we have been having major sleep issues at our house. we are all suffering a little sleep deprivation these days. i thought we were in the clear once we passed the colic/newborn stage. dave and i thought, "wow, it kind of feels like we have a newborn again."
preston has night terrors, which are really common. i find out more and more people who have kids with night terrors. i guess dave and i have been doing everything wrong when it comes to dealing with them. we always have tried to wake him up, i guess you are not supposed to that-oops! it doesn't really work anyway-he doesn't wake up. the opposite happens in fact, he seems to get more agitated the more we talk to him. we even tried to wake him up by taking his clothes off, giving him a bath, offering him candy...to no avail. he is just such a different person when he has one of his little terrors, he pinches, scratches, hits, and pees his pants. to be honest sometimes i'm a little afraid of the little guy! last night he was so mad when we put him in the tub i told dave, "uh-oh i think we mad it mad!"{like a little gremlin or something}one of the causes of night terrors is sleep deprivation. we notice when preston doesn't nap or sleep well at night-it's a 100% gaurantee that he will wake up with one! but how do you get a chid to sleep when they refuse???? i would really like to know! for the most part he naps, but every once in a while he likes to go on strike!
another thing we've noticed is that he seems to have been born with congestion-and he mouth breathes a lot and snorts. we're thinking he might have anatomical issues with his nose or something that wakes him up, preventing him from getting a good nights sleep! yesterday when we were at the doctor, she said his nasal passages were really inflammed and narrow...i think we could be on to something here...or maybe i'm just crazy;)
well i am going to take advantage of the fact that preston is sleeping-and take a nap myself!
if anyone has any advice, i'd love to hear it!
Night terrors really are kind of scary, a few of my siblings had them. It definitely makes sense that they would be related to sleep deprivation, and you sound right on target with his nasal passages potentially preventing a good nights' sleep. I'll be interested to hear what you find out...
ReplyDeleteHope you had a good nap! :)
I dont know about the nasal passages, if he snores he may not be sleeping well, Collin had this for awhile like a year and we went to an allergist, he diagnosed him with a mild sinus infection, so we treated it and it all got better. The other 2 had night terrors exactly like you describe, we never tried to wake them just make sure if they sleep walk that they are safe. Very creepy almost possessed like state. They always got them if they went without a nap, it does go away about age 4 or so. Good Luck
ReplyDelete