The following is a visitor-submitted question or story. For more, you can submit your own sleep story here, or browse the collection of experiences and questions other visitors have shared here.

Young Son Thrashing To The Point Of Potential Self Injury

by Zoe and Chris
(Aptos, Ca, USA)

Our 15 month old son will wake up from a nap or in the early middle of the night and go quickly from crying to wailing as if he's in pain and thrashing around. When we pick him up he starts thrashing more, hitting out, usually with his eyes closed. He'll roll over and over writhing, throwing himself about, sometimes arching and stamping both feet against the floor (while on his back) as if he is enraged.


Sometimes he gets up and walks around to a random location, drops to the floor again-sometimes banging his head against the floor-and then gets up and walks again. If we try to hand him a bottle or pacifier or anything he'll throw it back at us.

Usually we just try to keep him safe, turn on the lights, open a window to let cold air in, sometimes try to remove some of his clothes-we've tried many things. And eventually either something will work or he'll just snap out of it on his own. When he snaps out of it he sometimes just suddenly opens his eyes wide and grins when he sees both of us watching him, sometimes suddenly calms down to a whimper. It's always sudden.

The shortest episode has lasted about 5 minutes, and the longest half an hour. It started a month or two ago and he's had five or six. Only one has been from a nap. There have only ever been two other times when he's thrown anything along the lines of a thrashing temper tantrum-also recent.

We're not sure if this is relevant, but he also has enlarged brain ventricles that are being close tracked. So far he has met all his developmental milestones with flying colors, and the latest MRI showed an open aqueduct. His movements as I described them look nothing like a seizure.

Also maybe not relevant; he's a very light sleeper and seems to have almost super sonic hearing.

Please help us!

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Experiences With Sleep Disorders In Children.



Enjoy this page? Please help us pay it forward to others who would find it valuable by Liking, Sharing, Tweeting, Stumbling, and/or Voting below.

About This Site

Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

In fact, we challenge you to do so! What do you say, are you up for the challenge?

A Note On Visitor-Submitted Questions:

Publishing sleep stories and questions from our visitors is meant to create a forum for open and proactive dialogue about an extremely important portion of our lives (one that occupies 1/3 of it and affects the other 2/3) that isn't talked about enough. It is not meant to substitute a trip to the doctor or the advice of a specialist. It's good to talk; it is not good to avoid consulting someone who's profession it is to help you with this kind of stuff.

If you are in any way concerned about your sleep health, don't wait for an answer on here, and don't necessarily rely on them. See a sleep specialist in your area as soon as possible.

More Questions:

Ask | Answer

The Stanford Sleep Book

Stanford Sleep Book Picture

Dr. Dement's pioneering textbook has been the core text for Sleep and Dreams since 1980, but it has just recently been made available to the wider public for the first time.

In it you'll find a more detailed account of the most important things you need to know about sleep, alertness, dreams, and sleep disorders. Studies, statistics, plus plenty of Dr. Dement's classic anecdotes painting the history of sleep medicine.

Preface | Intro | Contents | Get A Copy

More Sleep Resources

The Zeo

Track Your Own Sleep With Zeo

A revolution in personal sleep tracking, the Zeo is a wireless headband that transmits your brainwaves in realtime to a dock (pictured here) or your smartphone. The result? You can wake up and see exactly what stages of sleep you were in during the night! Unprecedented personalized sleep knowledge.

Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide

Sleep Paralysis Treatment Book

Ever woken up paralyzed? A surprising number of us have, believe it or not. But few know the actual causes of this phenomenon, and fewer still how to exert control over it. Dream researcher and sleep paralysis expert Ryan Hurd shares breakthrough insights into how to do just that.

Important Disclaimer

Please Note:

The information found on this page and throughout this site is intended for general information purposes only. While it may prove useful and empowering, it is NOT intended as a substitute for the expertise and judgments of healthcare practitioners.

For more info, see our
Terms of Use.