Two of the times were on the plane.
The first time was on the plane coming back from Japan. Though most of the recent long distance travels have been just three of us (the girls and I), the first time of her night terror on board was when we were flying with my husband. She was 18 months old.
We took turns to console her toward the back of the aircraft where it seemed less bothersome to have a crying baby. A lot of people threw us sympathetic look as if it must be a typical thing to fly with a baby. It was unusual for her to have a night terror since she only had maybe 10 total in her short life time so far. This was about the time when we began to see the tendency of her night terror: it happens when she is extremely tired.
The second time was more difficult yet shorter. I was flying with the girls from Atlanta to Portland, and when the plane started to decent and prepare for landing, she started having a night terror. We had figured by then that her favorite tune/dvd sound seemed to break her free from night terror, however, all the electronics had to be put away for landing. We all had to be strapped in our seat, no electronics allowed, and a screaming 3-year-old. One young guy sitting in front of me kept turning as if he was checking to see if I was torturing her!!
So, she kept screaming and crying with her eyes shut for the rest of the flight about 20 minutes, and then as soon as the lights were turned back on after landing, she was broken free from the spell like nothing happened. The passengers looked pretty relieved to arrive the destination safely, but more relieved to have relief from the screaming child.
When I went through this, I felt like I can get through any incident on board. Once, I was vomited on by my oldest daughter when she was a little over a year old. Well, traveling with kids can be very eventful, but later in life, we can always tell those stories as a fond memory.
(Positive thinking in effect!!!)
Hi Emiko -- just getting a chance to browse through a few blogs this evening. This one seems especially poignant since we are about to fly! Solomon gets night terrors too, from time to time, but I never put it together that it may be when he is overtired. It would be awful to have this happen on a plane! Aren't you good for surviving it and even putting a positive spin on things.
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