Night Terrors and Nightmares

Night terrors may sound like something that requires professional help , they are actually normal and fairly common in children. Experts say they occur during the deepest part of the sleep cycle, about an hour or two after the child falls asleep.

Nightmares are scary dreams. Most children have them from time to time. One out of every 4 children has nightmares more than once a week. Most nightmares happen very late in the sleep period (usually between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.). Your child may wake up and come to you for comfort. Usually, he or she will be able to tell you what happened in the dream and why it was scary. Your child may have trouble going back to sleep. Your child might have the same dream again on other nights.

What causes night terrors?

An interruption in the normal sleep cycle causes night terrors. Since it is during stage-3 and stage-4 sleep that children experience these bouts of terror much differently than they do in a nightmare. Nightmares occur during earlier sleep stages, especially REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and children do not appear awake. There is a link between night terrors and stressful situations or lack of sleep. Problems at home or school can also be to blame.

What can I do?

It's helpful to know that although these events may be disturbing for you, night terrors themselves are not harmful to your child. But because a child may get out of bed and run around the room, doctors do advise parents to gently restrain a child experiencing night terrors.

How to help a child during a night terror?

Protect your child against injury. During a night terror, a child can fall down a stairway, run into a wall, or break a window. Try to gently direct your child back to bed.Prepare babysitters for these episodes. Explain to people who care for your child what a night terror is and what to do if one happens. Try to prevent night terrors. A night terror can be triggered if your child becomes overly-tired. Be sure your child goes to bed at a regular time, and early enough to give him/her enough sleep. Younger children may need to return to a daily nap.

Symptoms

Children who have night terrors are usually described as 'bolting upright' with their eyes wide open, with a look of fear and panic, and letting out a 'blood curdling scream'. These kids will usually also be sweating, breathing fast and have a rapid heart rate (autonomic signs). And although it will seem like they are awake, during a night terror, children will appear confused, will not be consolable and won't recognize you.

What is the Treatment?

It would be wise to see the doctor if the nightmares or night terrors are frequent, severe, disruptive, dangerous, happen at an unusual age or seem to affect your child’s performance during the day by causing sleepiness. It is important to rule out an underlying medical disorder related to sleep such as sleep apnea (snoring, stopping breathing and working hard to breathe), heartburn, epilepsy (very stereotyped features, most of the night, several times a night) and periodic limb movements (the child complains about pains in the limbs). These can cause a partial arousal, which may lead to a night terror.