Children with Night Terrors About This Page:

[stardust190]

Anyone ever travel to WDW with children who suffer from night terrors? DS has had them since a little before he was 2. We finally narrowed down his trigger to being over tired. He has refused naps since he was 2 1/2 (now 3) so he goes to sleep by 8 PM at the latest. If he's up past 8 he has night terrors. He screams and screams, but cannot be comforted or even talk and tell us what the problem is. If we try to touch him at all he just starts thrashing about. And you cannot wake him up. In the morning he remembers nothing of these incidents so I'm pretty sure it's much harder on us than him (it's just tough to watch him scream like he's scared).

Anyways... Last night was rough. We were out of town and he didn't fall asleep in the car like we thought he would so he didn't actually fall asleep until 9:20 PM. The night terrors started at 11:30 PM and happened several times. This morning my husband said "We're probably going to have to skip the fireworks at Disney." That is the last thing I want to hear, but part of me thinks he's right. Going to the shows would keep DS up way too late, but I know he would love them too. I know WDW will be exhausting for DS to begin with so I'm pretty sure we'll have to deal with night terrors. Would it be bad to catch Wishes and Illuminations once during the trip and then make every other night early? He doesn't remember the night terrors, but they're so hard for me and DH to watch. Plus little sister will be in the room and they might keep her up too. I'm torn... Anyone with experience dealing with this out there?

[HiddenMickey]

You will be among many others that have to skip the late night fireworks in the parks. Since your son really needs to be in bed by a certain time, you should keep that schedule. When my sister first visited WDW with her young children, they were back in their room by 8pm each night. Now that the kids are older, on their latest trip, they were able to do the night things.

The other alternative is to visit the parks on dates when they close early. You could see Fantasmic on some nights at 6:30, for instance. You'd still miss Illuminations and likely the MK fireworks but you'd get a taste of the night at DHS.

[CinderAbby]

Is it really fair to all involved (you, your hubby, your son, your daughter plus anyone in surrounding rooms that might hear him screaming) to "purposely" do that to your son? And as much as you say he doesn't remember the night terrors, that can't make for a good nights sleep for him (I know how lousy I feel from interrupted sleep).

My suggestion is if you really want to see the fireworks, one night you stay and watch while your hubby takes the kids back to the room and another night you can take them back if your hubby wants to watch. Granted, you won't be watching them together but at least it's something of a solution to both see the fireworks without keeping your son (and possibly others) up half the night.

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

You will be among many others that have to skip the late night fireworks in the parks. Since your son really needs to be in bed by a certain time, you should keep that schedule. When my sister first visited WDW with her young children, they were back in their room by 8pm each night. Now that the kids are older, on their latest trip, they were able to do the night things.

The other alternative is to visit the parks on dates when they close early. You could see Fantasmic on some nights at 6:30, for instance. You'd still miss Illuminations and likely the MK fireworks but you'd get a taste of the night at DHS.

I'm pretty sure we'll end up skipping the shows, but I'm also pretty sure that he'll have the night terrors anyways. With all the activities during the day he's likely to be overtired (even if with scheduled down time). I was just wondering if anyone had experience with this. We're going at a time of year where the parks do close early so that's a plus. And we come from MN so there's an hour time difference that works in our favor too. In the end the mom in me will win and I'll do what's best for my son, but I just know that he doesn't remember the terrors and will likely have them anyways as a WDW trip is very draining for a 3 year old even if you take it pretty easy. So if he has them anyways what does adding a night show hurt? That's what I don't know as I'm new to dealing with night terrors. Thought maybe someone would have an opinion/experience with that.

Originally Posted by CinderAbby

Is it really fair to all involved (you, your hubby, your son, your daughter plus anyone in surrounding rooms that might hear him screaming) to "purposely" do that to your son? And as much as you say he doesn't remember the night terrors, that can't make for a good nights sleep for him (I know how lousy I feel from interrupted sleep).

My suggestion is if you really want to see the fireworks, one night you stay and watch while your hubby takes the kids back to the room and another night you can take them back if your hubby wants to watch. Granted, you won't be watching them together but at least it's something of a solution to both see the fireworks without keeping your son (and possibly others) up half the night.

