{Weekending // Bass Pro // Father's Day // Church Sports Camp}

Happy Monday! We had a good weekend, but it went oh so fast. I feel like I always say that the weekends fly by, but this one truly did. It was a good one, though!

Friday night we had supper with my family and then visited at their house for a while. We stayed a little later than we probably should have and Mason ended up having night terrors all night {for over 7 hours} long. It seems to happen every single time we leave my parents house. I am not sure what it is. I am thinking it's the over-stimulation from playing with his 4 boy cousins. They're loud and it's complete chaos when they're all together. That's the only thing different that I can pinpoint. I tried to tend to Mason's night terrors as much as I could because Nate had to be up super early Saturday morning for a church men's fishing trip. But, neither he or I got much sleep that night. Mason finally calmed down and rested from 6:30 am until 11:30 am. I let him sleep in because I knew he would be exhausted. I am truly grateful that he doesn't remember the night terrors the next day, because they are so tough!!

Nate left the house around 5 am on Saturday to meet the men at church. They fished from about 7 am until noon-ish. Nathan had a blast and thinks he caught a bunch of fish. He sent me this picture from the middle of the lake.

This man could spend all day fishing! He loves it. I'm not patient enough for it. I'd rather take pictures. ha.

{Night Terrors}

There is nothing I hate more than to wake up to Mason screaming, kicking and thrashing out. Even though he's had several of these episodes it never gets easier. It still scares the fire out of me. And my heart sinks a little more with each terror. I pray for the day we do not have to face these anymore.


What are night Terrors??

A night terror is a sleep disruption that seems similar to a nightmare, but with a far more dramatic presentation. Though night terrors can be alarming for parents who witness them, they're not usually cause for concern or a sign of a deeper medical issue.
During a typical night, sleep occurs in several stages. Each is associated with particular brain activity, and it's during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage that most dreaming occurs.

Night terrors happen during deep non-REM sleep. Unlike nightmares (which occur during REM sleep), a night terror is not technically a dream, but more like a sudden reaction of fear that happens during the transition from one sleep phase to another.
Night terrors usually occur about 2 or 3 hours after a child falls asleep, when sleep transitions from the deepest stage of non-REM sleep to lighter REM sleep, a stage where dreams occur. Usually this transition is a smooth one. But rarely, a child becomes agitated and frightened — and that fear reaction is a night terror.

During a night terror, a child might suddenly sit upright in bed and shout out or scream in distress. The child's breathing and heartbeat might be faster, he or she might sweat, thrash around, and act upset and scared. After a few minutes, or sometimes longer, a child simply calms down and returns to sleep.

Unlike nightmares, which kids often remember, kids won't have any memory of a night terror the next day because they were in deep sleep when it happened — and there are no mental images to recall. 

What Causes Night Terrors?

 

Night terrors are caused by over-arousal of the central nervous system (CNS) during sleep. This may happen because the CNS (which regulates sleep and waking brain activity) is still maturing. Some kids may inherit a tendency for this over-arousal — about 80% who have night terrors have a family member who also experienced them or sleepwalking (a similar type of sleep disturbance).
Night terrors have been noted in kids who are:

• overtired or ill, stressed, or fatigued
• taking a new medication
• sleeping in a new environment or away from home

Night terrors are relatively rare — they happen in only 3-6% of kids, while almost every child will have a nightmare occasionally. Night terrors usually occur between the ages of 4 and 12, but have been reported in kids as young as 18 months. They seem to be a little more common among boys.
A child might have a single night terror or several before they cease altogether. Most of the time, night terrors simply disappear on their own as the nervous system matures.

{via}


The facts about 7/13:

Bed @ 11:30 pm
Terror @ 2:50 am
Lasted 10ish minutes
Kicking/crying/screaming

We went to Chuck E Cheese on Saturday. I know without a doubt that is the reason for this particular night terror. Over-stimulation to the highest!! Dang you Chuck E Cheese!!!! Combine that with a late bedtime and bam!

In his night terrors he was saying things like, "I want a different prize" or "over here" or 'that one". 

What helps us?

