Grandson Wakes Frequently During the Night.

My 4 yr.old daughter has struggled with night terrors. They are getting better, thank goodness, but this is what has helped us. (although they have no control over night terrors & have no memory of having them. This has just helped with the fears that she has going to sleep some nights)
We made a dreamcatcher together. (you can get directions online) I helped wrap it & she put some beads on it. I explained how the bad dreams get caught & the good ones go through. She was pretty thrilled by that concept. It hangs beside her bed.
We also made "bad dream" spray. It's just some lavender potporri type room spray, in a bottle. We spray it a few times and say "go away bad dreams". The bonus here is that lavender aids in relaxation.
I feel their pain though. My daughter has never been a great sleeper, but it is getting much better.
Good luck. :o)

My son is 5 as well and we are in the exact same boat. He's always had some sort of sleep issues. We've tried having him share his room with first his older brother (10), and then his younger brother(3). We always have a fan for noise, night light, and per his request Christmas music playing quietly. For awhile we would lay with him so that he would fall asleep, but that was making us fall asleep and hindered hubby and I's time together. Then we tried just sitting on the floor next to the bed, but he would never fall asleep but just keep looking to make sure we were still there. We tried forcing him to stay, but he would get so uncontrollably upset and angry. So our 'temporary' solution (for the past 9 months) has been to have him sleep on the floor in our bedroom. He falls immediately asleep and sleeps so soundly. I have never liked the idea of a child sleeping in our room, but he has to get sleep and so do we and if this works now I know in time he will eventually out grow it.

I do plan on looking into allergy testing and have never even thought of that being an issue. Great idea.

Hello,
It sounds like he might have night terrors. My brother had them from the time he was a toddler until he was a young adult. He'd wake up screaming sometimes several times a night swearing someone was on the roof, in his room, or there were spiders all over him, you name it. The next morning he never remembered a thing. The Doc said his mind was just so active that it never really "shut down" to rest at night. the night terrors are different from Nightmares b/c the person looks awake but their mind is still dreaming so the sleep world and the awake world kind of become intertwined if that makes any sense. My brother had ADHD which could have contributed to his sleep issues. I'd talk to the DR about your grandson & see what they say. The good news is my brother did grow out of it & the older he got, the less severe they were. It sounds like you all could use some sleep so I wish you the best in figuring this out!

My 5 year old is similar. We have a bedtime routine to help him relaxe---goodnights, brush teeth, read for 10-30 minutes (depending on how tired he is) and prayer for safety and comfort through the night (amount everything else we pray for) then it's big light off, lamp with 7 watt light bulb on (on all night), bathroom light outside of door on (which he won't enter in the middle of the night alone but will RUN past and full speed), and music on (He LOVES to fall asleep to the 60's and 70's even though its upbeat he keeps his mind busy enough for his eyes and body to relaxe then he can sleep). We TRY to use logic with him, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. His imagination gets the best of him. He has his comfort blanket still, and I'm in no rush it take it away. In fact when the old one fell apart I found a new one to replace it and the old one is on a shelf above the bed for close keeping. I hope something here helps! Best of Luck. Let them know they aren't alone!

hope I don't feel really stupid but is the house haunted and he is seeing something no one else sees???? Just a thought.

Just curious about this. Is he sharing a room with the 2 yr old or does he have his own room? Sounds to me like he doesn't like being alone in a room at night.
Being part Native American we have dream catchers in all of the bedrooms. We had two house fires so the last set they helped make and we spoke the prayers over them with the children. This works better when they are old enough to understand the dreamcatcher and how it works.
It appears they have tried almost everything. Do they have a radio in his room they can leave playing on low with soft music? Does he have a favorite stuffed toy dog or bear he sleeps with? My youngest has a dog that is empowered like the superheros to protect him through the night. Every morning I asked Puppy if there is anything he needs to tell me about and he tells me "no". Once in awhile I talk about the man walking down the street or the storm or whatever with Puppy for a few minutes. It has made a world of difference in the interupted nights for me. What about a heating pad?
My daughter used to get up in the middle of the night and either crawl into our bed or lay down on the floor next to it and sleep. She outgrew it.

When our oldest son started Pre-K, he began waking us up 2,3, even 4 times a night saying he was having bad dreams. Since we had a new baby & he just started school, we figured all the changes were bringing this on. I had a friend design a super hero shield for him with his initials on it(like Superman's "S" on his chest), I painted it on a shirt with fabric markers, and we gave it to him to wear to bed. He slept much better when he wore his shirt & could be "Super Gabe" at bed time. He told me,"Super heros don't have bad dreams!"

With in a week he was down to waking up once a night or so, and after a few weeks it stopped all together. Now he may have a bad dream once every 2 or 3 months.

I am going through the same exact thing right now w/ our 5 year old boy... He wakes, I think to go to the bathroom and never returns to his bed...Then he must come into ours and we don't always hear him...When we return him to his bed he does not make a peep..usually ...Then w/ in a few ours he must secretly return to our room..We don't know what to do anymore...I certainly don't want to lock him in his room ..he would be terrified and he would not tolerate a gate either..he is just to old for those tactics...please tell me if you have found a solution yet?

night terrors. he'll grow out of them

Have you investigated the possibility of an allergy? As a child I had night terrors and nightmares and when my parents discovered I was allergic to milk and eliminated it from my diet all of the night terrors and nightmares stopped. I also have ADD and when I was little and the room was really quiet my mind had a hard time shutting down. I slept with a fan going in my room just for white noise and that worked really well. In fact, when my husband is out of town I get spooked easily at night so I still use the fan trick and it works! but I would definitely mention allergy to the pediatrician and see if he might do some testing to rule it out. Milk is a very common one.

J.
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A. -
My daughter, who is now 2.5 had the exact same sleep issues. I completely agree with the other poster who mentioned allergies. We recently found out that she was allergic to milk/eggs and now since we have removed that from her diet she sleeps peacefully each night. As an added bonus her behavior has changed as well - she is a much happier child now. Please consider having him tested - it could make a huge difference for the whole family.

Would they concider putting a matress on the floor in their bedroom for him to sleep on? It sounds like they may all get better sleep if, for now, they just let him sleep in their room. Perhaps just having them close will comfort him enough to get better sleep and avoid the night terrors.

I would avoid simply making the rule that he can't sleep in their bed. Instead, I would try anything to help him get settled. As a start, I would consider having mom or dad sleep in his room, but not in his bed. Try to get him to comfort himself but they should definitely help him with this. Just keep in mind it is probably a phase and he will likely soon be out of it. If he is in preschool or otherwise away from his parents during the day, there may be some separation issues or situations arising throughout the day that are bothering him at night. They should continue to be alert to any such signs.

He could have something called "night terrors". This is going to sound crazy but my son used to wake up screaming every night (he was 7 and still getting in bed with us as I was DESPERATE for sleep having two younger children). Turned out he had such a narrow pallot in his mouth that he had sleep apnea (spelling?) which woke him up when he would stop breathing....he ended up having his tonsils/adnoids removed and has been much (like 90%) better. He only wakes up every couple of months now with a bad dream NOTHING like it was before. The ENT said it is actually more common that people realize...I would have never guessed that was what was wrong!

My grandaughter did the same thing. Her doctor said she had night terrors. She finally has outgrown it, but is now a sleep talker & walker. Use your computer to look up night terrors in children.