My son has Night Terrors. What are they and how can I help

[mwekenmann]

you sound like a spiritual person. I would suggest a dream catcher, this will help with nightmares i have one and to be honest i dont dream much at all but i rarely have nightmares. I know night terrors are different but i would try it and see if it works. I am sort of a spiritual person im not overly into it but sometimes if i feel im at a dead end, i own some runes, i also own tarot cards which i love to use but the runes will give you a bit more direction without actually telling you exactly what to do. Ive been at many crossroads and sometimes they just tell you to be patient and endure and you will be better for it in the end but that it will pass soon. Whatever your feelings in this area, if you are worried that it is spirits, try and maybe find someone who can quiet these spirits for you or get them out of the house, or find out what and why they are bothering your son. Try maybe getting him relaxed b4 bed, dimmed lights, soft music, something to quiet his thoughts... it could be a combination of things. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[kirsty19]

hello yes im a strong believer in spirits following you me and my older sister have had experinces in it, and with your son that is very similar to what my newphew has experinced too when he was 3 or 4 he had very bad night terrors my sister was hysterical when she used to tell me, shed be lying in bed and hear him whimpering then all of a sudden hear him screaming shed run into his room and hed be hysterical sometimes still asleep... one night she had a scary experince my newphew was screaming again about 3 in the morning she ran into his room to see him ripping the wall paper off in shreds (in the middle of the wall where there was no place to rip) she had to wake him she asked him wat he was doing and he told her that the man in the corner of the room was telling him to let the spiders out, now im not sure how to get rid of them if your not in newzealand where im from we have maori people that will come and bless your house and make them leave my sister has moved since then and now doesnt have them as regularly.
but there is alot of spirtual people who will come to your house and see if there is a spirt just look on the internet in the phonebook or whereever or maybe your child might need to see a doctor please dont take that to offence.. i use to have very bad nightmares when i was a kid but my mother would just brush them off atleast you are trying to help..

[Breene]

When I was 3-4 years old I actually had night terrors. I didn't know that until my mother told me a few years ago. But, I found it interesting so I began doing a little research on them.

Basically what I know is:
1. Children never remember what they are dreaming about
2. It is almost always about being chased, and often times children will not only sit up and scream but will get out of bed and run away (which causes a serious problem around stairs, glass doors, etc. because they really are asleep and can injure themselves)
3. Many children scream and flail, and may even have their eyes completely open.
4. THEY ARE NOT AWAKE...and if you try to restrain them and wake them up it will only make things worse because it adds to the dream about being pursued or attacked. It is best to make sure he is safe and let the terror play out.
5. Night terrors affect about 3% of the nations children, and are typically gone by age 6.
6. Night terrors are caused by stress. Yes, 4 year olds have stress. Often times it comes from an environment: maybe the parents are fighting a lot, or someone at school is bullying him, or he's having trouble making friends...children of divorced parents, especially with shared custody, are often grave victims because they have to follow a different set of rules per each household.


I hope my researched helped! Good luck!

Breene

[Firefluff]

Breene, You make a good point about childhood stress. Especially with alot of predators in everyday life lately, we tend to project that fear to our children. They don't understand and have a way to interpret, so that may be a possible cause for the night terrors.

About spirits, it probably depends on who or what a spirit is connected to. I've researched the subject alot. Some are stationary, staying in the same house for years and years. Some will follow a family around. I suggest a local priest (of any variety) if you believe there are spirits in the house. Usually a blessing will help them rest. From my research, most spirits aren't harmful (though there are some that are.) they just want to be noticed. There would be other signs than night terrors if you had ghosts. Some things to look out for are strange sounds (footsteps, talking, etc), electrical disturbances (lights on and off, appliances turning off for no reason), etc. If your son has an imaginary friend, that may be something to take note of as well. Of course, you must remember, these occurances MAY be due to normal circumstances as well (electricity surges, or pipes banging, etc.)

If you're really worried about him, i'd maybe see a psychiatrist or hypnotist. They can help him talk about what he's afraid of and how to get move past it.

[bonfire817]

My brother had night terrors when he was about 5 or 6. This was back in oh, lets see... 1972 or so...no Internet, not a lot of information. His doctor believed he had ADHD and prescribed Ritalin for him. I guess sometimes new meds can be linked to night terrors as well. My mom took him off the med because she thought it made him a zombie during the day, but I wonder if the med just made him have the night terrors, so he was exhaused all day. After the med, he still continued with the night terrors for about a year after the med was stopped, so I don't know for sure. I did find a piece about this as well:

What Causes Night Terrors?
Night terrors are caused by over-arousal of the central nervous system (CNS) during sleep. This may happen because the CNS (which regulates sleep and waking brain activity) is still maturing. Some kids may inherit a tendency for this over-arousal — about 80% who have night terrors have a family member who also experienced them or sleepwalking (a similar type of sleep disturbance).

