im just at a loss what to do...leo has been getting nightmares really bad the past week to the point he wont even go to bed tonight...he did go upstairs to read then came down crying cos he darent go to sleep...i told him to go and get in my bed then he came down again asking to stay down...sobbing his heart out...so he is currently sleeping on the sofa and asked when i put him to bed to leave the light on for him!!!



i dont even know what this nightmare is because he says he cant explain it...i just dont know what to do...any ideas??? xx

Has he watched any programming that might of given him the spooks? I remember allowing my baby sister to watch "The Cat's Eye" movie back in the day..and it affected her for years after. She slept with a nightlight on till she was 15! Usually having a good talk about what is scaring him, and assuring him that your home is a safe and warm place where he is protected may solve this. Hugs. xxx

i sont think he has watched anything that could have scared him...mind you scooby doo is quite scary he has now woken again, shaking and babbling something...it seemed like he knew where he was but was really scared looking around scard...now hes crying again...



hes shaking i think it must be night terrors???

I am convinced its night terrors Gem x

Has he talked about what is scaring him Gemz? Any idea what is freaking him out? x

no he says he cant explain it...something to do with seeing water but when he woke a min ago he didnt say anything he was sobbing too much but sobbed himself back to sleep



donna i definatley think your right...i hope they dont last too long x

They wont Gem, he might be like it a couple of week but then he will just stop, its perfectly normal and although its horrific for you to see him like that he wont even remember, dont try to wake him just hold him and he will come out of it himself, you cant usually wake them from it anyway.

Hugs for my lovely Leo

hmmm I dont know...a child doesn't normally remember night terrors, so you'd expect him not to be scared...

How long after he has gone to sleep does it happen?

From what I know (not much) night terrors usually occur within an hour of going to sleep, whereas nightmares are like 2 hours after going to sleep (something about the rem sleep cycle)

Evan is going thru the same thing just now hun, it started about a week n half ago all of a sudden he just wouldnt go to bed and was screaming and sobbing when i turned the light out, he was out of bed before i was even out of his room and was clining to me!

for the first few nights i had to lie with him but the minute he woke up he was screaming for me rather than going back to sleep, and i decided enough was enough and tried leaving him to cry it out but he was really scared and i couldnt leave him, so we tried me sitting next to the bed reading stories until he falls asleep and ive left his nightlight and the hall light on, first it was taking me reading bout 4 decent sized stories before he slept but the last 2 nights ive not even been half way thru one story and he has been sound asleep and is happy to get in to bed! he still wont go to sleep without me there though and when he wakes up he is either straight down stairs or thru to our bed and ive found he is wakening by like 10-11pm although last night it was 1am so again definitely improving.

if you have the time i would recommend the sitting reading with him and letting him know there is nothing to be scared of at bedtime the first night i did it i had to read for almost 2 hours but its improved in a week to now reading for 10 mins, so def worth a try

hope he gets better soon

thanx ladies...well after looking up on the net and talking to donna im now pretty sure its night terrors...hes having them within the first hour of falling asleep, he seems awake but terrified and was looking round terrified shaking and sweating!! i know it says they wont remember but iv also read that they may have recollection of seeing spiders/snakes/animals and just a sense of fear which would explain why he was scared to go to bed...also when it happend a few months back(its happend a few times since last sept...just got worse since last week when he was unwell) he said he couldnt explain the 'dream' or why he was scared just that there was animals and water... so fx they pass soon



he doesnt actually remember anything from last night x