# Night Terrors? Teething? What could it be?



## OMama (Feb 18, 2005)

My 15 month DD has been waking VERY frequently lately. She has always woken several times a night -- which increases if she is sick or teething. But lately it seems extreme. And she often wakes up really crying. Not screaming necessarily, but definitely crying. This is happening both when she is in her crib or in our bed. She used to sleep for at least the first 3 -4 hours in her crib, but now she seems to wake up crying at least every hour. It is exhausting and we are worried now. I kept thinking it was just teething, but now I'm not sure. It has been going on for the last 2 weeks or so. Could she be having bad dreams? Some kind of separation anxiety? She is pretty happy during the day. Definitely exhibiting signs of teething during the day, but again, other times when she has been teething at night, it has never been this bad. What's going on?


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## bcky2 (May 30, 2005)

well my ds has night terrors and what happens with him is about 1 hour after he goes to sleep or there around he wakes up crying and screaming and has no idea where he is. he is disoreintated(sp) and it truth he is not really awake, he is asleep and is terrified. they say that they see scary things, usually very large spiders or such, almost all people who have night terrors dont remember them. they last anywhere from 5-25 mins and usually results in him throwing up which in turn wakes him up. he doesnt have them as often now but he still has them around once a week i would say. he has had at the most 2 in one night. they dont know their surroundings and are not able to be calmed. he can hurt himself because he gets up and walks around. if you think that this may be what it is feel free to pm me with any questions you may have, i hope that i helped a little


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## AugustineM (Mar 21, 2005)

Hi! Wow, I live in Bothell, too! Small world.

Anyway, my DS is having similar symptoms at night. The last two nights have been really bad. Last night I think I slept a total of one hour. He goes to bed on a mattress in his room, then comes into our room around midnight. He has been sleeping quite well until a couple days ago...

He never really seems to get into a deep sleep... he seems so restless and cries a lot the past couple nights. He is so tired, I can tell, but does seem in pain somehow. Nursing doesn't quite settle him. Like you, I can tell that he's teething, and that's what I think the problem is. He has all front 8 teeth, but I can see bulges where four molars are coming in. This is my first child, and my first experience with molars, so I don't know what to expect, but it seems awfully bad. He is SOOOO fussy and clingy and whiney during the day, it nearly drives me insane. Also, he has refused to eat for the past three days. He nurses a lot, and always wants to, but no solids. Also, he had a low fever for a couple days.

I've chalked all this up to the molars, but it worries me a little. Last night he cried so much more at night than he ever has... I'd say he woke every hour crying, and at 4:30 was up for over an hour, crying off and on.

I guess this wasn't this helpful... but that I think it is teething.


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## MacKinnon (Jun 15, 2004)

My 18 month old DD has, several times now, woken up SCREAMING. She will cry and cry and cry, often times the only thing that wakes her up is setting her down. If we try to cuddle, nurse, rock, sing, it just makes it worse. I can usually set her down and this seems to wake her up all the way, which will orient her and calm her down. This had only happened two or three times prior to this week and now it has happend three times in one week. Incidently, she also sits/stands up in her sleep. I never associated the two until I saw someone mention walking around during night terrors. I had decided this most recent bout of screaming at night was related to (a) no consisent routine due to my work schedule changing alot (b) back to back busy weeks and weekends with little down/rest time at home and/or (c) teething. She has cut all 8 front teeth and 4 first year molars, but I think she is working on her eye teeth now. We only co-sleep and the screaming seems to start when she is disrupted at night due to DH or I getting into or out of bed, or some other disruption.


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## mother nurture (Oct 13, 2004)

Hugs to all of you mamas! I know how tiring and upsetting it can be when your little one has trouble sleeping and you can't quite put your finger on what it is, and thus feel helpless in helping them! I have no experience with night terrors, so I can't give you any insight in that area. However, dd (almost 16 months) has been cutting molars for the last couple months! And her sleep patterns have change immensely!! She use to be a great sleeper, either sleeping almost all night, or only waking 1 to nurse. However, as her gums got the bulges from her molars the evenings began to get long w/ very frequent wakings and nursings. Dd will wake about every 2 hours to nurse. She is right next to me in bed, so she really doesn't have much time to cry. I am a light sleeper and can sense by her body movements if she is waking up. I am real quick to give her the breast. Sometimes she falls asleep quickly, other nights she stays up and cries. I can say that I, too, wasn't quite sure if it was related to teeth, night terrors, illness, etc. However, she seems to sleep better when the molar has already cut through the gum completely and is just continuing its journey out. And dd never really had problems w/ her other teeth-and she always cut 2-4 at a time! These molars, which are coming in a little more independently seem to be bothering her a lot more!!! I hope that this was of some help. LMK if I can tell you anything else. Good luck and I hope you all get some rest!


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