You might think I’m talking about an amusement park attraction or maybe even the latest horror flick. But this is a mommy blog. So I’m talking about mom things…at least for today. And the terror of the night… just add it to the list. The ever growing list of things that, as a mother {er, as parents}, I/we have no idea how to deal with. This list includes colic, MSPI, the winter crud, sharpie on my belongings, toddler-itis, teething, et al. And amongst the et al? Night terrors.
This strange phenomena has been rocking our world for the past two years. Up until recently, the frequency was once a month, if that. But now…well, at the height two weeks ago…four times in one week {incidentally, there was also one sleep walking episode in that very same week}.
What exactly is a night terror, you might ask. Well. In our experience it is crazy ridiculous hysterical episode in which your child has no reasoning ability, no inhibitions and absolutely no clue that they are being absurd.
For Barrett, his terrors include, often eyes open, screaming, yelling, pushing, arm waving, throwing of things and all around batty behavior. When happening at nighttime {oh, did I not mention they happen at nap, on occasion?} they start about 3 hours after bedtime and they last anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.
I am not a dr. I am not an expert. But from our experience, here is a list of things that do not terminate the terrors of the night:
1. Talking or whispering to the child
2. Making contact with the child
3. Turning the lights on
4. Walking out of the room
5. Getting the child water
And, in consulting with a few medical professionals regarding this hysteria, there is absolutely nothing that we, as parents, can do to end such chaos. All we can do is protect our bawling boy from anything that might harm him and wait it out.
And in case you think we’re confused and that our child is simply having a tantrum we’ve had our fair share of the terrible twos going on at Casa de Brehm…so we’re fairly certain we know the diff. Additionally, at least with our little prince, even though his eyes are open they appear to not focus correctly and the answer to any question we ask is always no. And… I’ve included the evidence {a mid-day post-nap terror}…
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