Night Terrors

Based on the title of this post, I bet you're all thinking this is going to be about Heather keeping me awake all night. While there have been times when I could certainly describe Heather as a "night terror," I'm talking about Cole this time.


Cole was born to be the middle child. He's the most cheerful, fun-loving, easy going of our three children. And that's saying a lot, because they are all really quite happy and cheerful. One of the things that I love most about Cole, though, is that he has always been a wonderful sleeper. As a baby, I would just put him in his crib, without fanfare or ceremony. Hardly any bedtime routine at all. Just slap on a diaper, pull on his jammies, and drop him in the crib. He would just lay down peacefully, seeming to be almost relieved to be away from Wayne's hustle and bustle. He never liked a pacifier, just his fingers to suck on, and off he would go into a peaceful dreamland. If he ever woke up at night, I knew he would get himself back to sleep without any problem.


Imagine my bewilderment, when about a year ago, Cole would start to "wake-up" screaming and crying, about an hour and a half after going to sleep. He would sit up and rock back and forth, and sometimes thrash around on his bed. Any attempt to calm him, would only make him seem more terrified. He would not respond to any questions, and he'd be trembling uncontrollably. The best we could do is just sit on the bed with him and make sure he didn't fall off or bump his head on the bunk. In about 5 to 10 minutes, he would calm down, lay back down, and go back to sleep. In the morning, I would try to talk to him about his bad dream, but he would have no memory of it, at all.


I started to read all my parenting books, and internet sites, and determined that he was not having nightmares, but something very different called night terrors. Nightmares happen during REM sleep, while night terrors happen during deep sleep. They usually happen within the first two hours of falling asleep. They are more common is boys than in girls. And the weirdest thing for me - although the child will seem to be awake and will even look right at you, he is really not awake at all. In fact, it's very difficult to wake someone out of this deep sleep, and even not recommended to awaken a child from a night terror, because it will only add to their confusion and bewilderment. Night terrors are more likely to happen when a child is overtired, stressed, or sick. I've noticed that Cole always gets them when he's coming down with something and he's more likely to have a night terror if I give him cold medicine.


Wayne had that nasty cough last week, and was kind enough to share it with his brother and sister this week. As a result, we've experienced a night terror or two. Not to mention, just plain, old coughing-all-night-sleep.


It's all very strange and traumatic for Wes and me, but at least Cole never has any memory of it.



On a lighter note, Cole and Heather have been doing a lot of bike riding lately.





I have to say, after having two boys, it's fun to have a little girl to dress up in pretty little dresses. She looks so pretty.

But this is why it doesn't happen very often.