Stay calm
Be patient
Talk as little as possible and when we do talk we talk with soft voice
Keep them safe - move anything out of the way that may hurt them as they thrash it out

We've only learned this after 2.5 years of him having them. Usually Mason gets these after a major transition, or every 3-6 months. This one was a little different for the fact that it happened almost 3.5 hours after he went to sleep. Usually they're like clockwork - 90 minutes after going to sleep. 

More of Mason's Night Terrors can be found here

Does your child have night terrors?
How do you cope with them? What helps you/your child?
 
 

{Night Terrors strike again}

Night Terrors

I know I should have expected this...but in the back of my mind I always hope they are gone forever! They usually occur when there is a big transition in Mason's life. And going back to school after 2 months off was just that.

Well, they're not gone...and they reared their ugly head last night. Right on queue approx 90 minutes after Mason first went to sleep. And then they happened every 2 or so hours for the rest of the night. Luckily they were mild enough that I could just pat his back and talk him calmly out of them. I slept with him all night so that I was at arms reach for when these happened. Sometimes he will kick, hit, twist, etc and I always fear he will get hurt. I was up most of the night because in between his terrors I would just pat his back, watch him and pray for him.

And I will continue to pray.

He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Psalm 91:4-8 NLT

And a quick update on School and the transition back...

No tears were shed today! No fits, less fussin' and a happier Mama and Mason. Praise the Lord. Nathan and I both had big talks with him yesterday and he told us over and over he would be better. That he would be a big boy and he would be happy and nice to Mama. And? He was. It took a lot of work to get him dressed and out the door, but was definitely better than Monday and Tuesday. He did tell him on the way to school that he didn't want to go, but it was just that. He did well when got there, no crying! I was so happy and so proud of him!!

{Night Terrors - Go Away!}

Night Terrors...   ugh!   Catch up on how they affect Mason here.   While I wish that I could write and say that they're gone and that we don't have to deal with them. But, that's not the case this time. I wanted to get this documented in hopes that this is my last time I ever have to write about them.
10/26 - Night terror - only lasted about 2-3 minutes. Crying and twisting in bed. We were able to calm him and soothe him back to bed easily.
10/27 - Night terror - only lasted about 2-3 minutes. Crying and twisting in bed. Again, we were able to calm him and soothe him back to bed easily.   11/7 - Night terror - lasting about 5 minutes. Crying, twisting, kicking, hitting, screaming no. Went back to sleep fairly easy/quickly. Heart-wrenching. {also for documentation sake, this was the night Obama was re-elected! Ironic, much?}   While these night terrors still rip my heart out and make me sad for my sweet boy, I am truly thankful they seem to have calmed down a bit!! I pray this is a good sign!!  

     

{Night Terrors}

Just when you think they're gone for good...

Bam! They wake you with a sucker punch kick to the gut in the middle of the night.

Last night {6/14} around 11:30pm Mason started screaming, kicking, twisting, turning, arching his back, and swinging his arms and we couldn't get him to come out of his "Night terror" for a good 10-15 minutes.

They're so scary and incredibly hard to watch.
It's like something takes over your child and nothing you say or do can help.

It's heart-wrenching.

It's nights like these that I am thankful we are a co-sleeping type of family. I couldn't imagine this happening to him in his room/bed...alone.

Mase had 3 big ones last night...and a few small ones that I was able to control by patting his back and kissing his forehead.

They're exhausting for all of us.

After an episode you sit and think {and cry} and wonder what you could have done differently. But in all honestly, there's hardly anything you can do.

But pray.

Most studies show that the child does not remember the dream 

and that makes me feel just a smidge better. 

Doesn't make it any easier though.

Mason has had these since he was months old.

At first we had no clue what was going on.
It was frightening, to say the least.

Thankfully our pediatrician at the time knew exactly what it was.
Her son experiences them too.

It was almost a pattern of night terrors every 4 months...

then it spread a little further than that. 

I honestly can't remember the last time he had one before last night.

I thought or at least hoped and prayed they were gone forever.

I will be so thankful for the day these are gone forever!!!

Rest in GOD alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him.

Psalm 62:5