I think my son had night terrors last night...HELP!

[dreamBIG]

Hello all. Last night my four year old son started having a tantrum in his sleep. His eyes were closed the whole time and he would not respond when I asked him what was wrong. He was struggling when I tried to hold him and comfort him. Sometimes he got more agitated when he heard my voice. This went on for about 15 minutes....then started again a little while later. Finally, his daddy went to lay down with him and he went back to sleep. This has never happened before. I was so scared, I did not know what to do. Has anyone had any experience with this before? Is it normal? What should I do if it happens again? Should I try to wake him up? I would appreciate any advice, I felt so helpless. Thanks in advance.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

If you pray with your child before they sleep, that will stop the nightmares.

If they misbehave during the day that causes nightmares too, tell them to be good.

[justjenny]

If you pray with your child before they sleep, that will stop the nightmares. Sometimes scary movies can cause children to have nightmares.

Night terrors are different than nightmares. They affect boys more than girls.

My son had them at age 3 - eyes wide open, screaming his head off at whatever he thought he saw....he was completely asleep! We would turn on his light and call his name, sometimes we could hold him and gently try to wake him...other times we stayed at his bedside until he settled a bit more. He never had a memory of any event, and when he awoke was as sleepy and as calm as if he hadn't had the event.

Weird.

He outgrew them in about a year or so...

Jenny