Parenting Advice: Night Terrors in Childhood

Q. "My seven year old boy sometimes awakens screaming in the middle of the night. When we go into his room he is sitting straight up in bed, staring straight ahead. We try to calm him down but he isn't even aware that we are in his room. After a few minutes, he goes back to sleep. If we awaken him, he doesn't even know why we're there, as he remembers nothing about his dream."

A. Your little boy doesn't remember his dream because he wasn't dreaming. It sounds as if he's experiencing night terrors.

Scientists have studied brain wave (EEG) patterns, and concluded that we go through a series of four stages while falling asleep. We start at stage one and progress through the third and fourth stages. Within about 90 minutes we go into our deepest sleep.

It is interesting to note that we don't dream during any of these stages. If you awaken someone during this time, they probably won't remember anything. The only thing they may say is that they were "thinking".

As the four stages fade, we fall into a totally different sleep mode known as "rapid eye movement" (REM). This is the time in which we dream. If you could watch someone during REM sleep, you'd see their eyes darting from side to side. Throughout the night we go in and out of REM sleep. We usually dream for approximately 45 minutes before returning to non- REM sleep, which lasts for an hour or so, and then back to a REM sleep state. As the night progresses the non-REM stages become lighter. This explains an old saying, "an hour before midnight is worth two after".

Nightmares occur while we are dreaming. They can be as real and as frightening as a Hollywood thriller.

Night terrors are something different altogether. They happen in stage four of sleep. Sleepwalkers and talkers are active during this stage as well. No one knows what causes night terrors, but fortunately most children do outgrow them. Sometimes stress seems to amplify them.

Hearing your child screaming in terror is distressing to you and the rest of the family, but luckily your child is in no danger. Your best strategy, if you can handle it, is to just leave him be. You've already said that he goes back to sleep on his own. Use the same methods for sleepwalkers as well. Determine that he isn't in danger of falling downstairs or out a window, or any other harm, and he'll soon return to bed.

Night terrors usually occur in children from 3 to 6 years of age, but sometimes go a little later. They are not an indication of any problem. You would actually be better to get your own rest during these occurrences, difficult as it sounds.

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Dr. Noel Swanson is a leading expert on child behaviour. He has a fascinating website with lots of expert parenting advice that is well worth a visit. More of his articles can be found here: free articles on parenting
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