Night terrors: why they happen and what to do about them

What are night terrors?

Night terrors are sleep disturbances in which a child may suddenly sit bolt upright in bed, cry, scream, moan, mumble and thrash about with her eyes wide open, but without being truly awake. Because she's caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake, she's unaware of your presence and isn't likely to respond to anything you say or do. An episode can last anywhere from two to 40 minutes, and when it's over your child falls back to sleep abruptly with no memory of the incident.

How are night terrors different from nightmares?


The easiest way to tell the difference between a night terror and a nightmare, is to ask yourself who's more upset about it the next morning. If your child is more agitated, she had a nightmare. If you're the one who's disturbed, she probably had a night terror. Rest assured, the "terror" of a night terror lingers far longer in the parent who watched it than in the child who lived it.

What should I do if my child has a night terror?

Don't try to wake her. And expect that your efforts to comfort her will be rebuffed – a child having a night terror really can't be calmed down, and if you try to hold her it may make her wilder. Unless she's in danger of hurting herself, don't attempt to physically comfort her. Just speak calmly, put yourself between her and anything dangerous (the headboard of her bed, for instance), and wait for the storm to pass. Before you go to bed, take the same precautions you would for a sleepwalker, since children in the grip of a night terror often stumble out of bed: pick up any toys or objects on the floor that she could trip on, fasten a gate at the top of the stairs, and make sure windows and outside doors are locked.

What causes night terrors, and can they be prevented?



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