I agree about the fairness, but he's probably going to have them anyways. We've had days where he got to bed on time, but just had a lot going on during the day and he's been overtired. It's hard to determine what will cause him to be overtired. The late bedtime is something that we're pretty sure causes it, but we went to the zoo and spent 4 hours there and got him to sleep early and he still had a night terror. It's just something we have to live with if we want to do anything where we're out and about. He's a go-go-go type kid so any activity at all he doesn't stop even though we try to get him to rest. I know he'll love WDW (he's so excited for this trip) and the Dr says that he doesn't remember the night terrors and they are not harmful and there's very little we can do about them except try and keep things low key, but WDW isn't low key. As for the good nights sleep that really doesn't affect him. Days after his night terrors he's usually in a better mood than nights when he doesn't. Sounds backwards, but that's what we've noticed. We've been documenting every occurrence and the only thing we think might be causing them is being overtired. We're trying to determine if the trigger is actually food related, but we haven't been able to narrow that down yet and I'm not sure if we will be able to by our trip. I guess I am just trying to decide if we're going to have to deal with night terrors anyways (likely will) then does it really hurt to catch the night shows? I'm going to plan on skipping them, but if the first day without night shows if he has night terrors anyways what difference does it make? That's what I don't know and struggle with.

[Lemap760]

My son also has night terrors at times. I know when they happen I am really grouchy in the morning from lack of sleep. My suggestion is to get him to bed at the hour when he is not overtired. That way the rest of the family is rested as well.

[Mares75]

My daughter's had them before too so I know what you have to deal with. They're terrible. Also with everyone in one room, if he's screaming, no one is going to be getting much sleep. Not like at home where one of us can go in her room with her and shut the door so everyone else in the house can sleep.

I'd have either you or DH take the kids back one night while the other goes to the show, then switch on another night. Not ideal but better than nothing. We're taking DD 18 mos and DS 13 in a couple weeks and that's pretty much our plan. She very well might just fall asleep in the parks but if not, one of us will take her back to the hotel while the other stays out with DS. The next time that happens, we'll switch. Besides, I for one don't want to risk dealing with cranky overtired DD all day the next day if she doesn't get enough sleep the night before.

[Tink's mommy]

Just wanted to add my sympathies. My son has had night terrors snce he was @3 (although he seems to be outgrowing them now--he is 7.) It is incrediby difficult to watch. It helps my son if I hold him tightly and agree w/whatever he is saying/screaming, but often, nothing helps and it has to run its course. We have never been able to identify a definite trigger.
I guess my advice would be to aim for an early bedtime every night. The idea of switching off w/your husband, in order to see fireworks, is a good one. With WDW offering so much stimulation, it might be easier on your son to keep his regular bedtime, in hopes of avoiding the night terrors (imho.) Plus, in an unfamiliar room, it might be harder for him to overcome the terrors. And your entire family will enjoy the trip more if they are well-rested.
Good luck! I wish you peaceful, sleep-filled nights (at home and at WDW!)

[stardust190]

Originally Posted by Lemap760

My son also has night terrors at times. I know when they happen I am really grouchy in the morning from lack of sleep. My suggestion is to get him to bed at the hour when he is not overtired. That way the rest of the family is rested as well.

Thanks for the input. I'm to the point where I've gotten used to loosing sleep because of his night terrors. Or maybe I'm just used to lack of sleep because I have two little ones. I do think that for the sake of DD I will try to avoid the night terrors, but we've tried to avoid them at all costs because they are miserable without success. They still happen at least once every other week. Sometimes more.

Originally Posted by Mares75

My daughter's had them before too so I know what you have to deal with. They're terrible. Also with everyone in one room, if he's screaming, no one is going to be getting much sleep. Not like at home where one of us can go in her room with her and shut the door so everyone else in the house can sleep.

I'd have either you or DH take the kids back one night while the other goes to the show, then switch on another night. Not ideal but better than nothing. We're taking DD 18 mos and DS 13 in a couple weeks and that's pretty much our plan. She very well might just fall asleep in the parks but if not, one of us will take her back to the hotel while the other stays out with DS. The next time that happens, we'll switch. Besides, I for one don't want to risk dealing with cranky overtired DD all day the next day if she doesn't get enough sleep the night before.

