Can Night Terrors Get Really Dangerous?

Why do toddlers get night terrors?

• Our eldest (just turned 3) has started to experience quite severe 'night terrors' approx an hour after he goes to sleep in the evening. These can last up to 10 minutes and involve him sittting bolt up right in bed and talking gibberish, then shaking or running around whilst acting petrified with hysterical crying. We're wondering if this is linked to an event (we don't know about) or just his age? It's horrible to watch and we feel helpless.

• Answer:

  Research shows that night terrors usually occur when the child is overtired. Put your toddler to bed earlier, before they show signs of being tired. By that point it is usually too late. Also, make sure your child gets a good nap at midday at possible, not later in the afternoon, as this can interfere with bedtime. A great book that I recommend to all parents in understanding sleep cycles and how to encourage longer sleep in a gentle way (it absolutely helped me) is "Sleepless in America - Is Your Child Misbehaving, or Missing Sleep?" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. There is some eye-opening information in there about how to find your child's sleep window and make bedtimes easier. Also, your toddler usually won't remember anything about the night terror the next day, so don't bother having a long discussion, asking what's wrong over and over, or trying to soothe that much. It seemed with my kids that anything that I tried to do to overtly soothe just made it worse. In the end, what worked best was to just be in the same room, not touching or holding, but letting the night terror run its course. Basically, they are asleep and in a dream state. The best guess is that by being overtired, this disrupts their REM cycles. Good luck getting more rest!