4.20.2011

Night Terrors... ongoing...

Levi has night terrors. Not nightmares, but these terrors. They suck. I'm sure they suck for him as much as they do for me, but the *good* thing about them is he has virtually no memory of them if I can calm him without waking him. It's so hard to stand next to my child that is screaming that he needs you and that he can't do this while trying to comfort him and tell him that I'm there when he is not awake and can't understand that I am there.

But Levi has come a long way. When he was little (infant to toddler) he woke alot at night, also had Night Terrors then, but was small, easy to carry and I had ways to calm him. As he's grown some of the methods have contiued to work, some have not. And my need for sleep has also prohibited some of these methods that I was able to employ when I wasn't working 60+ hours a week.

The thing that has stayed the same throughout is Levi's sweet demeanor when he is not in the middle of a terror. He is so loving, so caring. I never get tired of his impromptu "mommy, I love you" or even hearing him tell his brother or sisters the same thing.

The night terrors are believed to be yet another symptom of his central nervous system disorder, another part of his Sensory Processing Disorder, but thankfully it is something he doesn't remember the next morning. He awakens thinking he had a good night. If he is woken during them, he asks me the next day why he is different and can he just have a new body. That's heartbreaking. As long as I am able to keep his terrors from waking Daddy, they usually resolve quickly. But yes, I do look forward to a day when I am able to go to bed in the evening and not awaken until 2:30 or 3:00 am when it is time to get up for work! But, the coolest part of Levi's active sleeping is that between 3 and 3:30 each morning it's not uncommon to hear him giggle and talk in his sleep... the times he has remembered he has told me that he was playing with Little Eric!

There's even more information about SPD on Lucas' Journey with SPD; follow them on their Easter Weekend Blog Hop here:






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Happy Easter Weekend!!

Good Friday: 4 years from the day Vivian's Trach was closed!!!


Erika
© erikalandon 2010

2 comments:

T said...

My daughter used to have night terrors but has mostly grown out of them. It is terrifying as a parent!

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Unknown said...

Posh - Thanks for stopping by! I love the deals you share on your website!

Katrina - Thanks also for stopping by. Yes, terrifying for them and us - atleast they don't usually remember them...