My 2 Year Old Son's Sleep Terrors

by Nora
(UK)

Mine is more of an explanation of what my son does and any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as to why my son is doing this.

My son was born with a reflux problem, I have been told this is common and he eventually grew out of it by 8 months old. I breast fed my son for 18 months, as a baby he tended to be very gassy and fed for short amounts of time (5 mins a feed) and threw up constantly.

This did not worry me as he was growing and gaining weight perfectly for his height etc. and he is a very healthy boy at 2 years and 3 months old he is 93.5cm and 16.36kilos in weight, he is very clever and tall for his age, he loves his fruit and veg, the only major problem is he has never slept though!

Since his reflux stopped he would cry over 4 times a night and this is still going on, sometimes he just cries for me and is awake and I cuddle him and put him back to sleep, but recently he has been waking up screaming, punching the air, kicking and shouting and even though I try to hug him or call him he is fast asleep with his eyes tight shut.

He does talk in his sleep now and again but these screaming episodes are worrying me. his father when I married him talked in his sleep now and then, but he too has escalated into full shouting, getting up or mistaking me for a burglar etc. and lashing at me, I have not been hurt as he tends to wake up quickly but since then we have separated and apparently his brother told me he has almost climbed out a window while he was asleep.

I am worried my son is taking after his father. My son hasn't gotten out of bed when he wakes up screaming he just sits there and eventually falls asleep or till I pick him up but he is getting louder and I am getting more and more concerned. Is this normal?

My son during the day is a happy child, we play, I take him to the park, he eats well, he does throw the odd tantrum if he doesn't get his way or I say no, he does throw stuff but he is no way violent; say he wants a treat and I say no he will throw his toy or cup against the floor (not at me- never does that) but I tell him off and he knows he has done wrong.

We see his cousins and friends so he is around other children. He seems fine to me it's just now at least once a night he moans or cries and shouts but is not awake, I would say there is one major episode of this a night now, please advise me on what to do.

Thanks

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Resources:

Sleep Terrors
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
Sleepwalking