submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hello all,

My 19 month old has had 3 separate events that sort of resemble night terrors, and I'm looking for some insight.

The wife and I decided sleep training was the way around a year old, and generally he sleeps through the night fully now - but three times in the last few weeks, this event set will happen:

He will wake up standing in his crib screaming as if he's being hurt, when we go to check on him he's inconsolable so after checking him for bodily harm, I bring him to bed with us with a bottle screaming the whole way. After a few minutes of thrashing about, he sits up and looks around, seemingly confused about his surroundings and he's fine; he gets his bottle and back off to sleep within a minute or two.

The confusing part for me is he is very aware my wife and I are in the room during these fits, when during a night terror they're supposedly in almost a trance-like state. The "waking up" motions he does is also baffling to me.

Thoughts?

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[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yep, those are night terrors. Settle in, because they could continue for years.

My three-year-old still randomly bolts up and demands to: go outside, play with toys, use the toilet, etc. he will claim it is morning and that he should wake up. He starts putting his bed away even though it’s pitch black outside. All while screaming his lungs out.

He seems to be wide awake, but he isn’t. His brain is doing this to develop the pathways needed to create a sleep cycle. He responds to my presence too, just in a completely irrational way. Like I'm part of the dream. Then just as suddenly as he started, he stop fighting me and just sits there for a moment before falling over and going back to sleep.

They used to go on for up to an hour, now they will graciously stop after 15 minutes. It was pretty frightening at first, but now it’s just a matter of making sure he doesn’t destroy his room or hurt himself by flopping all over the place.

this post was submitted on 30 May 2025

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