As the title states we are having nocturnal nightmares and I am stumped!
Now Joshua has always been an impeccable sleeper from being only a few weeks old, he enjoyed his bedtime sleep and I often wondered if it would come back to bite me… and it seems it has!
Joshua moved into his new big boy bed and room back in July and I was initially feeling a little bereft at leaving behind the cot stage and moving into a toddler bed. For a few weeks he really seemed to enjoy the space in his bed, but now all that has changed.
5 out of 7 nights he is now waking with the most blood curdling cry I have ever heard, he is inconsolable and he also looks like he is in pain as if he has laid heavy on his arms. There are no set time frames for these nocturnal outbursts and If I am honest I am beginning to get a little agitated although I fear this is from sleep deprivation and nothing a long solid nights sleep wouldn’t fix.
Yes I was lucky that Joshua as a baby never put me through it, but let me tell you ladies I am no longer smug that my child slept through, In fact I applaud those of you that spend month after month coping with very little or no sleep at all!
The only way we are surviving at the moment is to keep going in and putting on a children’s CD … I know I am making a rod for my own back, but with a teen needing sleep for School and a hubby who is up at 4.30am every morning for work I am really concious that they need their sleep. I am also concious that if Jo Frost (Super Nanny) came she would look at me in disgust, I have no doubt about that at all!
There have been more nights than ever that I go into him multiple times and with the frequency of them they often wake up hubby who then, just to get an hours rest lies on Joshua’s bedroom floor.
I am at a complete loss as to what to do I was so lucky with Bethany who was such a contented sleeper that she even slept through fireworks outside! It really is now coming home to roost just how debilitating broken sleep actually is!
Since moving him into his big boy bed we have maintained his night time routine, included stories before bed while tucking him in and since he dropped his afternoon nap months ago he very very rarely sleeps in the daytime any more.
At this stage I am now fearing for my sanity and becoming quite despondent that we will find anything that will elevate this night time nightmares.
Please world wide web I can’t be the only one out there this has happened too?
Any idea from anyone out there I would love to hear them right now ….
I have no idea as we haven’t entered that phase yet and I’m secretly hoping we don’t. The odd couple of times z has had them he’s ended up in our bed for the rest of the night but gone instantly back to sleep. I hope you find an answer and a quick solution x
awww thank you honey, i so hope it is just a phase and it will pass soon! i also hope Z doent have that phase at all! x
Firstly I would like to say (as kindly as possible) HA HA HA SUCKAAAAAA!
I needed to get that out, sorry. Scarlett is THREE and still doesn’t sleep through the night. In fact I could count on one hand the amount of times I have had more than 6 hours of unbroken sleep. For the past 3 years I have walked around like a zombie but have become accustomed to it. However, from seeking advice I have learnt lots!! Here goes:
Try and keep their heads elevated as it allows for easier breathing.
Background noise is your FRIEND! Whether it is TV static, the radio or the actual TV itself.
If they have a comfort – keep it in easy reach! EG: bottle, dummy, toy, blanket.
Apparently, no meat after 3pm helps!
Whatever helps them sleep – DO IT. Do NOT under any circumstances feel like shit because you are going against ‘the norm’. if they sleep in your bed, let them. If they sleep with a bottle, let them. They wont be having bottles by the age of 18, trust me!
That may not help, but the best advice that has helped me so far is “go with it”. It’s shit, and it’s exhausting and it’s annoying.. but most of the time there is little you can do to change it. Accommodate it, find a routine and then fix it to suit you!
misty i could hug you!! i have felt so so bad about having the CD player on and that in the end one of us ends up on his floor!!
i might try the meat thing too .. super easy really to do. He is a thumb sucker so he keeps that with him 🙂 I so cant wait to pick your brains more when i see you next 🙂
Awwwh bless hope it calms down
thank you honey, i am hoping its soon!
Not had night terrors with TC, that one laughs in her sleep sometimes! It will pass, TC has always slept with noise around, so little bothers her at night, had to do that as we have a very LOUD dog! Never heard about the meat thing but whatever works! Hope you & J gets some peace tonight xx
awww thank you honey, the meat thing was a new one to me but i am willing to try anything! x
I know a few friends whose toddlers suffered night terrors – they were a phase though and did pass. I have no real advise – I don’t have sleepers – we do what we must (except co-sleep) to get through the night so I understand doing what you are doing.
I am sorry I couldn’t help 🙁 Good luck! I really hope it passes!
awww thank you Laura, I am sending big hugs to you, it really is like a survive the night kind of thing isnt it! xx
Our eldest is now 6 and she was a fab sleeper as a newborn too, then at around 2, soon after we moved house she started to have night terrors. Luckily for us they were in the evening when we were still awake, the only thing that would bring her out of them was being brought into the bright light in the lounge for 5-10 minutes. I do remember them passing within a month though. During the day we talked about what upset her/worried her – at the time it was bears, so all bear books and DVDs were banned, and that helped. We also put a small night light in her room which reassured her. Good luck, I’m totally with you on needing sleep, both mine were/are good sleepers and I have no idea how parents survive on little sleep!
i know this will sound daft but he backed into a hand drier a few months ago and now he is terrified if i take him to the loo while we are out as he screams when he sees them! .. if it is hand driers how the blooming heck do i get the anxiousness gone over them! lol
Eek! That’s a tough one – maybe take him back and try and show him it’s not scary? Or by talking about it during the day?? I really hope you guys overcome it and quickly x
thanks honey will try taking him back i think and seeing how we go xx
Disrupted sleep is just hellish. Have you got a nightlight like has been suggested already? Or how about sone kind of light projector for his room that you could turn on when he is distressed to distract and calm him? My littlest has woken with night terrors a few times recently but has usually settled after a kiss and cuddle. Could you try him choosing a new cuddly toy and ‘making’ it into a bedtime superhero that will protect him at night time? Sorry, probably not being much use but I feel for you xx
we have as of the weekend although hubby keeps turning it off!!
I love the new cuddly toy idea!