Night terrors
Night terrors are something that can be very upsetting for parents. A child having a night terror will scream, cry, and act like they are petrified. They can even sit up and thrash their arms and legs. Parents may think the child is having a nightmare.
Night terrors are more upsetting for parents than they are for children. When parents try to calm their children, they find that they don’t respond or even recognize them. It is easy to confuse sleep terrors and nightmares.
What can I do if my child has a sleep terror?
- Make sure your child doesn’t get overtired. Sleep terrors are always worse in an overtired child.
- Go to your child. Make sure they are safe. You’ll want to be there if they wake up and need comforting. Your child may also try and get out of bed, so make sure you stay with them.
- Don’t try and wake your child; you can actually prolong the sleep terror.
- Try to remain calm. If you are anxious, your child can pick up on that if they wake up.
OTHER FACTS
Sleep terrors usually happen in children aged between two and six. Children often go back to sleep, sleep soundly and don’t remember anything in the morning. Sleep terrors are a sleep disorder, much like sleepwalking and talking. If you’re concerned, talk to your child’s doctor.
My son used to suffer from night terrors; he would remember nothing about them the following morning! My husband and I would spend what felt like hours and hours awake with him and would be so exhausted the following day, but he was fine!
He was over six when he stopped having them, and they were defiantly worse when she was overtired. Keeping him from becoming overtired was important to us; having a good night’s sleep was important to all of us.
