Night terrors

Hi guys. My little boy is 8 months now and last night I think he had a night terror but it was so freaky I wasn't sure if I needed to ring 111. He started screaming in his sleep, like a blood curdling scream. We tried everything to wake him up gently and nothing worked. So I picked him up in the hope it would sooth him but also wake him up, but it didn't. He stopped screaming but was still asleep and trying to catch his breath. I put him down and his eyes were open but he wasnt conscious and it really scared me since we just couldn't wake him up. Should I have rang 111 or is this fairly normal?

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Sounds like a nightmare, rather than a night terror. It is fairly normal for babies to cry in their sleep so you don’t need to call 111. Still really distressing!! My daughter cries out in her sleep, especially if she’s a bit poorly or teething. I prefer to soothe her while still asleep, rather than try to startle awake, as she then wakes up scared and it’s hard to get her back down after. I rub her back, stroke her hair and shush softly to soothe her until she either calms down or wakes up for a cuddle. It is really hard cause you feel powerless 💔 If you do think it is a night terror (not that uncommon, both my sibling and I had them as kids), never try to wake someone up while experiencing one. It can be really traumatic. Just stay nearby and wait it out, only intervene if they are likely to harm themselves. Hopefully it’s only a rare occurrence for your little boy! We often get a few nights in a row then she goes back to peaceful sleep ♥️♥️

@Rhiannon thank you for this! 😘 I'll try keeping him asleep in the future. Xx

My little girl went through a phase of doing this around 7 months, she’d be completely inconsolable and it would continue for about 15-20 minutes. Nothing we did calmed her (initially tried to feed, change, calpol etc) so I just used to sit and rock her until it passed, while crying myself most of them time! It took us a couple of nights to realise she was deeply asleep while it was happening. We were told it’s developmental and part of the separation phase where they start to realise they’re their own person and no longer a part of you and that anxiety can come out in their sleep. It continued for us for a couple of weeks and then just stopped xx

My little boy has suffered with night terrors. He is 2 now and still has the odd one every now and then. It sounds like what you described and it is so scary. I took mine to the GP but they always happen in line with a huge developmental leap or when he's really poorly. He had a sleep study etc done and all came back normal so they said it's just something he'll grow out of but are often hereditary if one parent sleepwalked as a child (my husband did) xxx

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