I've read several people who have had experiences with night tremmors, etc. I'm not sure if this is what Isabel is experiencing or not, but we need help. This isn't a new thing with her. It has been going on for well over a year probably.

Like clockwork, she wakes about an hour and a half after they go to bed for the night. She cries and will sometimes get out of her bed and stand in the middle of the room. There have been nights where DH & I will be watching a movie in the back room and she'll walk in there & be out of it. Most generally she mumbles. We can't understand a word she is saying because of the crying and mumbling.

We'll ask over and over again, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She'll mumble things at first and after a few minutes she'll say, "I don't know. I don't know." We'll say again, "What's wrong?" She'll whine, "Nothing." Then we ask her general questions, i.e. "What's your name? Who am I"? Once she starts answering those with correct answers, we'll put her back in bed.

We know she isn't aware that she does this because every night while tucking her in we will say, "No getting up tonight. No screaming or crying. Okay, Isabel?" She says, "Did I do good last night? I didn't get up. And I know that if I have to go pee, I just get up and do it myself." She always thinks we are talking about peeing during the night.

This is a nightly occurance with us. For a few weeks she did well...only getting up a couple times a week. But that was all it lasted.

Does anyone have advice on who to contact? Do I talk to her pediatrician or should I contact a speciality doctor? Something's gotta give. Thanks for any help!

ETA: I should add that she is 5 years old

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http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com/

Isabel, Jasper & Jonah were born on July 1, 2006

And my twin angels in heaven ~
Olivia Layne - 2/13/05
Elijah Cain - 2/13/05

It does sound like some version of night terrors to me. Both of my girls had full fledged night terrors when they were younger. One of mine seems to have grown out of it for the most part. The other daughter's night terrors seem to have morphed in to something like what your daughter is experiencing. She is also 5.

Several times a week, generally between 12:30-1:00am, she wakes up crying or screaming. She is out of it, mumbles, makes no sense, etc. My daughter does not get out of bed, though. Some times she settles down by herself or after a quick snuggle or backrub. Other times we need to take her out of her room for a while until she snaps out of it. If we are able to wake her up she will start making sense and go back to bed easily.

I'm not sure if anything can be done to stop these episodes. I've heard some doctors suggest waking the child up before the night terror time to re-set the child's sleep pattern. We often have a hard time getting our kids to go to sleep in the first place and I don't want to mess with it if they are sleeping. However, since your daughter is doing this every night, it might be something to consider. Maybe you could try waking her up 15 minutes before the night terror time and see if that works? I don't think it has to be a big wake up where she gets up or anything. Just long enought to break her sleep cycle.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Lori! My MIL also mentioned to DH that she read where waking them before the expected episode occurs can help. DH did it one night. You could tell she wasn't happy & didn't know why he was waking her We may try it though to see if it works. Thanks again!

Check us out at:
http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com/

Isabel, Jasper & Jonah were born on July 1, 2006

And my twin angels in heaven ~
Olivia Layne - 2/13/05
Elijah Cain - 2/13/05

I'd start with the pediatrician - we have a similar issue with one of our boys - but it isn't night terrors it has to do with his sensory issues and needing to be completely tucked in tightly in order to sleep - so of course whenever he wiggled out of the blankets he woke up in a panic. Our pedi consulted with a another pediatrician who specialized in sleep and development and they made some recommendations - some of which have worked.

BTW - we have a Jasper as well

Marisa

Thanks, Marisa! And aren't Jasper's the best?

Check us out at:
http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com/

Isabel, Jasper & Jonah were born on July 1, 2006

And my twin angels in heaven ~
Olivia Layne - 2/13/05
Elijah Cain - 2/13/05

Night terrors are exhausting! Here's what they usually look like:

1. Child is screaming or very restless, i.e. may even stand up and walk, hurt themselves;
2. A child with night terrors is very hard to wake up;
3. Child will not be able to communicate such as answer questions;
4. Ours happened several times a night around every hour for 4-5 times a night.

Our triggers were:

1. Missing a nap or getting over tired;
2. Change in routine;
3. I heard someone said food allergies and food dyes can trigger (it has never happened to us).

Cures that worked for us:

1. Because my older DH had a set pattern, around 2 hours after sleeping, we wake him up 15 minutes before we expect it to happen and keep him awake for 10 minutes which breaks the sleep patterns (this was a magic cure).
2. We tried as suggested by our pediatrician Benadryl since it makes kids drowsy and breaks the sleep cycle. I only did this for 3 days and it worked but I refused to do it more than that as I did not want to keep medicating my child;
3. Make sure the child receives adequate rest during the day (we tried but we were not always successful thus the night terrors).

One of my trio had something similar but I was convinced it was not night terrors because he was easy to wake up and would talk to us. I had asked for a sleep study but the EENT did an ear exam and hearing test before doing a sleep study. He had water in his ears but no infection and he was asymptomatic. We had ear tubes put it and his sleep improved overnight. The doctor speculated the water was either causing pain or vertigo when lying down. So if the above do not work for you, try if a visit to the EENT may reveal some answers. Good luck.

Thank you Grace for all the suggestions! I really appreciate it. I never had thought about seeing an EENT. I will check in to it! Thanks again.

Check us out at:
http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com/

Isabel, Jasper & Jonah were born on July 1, 2006

And my twin angels in heaven ~
Olivia Layne - 2/13/05
Elijah Cain - 2/13/05

Wow.. you described my son to a T, he's 5 as well. We spoke to the pediatrician a number of times on this subject and she just brushes it off stating that he'll outgrow it. But it's just exhausting to deal with this every night.

I guess we'll try to wake him before the episode is about to occur as others suggested.

OP, has anything worked for your daughter?

They started Kindergarten this past week and she hasn't woke up once since Tuesday (at least that I can remember...been a long week I don't know if it is from exhaustion or what. But it would be nice if it stayed this way.

But DH and I are going to try and wake her before if they start happening again. I agree with you, it is quite exhausting. I hope things get better for you.

Check us out at:
http://thewrighttrips.blogspot.com/

Isabel, Jasper & Jonah were born on July 1, 2006

And my twin angels in heaven ~
Olivia Layne - 2/13/05
Elijah Cain - 2/13/05

Mamalove
how are things going?
I am interested as we have one girl (3 yrs old)
who wakes & we think it is night terrors - she doesn't
do it so regularly, but still ...
Lana