At the age of 5 my son (a regular bed wetter and sufferer of hayfever) started to have night terrors, which were scarey for him as well as us his parents. The bedwetting we thought he would grow out of; the hayfever possibly as well though we gave infrequent medication as required, but the night terrors we could find no treatment or strategy for. At times the terrors became as frequent as once or twice a week which made our son apprehensive about going to bed, and which left us concerned, baffled and scrambling for reasons and answers from physical health, mental health, education and schooling sectors. I spoke to doctors, teachers and other parents, looking to find some medical/ education profession enlightenment or age old wisdom on night terrors and met with inconclusion or 'he'll grow out of it; a very active imagination' (sad to grow out of that!).
Glenn was in the area delivering a Buteyko course and, curious, I enrolled my son (then 9 yrs) as I noticed he was a habitual mouth breather, and had recently suffered overbreathing symptoms when under stress (which one doctor wanted to start us on asthma medication for). Initially my son did not do the exercises well as they in themselves were 'stressful' so we stopped, but we learnt good breathing exercises to deal with the night terrors which helped him immensely and made him more confident of a good sleep. The bedwetting also abated dramatically.
So now at the mature age of 10, he is still a mouth breather by day, but tapes his mouth at night - he realises that nose breathing is important to a good nights' sleep, both for preventing night terrors and bed wetting. We have started the daily Buteyko exercises again now that he has grown up a year and has experienced how addressing his breathing technique can have an effect on other areas of his health. My son takes hayfever medication as needed and I am hoping that by retraining his breathing that the hayfever episodes will subside also.
Could he be 'growing out of' the night terrors and the bedwetting anyway?? We still get the occassional night terror episode, but they are such a smaller deal than they were as he knows he is able overcome them by himself. As a Mum, it is so much better for my child that his night terrors and bedwetting can be addressed through a natural means, and not by encouraging a dependence on medication or a device.
On the course my son and I learnt alot about health and our bodies. I highly recommend a Buteyko Breathing Course to anyone but especially for children.
Thanks Glenn
November 2008
