Night Terrors: More common than I thought

December 17

Do you know what night terrors are? Because I hadn't heard of them until a little over a year ago. I also had no idea how common they are. 

How common, you ask? Well my step-daughter had them almost nightly for months (her half brother and mother her also had them), from about 17 months until about 21 months. They're finally getting to be a bit rare with her. 

And now Chloe has them. She has only had two so far, with a couple of weeks between the two, 

What are night terrors? That article posts a great explanation, although I would assume that they're a bit more common than they say, and they start a bit younger. 

With our girls, they usually started 1-2 hours after going to bed for Madi, and about two hours after going to bed for Chloe. 

At first it just seem like they're upset in bed.

Last night I picked Chloe up, and she seemed okay but all of a sudden got really upset. At first I thought something may be wrong. 

I sat on the floor and held her but then she started to fight me so I let her go. We tried to give her a bottle, which she never turns down, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She crawled into the corner with her head on the floor, and the rest of her body in the downward-facing dog position. She would tense up, then relax over and over. The crying sometimes gets so intense that it's scary. She wouldn't look at us. It was like we didn't exist. It was always the same for Madi too. 

It lasted about 10 minutes. Madi's were usually longer - 20+ minutes. Then, like someone snapped their fingers, she just stopped crying, picked up her bottle and crawled into my lap. She smiled again. She  got up and wanted to walk around. I held her for a few minutes then put her back to bed without a problem. 

I think more parents should be made aware. If you're child has never done this before, it's  terrifying. You think something is seriously wrong because they're crying so hard, and look right through you like you're a ghost. 

But they tell you not to touch them, or really talk to them, and I believe in that as well. Doing so only makes them cry and thrash around harder. Make sure they're somewhere that they can't get hurt if they're kicking and throwing themselves around. 

And don't panic. They're not dying. It just seems like they are. 

Does anyone else know someone who has them?