This is not in the books.... arrrgh!

[mima08]

Well, my LO is 32 weeks old and according to the books (mainly wonderweeks) this should be a period of relative sunshine. And during the day, it is! (mostly anyway). However over the last 4 days his nighttime sleeping has gradually gone worse, from a few heartfelt squeals at 12.30, 3.00 and 5.00 am to last night when he was absolutely hysteric (again at those times), crying so heard he turned dark red and nothing could console him. Cuddles, feeding, singing, carrying, rocking, we tried it, nothing worked, he kept crying for a good 30min on top of his lungs. It almost seemed like he had a nightmare & could not snap out of them? Is that possible? This is really new as previously he would have hysterics when he was annoyed but this is different.... I gave him calpole at one of the times thinking maybe he had teething pains - he just had his first two teeth, but it made no difference....He is not ill in any other way as far as I can tell and during the day behaves normal (although his milk intake is down, but then again I am feeding him solids as well). Any thoughts / advice would be appreciated!

[womanofdulwich]

i feel your angst!

might it be an ear infetion that hurts when he lies down? he sounds like he is crying so much itmight be pain? i would tak e him to a dr just to check that out first.

[mima08]

thank you for your reply, it is pretty scary (thoughts of A&E came to my mind at one point last night...)- I didn't think it was an ear infection as he seems perfectly happy during most of the day and generally has good naps (i.e. up to two hrs) at his normal times....If it carries on again tonight, I will make an appointment at the dr, however with current waiting times, any other thoughts would be appreciated... Thanks!

[apenn]

How awful. Mine used to occasionally do that - though not to the point of turning dark red. I thought maybe it was night terrors, but to be honest I'm not really sure. He would cry unconsolably for a while and then eventually calm down and go back to sleep. Grew out of it though. There are others on this forum with much more knowledge and experience of night terrors if you search for the thread.

Hope it turns out to be short lived!

-A

[bluesuperted]

There is always Seldoc if you can't get seen at your surgery - if you call after 6pm you can often get a baby appointment pretty instantly and we've taken our boy a few times when we've suspected an ear infection at an out of hours time. Hope he gets better soon x

[mima08]

Oh thank you b, I did not even know about SELDOC! Let's see what tonight brings, all is quiet so far (I probably just brought doom on myself by saying this...)

thanks all for your sympathy :)

mx

[buggie]

Had few wakings like this from the Bugglet at a similar age. Wouldn't worry so much about *how* upset they get, the more important thing is if they settle... an earache/teething pain/serious problem would mean they either wouldn't settle at all or would wake again within 1/2hr to an hour (within a sleep cycle - lighter sleep disturbed by the ongoing problem). 9/10 times a quiet hug settles her or if very awake, a quiet story.

If there did appear to be pain/ongoing disturbance (nappy/too hot/too cold/hunger all considered too!) my next line of attack is a dose of calpol/ibuprofen/even teething powder. At this point the Bugglet has normally settled but if this didn't work then I'd start to think about seeking further help.

Course if any obvious problem (very hot trunk/rash/breathing problems when calm or anything else triggering the mummy-senses) I'd be thinking of seeking help ASAP.

[roselid]

We've been having the same thing with our 10month old. It started off a week ago with a few restless nights, resolved by hugging or some milk. Last night my partner was up for 2 hours with a frantic, flailing, though sleeping little boy and was so distressed he almost resorted to A&E. I did some googling today and have convinced myself it's night terrors. We already had the ears checked out when he started last week. He has had a bit of a cold though which can make things worse apparently.

We have a few things to try tonight the most promising seems to be waking him gently just after an hour or so of sleep, this is meant to help ease the transition to deep sleep.

Good luck, i'll let you know if we have any luck too!

[Saffron]

I could be wrong, but I think 32 weeks might be too young for night terrors, and I think nightmares would be easier to settle. As it's nothing obvious, it could digestive upset. Baby's intestines are still maturing and adjusting to new and interesting foods. You could try doing a little infacol (simethicone liquid) before dinner? Or perhaps infant gaviscon? If it doesn't help, it won't do any harm either. Worth a try if it makes you feel proactive. xx

[jollybaby]

Must be something in the air as miss jb did exactly the same thing a couple of nights ago. She wailed for an hour and fought me when I tried to cuddle her. She wouldn't make eye contact or interact - it was really strange. In the end I took her downstairs and walked her around in the dark which seemed to calm her. I did wonder whether it was a night terror but I now think that something may have been brewing as she is now covered in spots and has been sent home from nursery!

[mima08]

Thank you again, all for the comments & support. Although there were no other signs over the last few days, he has now come out with a horrid cold. All snuffles, blocked nose and coughs - I feel so sorry for him, but am a little glad that I have something to blame!

JB - there are chickenpox going around, a friend's little girl very recently had them....

Roselid, I resorted to full symptoms treatment: vapour rub on chest & back (with top up during the night), Karvol, saline spray twice (once before sleep/once when he woke up) and he "only" cried badly ones during last night (a fair few mumbles other times, easy to settle though it means I only got 1hr sleep).

I know it sounds weird that it did not seem obvious from the start, but until last night, there really were no signs of a cold! Anyway, I am glad it seems something tangible - I am worried about the idea of night terrors as a friend of mine has them it sounds awful... Although I think she also said babies that young are not believed to get them.

Wishing all your little ones speedy recovery & easier settling!

mx