I think that if the whole family isn't staying for the night time shows I'll just skip them too. DS would LOVE to see them as he thinks fireworks are super cool, which is why I would even consider staying for them. I think that I'll play it by ear. If he has night terrors on a day where we do get him to sleep at a reasonable hour than I might just stay for a night show the next night. We only think that overtired-ness leads to more night terrors. In the journal I've been keeping I'd say about 75% of the time he has one he has either gotten to sleep late OR had a busy day. But 25% of the time that is not the case so it could just be a coincidence.

Originally Posted by Tink's mommy

Just wanted to add my sympathies. My son has had night terrors snce he was @3 (although he seems to be outgrowing them now--he is 7.) It is incrediby difficult to watch. It helps my son if I hold him tightly and agree w/whatever he is saying/screaming, but often, nothing helps and it has to run its course. We have never been able to identify a definite trigger.
I guess my advice would be to aim for an early bedtime every night. The idea of switching off w/your husband, in order to see fireworks, is a good one. With WDW offering so much stimulation, it might be easier on your son to keep his regular bedtime, in hopes of avoiding the night terrors (imho.) Plus, in an unfamiliar room, it might be harder for him to overcome the terrors. And your entire family will enjoy the trip more if they are well-rested.
Good luck! I wish you peaceful, sleep-filled nights (at home and at WDW!)

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one. It is so hard to watch my son deal with these, but he doesn't remember them at all and seems to fade out of them as abruptly as they start. He never says a thing during one and doesn't respond to anything we say at all. If I try to touch him he flails around and starts hitting so I really can't comfort him at all. He's never even had his eyes open during one AFAIK. And we've tried waking him from them and can't. He eventually just falls back down on his pillow and stops screaming. And doesn't remember them. We might be wrong with being overtired being a trigger. He has never had a night terror when staying in a new place before. He doesn't go to his grandparents house that often and he stayed there for a weekend where I know they kept him busy and up late and no terrors. So I don't know. I'll start with skipping the shows.

[disney_duke]

Our daughter had these as well, you're not alone! Hers didn't last terribly long, maybe just over a year. But this was about 8-ish years ago now, and she didn't have them every night. And I'm pretty sure she didn't experience it while we were on vacation anywhere, so I don't really have any advice for you. We never could figure out anything in particular that triggered it either. It just happened when it happened. Hopefully you've got the trigger thing figured out and now you can do your best to avoid it while on your vacation. Good luck - I really hope it works!!

[Danidurph]

My son had them too, they were horrible. He would scream and his eyes were open but he didn't recognize me. We tried subtle things to wake him like running his hands under water, light splash in the face with water. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It's a terrible experience and I am extremely thankful he outgrew them, so hopefully your son will too. As for the shows, you need to see how things go. I would for one, make sure he is well hydrated all day, make sure he is not hungry before bed and maybe try a "rest" every afternoon. We did that when my son was 4 (he was too big for naps) and we all just laid on the beds and had an hour of down time, no tv, no radio, just relax. I would tell him we needed to rest for buzz or lightning or someone and he just laid there, sometimes crashing and sometimes not, but no stimulus. If it does happen maybe try some white noise like the water running or hair dryer.

I hope it works out and he soon grows out of it!

[mamajab]

Danidurph has some good ideas. Making sure he's well hydrated and well fed will help. And "quiet time" in the middle of the day may allow him to stretch his day a little without overstimulating him. Does your DD still nap? That would be a perfect down time.
As far as what to try for the terrors themselves, do you see any patterns? For example, is he likely to have them 2 hours after he falls asleep, or is it random? If there's a pattern, sometimes it helps to rouse him 1/2 hour before you expect the episode. When he returns to sleep, he may "skip over" the part of his sleep cycle that causes the terrors.

[CheerDisney]

I agree, I would take turns with your husband taking your son back early so that at least one parent and the other children can enjoy the nighttime entertainment. I know you said he doesn't nap, but perhaps an afternoon quiet break back at the resort would help him to keep from becoming overtired? Good luck! Hope you have a good trip!

[HiddenMickey]

Could one of you parents actually sleep with him in the same bed in the hotel room? Would it help at all to be there right with him?

We used to do that with the kids, me with my DD and DH with our son. It kept them calmer at night and made for more room for us big adults in the bed.

I'd also see about asking for a room at the end of the building on the top floor so if he does cry out, he'll disturb fewer neighbors. (only one to the side, one behind, and one under).