Have you ever had the experience of suddenly hearing your child crying or screaming in their sleep, but when you go into their room nothing seems to calm them and you aren’t sure if they are actually really awake? If so, they may be experiencing night terrors.

This is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. If you have concerns about your child, please seek out support from their medical professional.

What are night terrors?

They are considered a parasomnia, which means it is an unusual behavior that happens during sleep. Parasomnias also include things like sleepwalking and talking in your sleep.

Night terrors don’t necessarily only happen at night but rather when someone is sleeping, so they can happen during naptime too. When these happen, a child will often cry out or scream and they may be flailing around in their bed. It can be hard to wake them up and they generally don’t respond to your attempts to calm them down. This can be scary for us when they occur, as your child can appear straight up terrified. Night terrors can be brief, but they can also be longer lasting; and they usually occur during the first three hours after a child has gone to sleep. 

Adults can experience them as well, but research has found they are most common between the ages of 4 and 12.

What causes night terrors?

It’s not always really clear exactly what causes night terrors, but there have been lots of different factors associated with them. For example, they can occur when someone is overtired, sleep deprived, or under significant stress. There has been some thought that environmental factors could contribute to night terrors. Also certain medications and medical conditions, including fevers, have been connected with night terrors. Further, there has also been research into if there’s a genetic component to night terrors. 

Looking at parasomnias in general, research has suggested that they happen when the transition between the different stages of sleep does not occur smoothly. If you want to learn more about the stages of sleep and some sleep science, then check out this post.

Does my child remember these happening?

Generally no, your child won’t remember night terrors. In fact, having amnesia of what happened during the night is a sign of night terrors. They occur during non-REM sleep, which means that they aren’t happening when your child is dreaming. Also, children aren’t truly waking when they experience a one so they wouldn’t know or be aware of what’s happening.

How are they different from nightmares?

We’ve already touched on how these are different but let’s dive into a comparison.

Night Terrors:

• Happen earlier in the night during non-REM sleep
• Your child may seem awake, but they won’t respond to your attempts to calm
• If they respond to you, their responses won’t necessarily make sense
• Behaviors can include kicking, screaming, and crying
• Your child has no memory of it happening

Nightmares:

• Tend to happen later in the evening or during the early morning
• They occur during REM sleep and are a bad dream
• Children will often wake and can be calmed down
• They may be upset when they wake up
• Many children will remember nightmares and will talk about them

What to do about night terrors?

When a night terror is happening, unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done. It’s been suggested that the best thing to do is to ensure that your child is safe and leave them alone. This doesn’t mean you need to physically leave them alone. However, intervening and trying to calm someone having a night terror is generally not recommended. Some have actually found that offering comfort can lead to the night terror lasting longer. Generally children will outgrow night terrors without needing any formal intervention. 

Though it’s not always clear what causes night terrors, having healthy sleep habits can help make it less likely for them to occur. Sometimes there can be an increase in night terrors if a person is overtired, so making sure your child is getting the amount of sleep they need can be helpful. 

In general, we want a calming and consistent bedtime routine. This can be even more helpful for children who are experiencing any fears, which we may see with children who experience nightmares. We would also want to avoid media that can be stressful or fear provoking. This includes not only television but also books and songs. Some of the classic nursery rhymes can be scary or upsetting for our little ones. It can also be helpful to talk about fears during the day, we don’t want to get into things that are going to get our children scared or upset right before bedtime.

If your child is having frequent nightmares or night terrors, it can be helpful to check in with your pediatrician.

You can also consider taking a video of what is happening and keeping a log of your child’s sleep so that you have these to share. The Sleep Foundation suggests you should see a doctor if they are occurring two or more times in a week, they are leading to injury, sleepwalking or talking are also occurring, if sleep is disrupted, if they are tired during the day or have trouble with daily functioning, or if the they start in the teen or adult years.