What to Do when your Child Experiences Night Terrors

You are awakened by the sound of your screaming child who seems awake but is frozen in bed, terrified of something in the night.  What to do?

These are the typical manifestations of night terrors. Also known as sleep terrors or pavor nocturnus, night terrors are a common sleep problem among children.  They usually occur between 3 and 12 years old, but can also happen at any age.    

Night terrors usually happen early in the night, and starts as a sudden awakening from sleep. It is accompanied by screaming, a feeling of terror or fear, confusion and a rapid heart rate, and the child usually would have no recollection of what happened.  They are usually difficult to wake up, but can return to sleep easily.  

It is different, however, from a nightmare, which happens during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.  Children may or may not scream, but will remember vividly what transpired.  In contrast to night terrors, children having nightmares are easily woken up, and can be comforted.

Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is another common sleep problem among children. For no reason at all, a kid may just wake up, sit up, or actually walk around.  Similar to night terrors, this occurs during non-REM sleep, and the child often does not remember having walked around.  Sleeptalking can also occur with sleepwalking, as well as night terrors.

As this is a scary event for most parents especially the first time it happens, common reactions to a child with night terrors include trying to wake the child up by shaking him or yelling at him. However, because the child does not know what is happening, he is likely to become agitated or even scared as a reaction to your panic.  

 

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Instead of trying to wake up the child, parents could simply offer calm comfort by hugging or cuddling until the child returns to sleep. No medical treatment is usually necessary for routine night terrors since they normally outgrow them with age.  There also seems to be no negative effects on adults who have had night terrors as children.

Night terrors are often triggered by stress, or being tired both physically and emotionally, usually after playing violent videogames, or playing too close to bedtime.  When it’s difficult to put kids to bed, these simple suggestions could be helpful for your child who experiences night terrors:

•    Keep regular sleeping patterns
•    Have a “down time” 30 minutes before bedtime to prepare him for sleep
       o    Turn off the tv, computer and handheld games
       o    Give a glass of warm milk
       o    Give him a warm bath, brushing his teeth
       o    Read him a bedtime story or sing a soothing song
       o    Turn off the lights
•    In the morning, wake them up calmly
•    BE CONSISTENT. Having a regular routine will ease the kids into bedtime
 
For children who get frequent night terrors, it might help to wake your child up before the time that he usually has a night terror. This is thought to interrupt or alter the sleep cycle and prevents night terrors from occurring (it also works for sleepwalking).

If your child gets night terrors, make sure that baby sitters and other caregivers are aware of them and know what they should do if one occurs.  Especially if your child also sleepwalks with the night terrors, it is best to keep them safe while he sleepwalks. Make sure NOT to panic, and do NOT try to wake him up.  Instead, you can clear the hallway or the path he goes through, and gently guide him back to bed.

Above all, when night terrors attack, make your child feel loved, and let him know that you will not leave his side. The security you provide can help ease his fears and diminish these occurrences.


Photo from flickr.com