on (no complicated buttons - touch lamp?).

You might find that the night terrors results from your son's abrupt wakening in a darkened room. This might indicate that he has breathing issues (asthma, clogged nose etc) or that he's got a bladder problem. It might be worthwhile looking into options there...



VegemiteToast
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24 Aug 2009, 1:58 am

My NT daughter gets night terrors too. She is 9 and has been having them since she was about 3. Hers are mostly brought on by stress.

I find that if I can intervene at the very beginning of the night terror, ie when I hear her starting to stir in bed, then I can significantly shorten the terror, and sometimes even abort it. By intervening I don't mean waking her up, but rather redirecting her back into a proper sleeping position in bed, go through the normal tucking in routine, turn her radio back on etc, even though she is asleep and unaware.

However, if she is having a full blown night terror all I do is confine her with a huge hug/cuddle, usually on the sofa, while quietly talking her through it, until it has run it's course and I can take her back to bed. I have found that it distresses her further if I try to wake her during the terror, even if it does shorten it's length, and the night terror will return once again when she is in a deep sleep. I haven't tried waking her before it happens though.



number5
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24 Aug 2009, 1:55 pm

Thanks for all the replies! Last night I woke him up 15 minutes before I expected to hear him scream and it worked! I gently touched his head and his eyes popped open and he smiled at me. I took him to the bathroom for a glass of water and then tucked him back in. He slept safe and sound for the rest of the night. I honestly didn't think that trick would work, but yeah! I've heard that it's best to keep waking him for a week or so to train the mind or something. I'll keep it up this week. Maybe some of you who are still experiencing night terrors could try setting your alarms in a similar sequence. It's just such an awful experience even by my standpoint, let alone my poor kid's.



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24 Aug 2009, 8:08 pm

Thanks for letting us know who it work :). I'm so happy you guys are having better nights.



number5
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26 Aug 2009, 9:25 am

So much for optimism. It happened again last night. The strangest part is that it always happens at exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes after he falls asleep. Last night was a little different because when he woke up screaming and crying, he was fully awake and recognized me right away and responded quickly to soothing. It seemed more like a nightmare than a night terror, although his sheets were completely soaked with sweat and it was rather cool in his room. I'll continue to try to think of what might possibly be bothering him. He had a really good day yesterday with lots of excercise, almost no screen time, and even some new friends. If only I could read his mind!



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26 Aug 2009, 1:34 pm

With any luck it will just be a phase, and he'll outgrow it. My children (one AS and one NT) both went through it, and outgrew it. A very normal developmental stage ... unfortunately. I don't have any tips as we just sort of waited it out and were lucky it didn't last long.


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Mama_to_Grace
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26 Aug 2009, 10:11 pm

My daughter has very bad nightmares. I don't think you'd classify them as night terrors. She remembers them. But the point is, she has them regularly. It makes her afraid to fall asleep at night and they seem to be very, very vivid for her. Days later she tells me she can't get the "pictures" out of her head. The memories will remain for weeks and then another dream occurs and the cycle repeats. I wish I could stop them or make her realize it is just her imagination. To her, whatever it is, it isn't good.



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27 Aug 2009, 11:51 am

I've always had night terrors. For a while I had to keep a bowl in the room because I would be so scared I'd throw up. When I was younger I would stay up all night to try and avoid them. My son seems to have them too because at least once a week he will wake up screaming and run for our room. gbollard's suggestion of a touch lamp is good. The one I have has a couple level settings too, the lowest being like a nightlight that can be left on in case of a REALLY bad one.



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27 Aug 2009, 12:03 pm

number5 wrote:
So much for optimism. It happened again last night. The strangest part is that it always happens at exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes after he falls asleep. Last night was a little different because when he woke up screaming and crying, he was fully awake and recognized me right away and responded quickly to soothing. It seemed more like a nightmare than a night terror, although his sheets were completely soaked with sweat and it was rather cool in his room. I'll continue to try to think of what might possibly be bothering him. He had a really good day yesterday with lots of excercise, almost no screen time, and even some new friends. If only I could read his mind!


Night terrors are extremely horrible, but when they are over you feel fine and can readily go back to sleep. Nightmares leave you feeling scared and it might be difficult to go back to sleep. If he responded very quickly to soothing, I would think it was a night terror. I've had random episodes of night terrors and I couldn't connect the episodes to stress. I outgrew them in my 20's.



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29 Aug 2009, 4:59 am

my son has had night terrors since he was a toddler, he is now six. our neurologist said they are night terrors even when he isn't upset, i guess it's the same neurologically. some times he is crying and scared but sometimes it's like regular talking, and I go in and he is staring at me, sometimes sitting up, but his pupils and eyes are huge and he doesn't actually see me. He will ask for me while looking straight at me. sometimes his teeth chatter or his jaw grinds or clenches. If I try to wake him up he loses it. Playing along with whatever he is saying while soothing him back to bed seems to be the best option but it sometimes takes a long time and it seems like a really low-stimulus approach is best too like laying a hand firmly on him but not rubbing or patting.

the other night he woke up with a non-scary one, talking about skittles and walking somewhere. He was staring wild-eyed and I had a funny idea so I asked him what he saw, and whether he could see his bedroom. He looked in my direction (his eyes won't focus in this state) with the funniest expression, confused, and then his eyelids closed and he was asleep. I don't know whether asking him that somehow triggered his brain into awareness or what, but next time I am going to try it again.



MrsP1965
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01 Sep 2009, 4:15 pm

Night terrors are horrible!! My son has been having them every night for about 6 weeks now and I'm at my wits end. He has terrors 5 to 6 times a night. Now he is sleep walking too. I watched him walk right into a wall. I'm afraid he will fall down the stairs.

I called the Dr and he said to give him carbs and milk before bed. It didn't work! I tried waking him before the terror would start. It didn't work! Finally I put an extra mattress down on floor of our room. When he has a terror, he sleep walks into our room and spends the rest of the night on the mattress.

The Dr also said it's hereditary. A certain gene gets passed along. My husband and I sleep walked as kids, but I don't remember having any terrors.

School starts tomorrow, hopefully the terrors will start to subside.


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