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Baby Sleep Problems – Night Terrors

Night terrors or Pavor nocturnus occur approximately 90 minutes into sleep during stage 3 or 4 NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Night terrors happen during deep sleep (usually between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.). The child suddenly sits bolt upright and screams, and is inconsolable for up to 30 minutes before relaxing and falling back to sleep. A night terror is a parasomnia sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The child wakes abruptly usually accompanied by gasping and moaning. The child may be sweating and breathing very hard. Night terrors usually occur in children three to eight years of age. Night terrors seem to peak at age 3 ½ years.

Night terrors can be frightening for the parents, too. Episodes may re-occur for a couple of weeks then suddenly disappear. Strong evidence has shown that a predisposition to night terrors and other parasomniac disorders can be passed genetically. Though there are a multitude of triggers, emotional stress during the previous day and a high fever are thought to precipitate most episodes of this type of baby sleep problem.

Night terrors are different in nature from nightmares. Children can be aroused during a nightmare, but not during a night terror. With a night terror episode your child may have no memory of the event and remember all the events of a nightmare. Male children have predominance when it comes to having sleeping terrors, as for nightmares either gender can experience them. If a nightmare occurs during the child’s sleep cycle REM (Rapid Eye Movement) will be present, on the other hand, during a night terror NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) will be present. The only similarities of a nightmare and a night terror are that fact they both can be brought on by stress. An estimated 1-6% of children experience night terrors. Children of all races are affected, equally. This parasomniac disorder usually resolves during adolescence.

Sleep labs across the United States and Canada have shown through sleep studies that night terrors happen due to increased brain activity. The common thought among researchers is that a chemical trigger in the brain causes your brain to “misfire” and cause a night terror. These misfires can be caused by many factors such as stress and various other medical ailments. Try to eliminate the stress factors causing this baby sleep problem.

Children should be reassured and calmed after experiencing a night terror. Let them regain consciousness and give them positive reinforcement in a calming manner. It is not advised to shake them wake, but talk sweetly and softly while telling them “You are here” or “I love you”, then slowly administer gentle touches and back rubs. Once your child had regain consciousness, plenty of hugs and kisses are in order. To get them back to sleep, you will probably have to restart their normal bedtime routine. Softy, read to your child and place their favorite teddy bear in their arms. Or, watch a children’s program with your child until they fall back to sleep.

Most parents have experienced this scenario: You wake up in the middle of the night to find your child standing by your bed, flushed, hot, and sweaty. Your little one’s forehead feels warm. You immediately suspect a fever, but are unsure of what to do next. Should you get out the thermometer? Call the doctor?

In healthy kids, fevers usually don’t indicate anything serious. Although it can be frightening when your child’s temperature rises, fever itself causes no harm and can actually be a good thing — it’s often the body’s way of fighting off infections. And not all fevers need to be treated. High fever, however, can make a child uncomfortable and aggravate problems such as dehydration.

But it’s easy to learn how to correctly take a child’s temperature when it’s a little higher than usual. Read on for more about fevers, how to measure and treat them, and when to call your child’s doctor.

What Is Fever?

Fever occurs when the body’s internal “thermostat” raises the body temperature above its normal level. This thermostat is found in the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus knows what temperature your body should be (usually around 98.6° Fahrenheit, or about 37° Celsius) and will send messages to your body to keep it that way.

Most people’s body temperatures even change a little bit during the course of the day: It’s usually a little lower in the morning and a little higher in the evening and can fluctuate as kids run around, play, and exercise.

Sometimes, though, the hypothalamus will “reset” the body to a higher temperature in response to an infection, illness, or some other cause. So, why does the hypothalamus tell the body to change to a new temperature? Researchers believe turning up the heat is the body’s way of fighting the germs that cause infections and making the body a less comfortable place for them.

What Causes Fever?

It’s important to remember that fever by itself is not an illness — it’s usually a symptom of an underlying problem. Fever has several potential causes:

Infection: Most fevers are caused by infection or other illness. Fever helps the body fight infections by stimulating natural defense mechanisms.

Overdressing: Infants, especially newborns, may get fevers if they’re overbundled or in a hot environment because they don’t regulate their body temperature as well as older children. However, because fevers in newborns can indicate a serious infection, even infants who are overdressed must be evaluated by a doctor if they have a fever.

Immunizations: Babies and children sometimes get a low-grade fever after getting vaccinated.

Although teething may cause a slight rise in body temperature, it’s probably not the cause if a child’s temperature is higher than 100° Fahrenheit (37.8° Celsius).

When Can a Fever Be a Sign of Something Serious?

In the past, doctors advised treating a fever on the basis of temperature alone. But now they recommend considering both the temperature and the child’s overall condition.

Kids whose temperatures are lower than 102° Fahrenheit (38.9° Celsius) often don’t require medication unless they’re uncomfortable. There’s one important exception to this rule: If you have an infant 3 months or younger with a rectal temperature of 100.4° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) or higher, call your doctor or go to the emergency department immediately. Even a slight fever can be a sign of a potentially serious infection in very young infants.

If your child is between 3 months and 3 years old and has a fever of 102.2° Fahrenheit (39° Celsius) or higher, call the doctor to see if he or she needs to see your child. For older kids, take behavior and activity level into account. Watching how your child behaves will give you a pretty good idea whether a minor illness is the cause or if your child should be seen by a doctor.

The illness is probably not serious if your child:

• is still interested in playing
• is eating and drinking well
• is alert and smiling at you
• has a normal skin color
• looks well when his or her temperature comes down

And don’t worry too much about a child with a fever who doesn’t want to eat. This is very common with infections that cause fever. For kids who still drink and urinate normally, not eating as much as usual is OK.

How Do I Know if My Child Has a Fever?

A gentle kiss on the forehead or a hand placed lightly on your child’s skin is often enough to give you a hint that your child has a fever. However, this method of taking a temperature (called tactile temperature) is dependent on the person doing the feeling and doesn’t give an accurate measure of temperature.

Use a reliable thermometer to tell if your child has a fever when his or her temperature is at or above one of these levels:

• 100.4° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius) measured rectally (in the bottom)
• 99.5° Fahrenheit (37.5° Celsius) measured orally (in the mouth)
• 99° Fahrenheit (37.2° Celsius) measured in an axillary position (under the arm)

But how high a fever is doesn’t tell you much about how sick your child is. A simple cold or other viral infection can sometimes cause a rather high fever (in the 102°–104° Fahrenheit / 38.9°–40° Celsius range), but this doesn’t usually indicate a serious problem. And serious infections may cause no fever or even an abnormally low body temperature, especially in infants.

Because fevers may rise and fall, a child with fever might experience chills as the body tries to generate additional heat as its temperature begins to rise. The child may sweat as the body releases extra heat when the temperature starts to drop.

Sometimes kids with a fever breathe faster than usual and may have a higher heart rate. You should call the doctor if your child is having difficulty breathing, is breathing faster than normal, or continues to breathe fast after the fever comes down.

Source: http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/fever.html