Night terrors have been noted in kids who are:

overtired or ill, stressed or fatigued
taking a new medication
sleeping in a new environment or away from home
Night terrors are relatively rare — they happen in only 3–6% of kids, while almost every child will have a nightmare occasionally. Night terrors usually occur between the ages of 4 and 12, but have been reported in kids as young as 18 months. They seem to be a little more common among boys.

A child might have a single night terror or several before they cease altogether. Most of the time, night terrors simply disappear on their own as the nervous system matures.

I hope things get better for you

[sweetp9035]

Hi! I did alittle research and found a dr.'s web page about Night Terror in children. He said that children can have Night terrors up to 6 months after a stressfull, emotional or physical event has happened in the childs life. Eventually, the child will learn to process it, but if the child's sleep is hindered then it can cause the child not to function properly during the day. He suggested that if that occurs then you may need to talk to your childs doctor.

My own child would have them when he was 3. Scarred the crap out of me when all of a sudden he would be sitting up in his bed just screaming bloody murder. When they do that they might still be asleep. I just simply went in to his room and gently touched him on his shoulders and whipered in his ear saying that everything was alright and layed him back on his pillow. After a couple of weeks of that, they just seamed to go away. Every now and then he has one now, and I just do the same thing as I did when he was 3. He is now 6. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[Beautiful_Dreamer]

My son has had night terrors since he was born. I was always a very vivid dreamer, so I figure it is hereditary. He would wake up screaming and crying and not respond to anything around him, soon is would subside and he would just fall back asleep. Now that he is older (2 years) it is not so common, he does scream in his sleep though. My brother who is 12 has screamed in his sleep all his life. Once my mom forgot to tell his friends parents, when he slept at their house, and he scared them to death when he started screaming. He doesn't wake up ad doesn't remember the screaming. It starts as loud frustrated moans and progresses upwards to screams till it just stops. A funny story though, once my brother 12 now, but 9 at the time, was sharing a bed with my other brother, 15 at the time, and he stood up in bed and started screaming and jumping around. My older brother woke up, cause he was stepped on, well that, and the screaming, grabbed my lil bro by the shoulders and started yelling in his face, WAKE UP! ITS JUST A BAD DREAM! PETER! ITS JUST A DREAM!" Peter looked t my brother and Screamed "AAH AAHH AHHHHHHHH! CHARLEY HORSE!" (it was a calf cramp lol!)

[dreamintonight]

I whole heartedly suggest reading a psalm to your son before he goes to bed.
Pslam 91 is perfect for this type of situation. Actually i couldnt believe this when i heard this, but in a religiuos studies course i took , an avid reader of excorcsim noted that Pslams are used during exorcision!!! Please dont take what I am saying with any fear at all, dont be afraid of evil or any negativity. Believe I am no longer afraid. I had a dream that I was floating in fast crystal like motion, I was spinning and i think something was trying to posses me. Another i heard and felt something trying to lift my body up. Then I woke up one time with my hands and arms crossed above my head, some bad spirit doesnt like me and wants to mess with me but I wont have it! I was thinking alot about a job I was to start and this nightmare happened at my job setting. A face or authority started appearing devilish and montrous and demonlike, it was the scariest so far, I prayed with all my soul to God and Jesus, i'll tell you as I was on my fourth sentence or so, praying fast and the dream disappeared!! I believe in God and I believe you and your son should take the spritual approach, but it wont do you any good if you dont believe or have no faith in it working.
Here's a link to psalm 91:
BibleGateway.com - Passage*Lookup: Psalm 91

Also, I had another dream one night when a truth was being shown before my eyes. Everytime I had a negative thought I let bad energy and forces flow through me but when I had a loving thought, the bad energy left and I felt peace and I felt a benevolent presence. I am not kidding, the truth is that we can give our thought to fear or love, and love will always prevail.

I'll try to remember to pray for your son, I am being honest cause I can be forgetful.

Seriously though, If it doesnt not get better, I really and wholeheartedly recommend getting a priest to bless your house! I am serious, I feel this will work. The point is an act of faith on something tangible produces blessings. Remember when jesus fed thousands of followers and travellers with fish, well that was because he instructed an apostle in a faithful act to draw fish from the water and multitudes of fish came up. And that is exactly what priests are doing. They are taking a simple act of faith of blessing your home with holy water, in believing and taking traditional and God fearing instructions, they can bless your home. I only hope and pray your son finds peace.

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