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What is an effective night terror treatment?The most effective night terror treatment for my toddler was rocking her after an episode and reassuring her that she was home and didn’t have to be afraid anymore. I also found rubbing a damp cloth on her face did wonders to soothe her and help her back to sleep. Waking a toddler during a night terror episode may be safe.(1) However, I learned through trial and error that waking my daughter was not the best night terror treatment for her. If she did become fully awake, she would be awake for hours almost too scared to go back to sleep.
Night terror treatment focuses more on safety and support than on giving a toddler medication in hopes of helping him or her sleep better. In other words, medical professionals want parents to “be sure your home is safe (use toddler gates on staircases and don't use bunk beds for children who have nightmares or night terrors often).”(2)
As Dr. Pagel states in his article in American Family Physician, “It is essential to control the environment by removing dangerous objects and providing barriers to prevent escape from a safe sleeping environment.” Dr. Pagel goes further to say that “pharmacologic intervention is not usually indicated; in fact, it should be discouraged because it may contribute to further sleep disruption.”(3)
Yet, Dr. Thiedke states that “in children for whom night terrors are not self-limiting or are especially disruptive, diazepam (Valium) has been used with some success."(4) I do not regard her statement as a license to use medication as the sole night terror treatment for night terror disorder.
Instead, there are extreme circumstances of night terror in toddlers and children. When the individual cases warrant medication, then her statement confirms its place as a part of night terror treatment. These cases, however, should be carefully diagnosed and managed by qualified health care professionals.
Fortunately, our daughter stopped having night terrors before she was too old to sleep in her crib. So, she remained safe during her night terror episodes.
Additionally, like most toddlers, her night terrors were “self-limiting.” (4) She eventually grew out of them. Also, as she grew older she was able to verbalize her fear. This helped me avoid a lot of the things that triggered her toddler night terrors. Return to www.china-adoption-threads.com References
(1)
Night Terror Resource Center
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