Night terrors

A night terror is a parasomnia that can occur in some kids while they are in a particular stage of sleep usually before midnight. During a night terror, it may look like a nightmare. Your child may be yelling "NO!" "STOP!" or some other scary, distressed phrase. They may be walking around, sitting up, thrashing around. To be honest, it can look like they are possessed (I have personal experience with this). 

Lots of people think wake ups are night terrors when they're not. How you know if it's a TRUE night terror is if you walk in the room and your child does not notice your presence. They are actually still asleep so they will not notice you at all. They will not be saying "MOM", they will not respond to you at all. Even if you try and touch then, they may stay asleep and not register you're there at all. That is the sign of a true night terror. And once it's over, they're back dead asleep like nothing happened. 

It's best NOT to wake them up. Apparently it can be very jarring to the child if they're awakened during a night terror. So, don't talk, don't try to wake them, just watch them and try to keep them safe so they don't trip over something or get hurt in their room. They will fall back to sleep quickly and have no memory of it in the morning. 

Some kids are more prone to them than others. These kids also tend to be sleep walkers. So, watch out for that behavior, too. 

If you see night terrors happening frequently, you may notice that they typically start around the same time of night. If you see this pattern, you can try and gently jostle your child before the night terror usually starts. You don't have to wake them up fully but just jostle them around and make them roll over a little so it disrupts their sleep cycle and can prevent the night terror from happening. 

Otherwise, just wait it out, they usually won't happen every night and they outgrow them. 

They can also be a sign of being overtired so try bedtime 15-minutes early for a few nights and see if that helps.

Here is some more information about distinguishing between nightmares & might terrors: Toddler Nightmares vs. Night Terrors