What’s the difference between a nightmare and a night terror?
Nightmares are bad dreams that wake us from sleep and often make it difficult to go back to sleep. Sleep terrors, sometimes called night terrors, “is a sleep disorder that occurs when a person sits up in bed with a loud scream or cry and a look of intense fear… The person tends to be unresponsive and will be confused and disoriented if awakened. Attempts to console the person may prolong or intensify the episode…” (American Academy of Sleep Medicine Parasomnia Factsheet).
If we work together for support with night terrors, what kinds of things will we talk about?
We will review physical conditions that may be associated with night terrors, so that you could address them with your child’s doctor if appropriate.
We will talk about stress levels in the home and review options for managing stress throughout the home that might be contributing to the night terrors.
We will review medications to see how they might be impacting sleep.
We will talk about sleep hygiene and see what we can control to help your child to get enough sleep: “It is recommended to have your child maintain a regular sleep schedule 7 days a week and achieve age appropriate number of hours of sleep per night. In some children, sleep terrors may persist despite maintaining healthy sleep habits. If this occurs, it may be advantageous to gently wake your child about 15 minutes prior to the typical timing of the sleep terror. This may stop the event from occurring. If the events continue and are distressing to the family, the doctor may suggest medications. Fortunately, sleep terrors tend to go away on its own as children enter the teen years.” (https://sleepeducation.org/sleep-disorders/sleep-terrors/)
We will go over ways to support you during the night terror, such as:
Reviewing home safety
Finding ways to calm yourselves to reduce chances of escalating the situation
Finding soothing statements to say, such as “You are all right. You are home in your own bed. You can rest now.”
References:
American Academy of Sleep Medicine Nightmares & Parasomnia Fact Sheet
American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Understanding Parasomnias Brochure
American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Sleep Education site on Sleep Terrors
Children’s Hospital Colorado includes “Steps to help your child through a night terror”
Stanford Children’s Health: Nightmares and Night Terrors
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Nightmares and Night Terrors
AI disclaimer: This blog post was written by Lara Elfstrand, the Sleep Elf and a real human being. AI was used only to create titles and SEO titles/descriptions.
Related Content
Finding Your Child’s Ideal Bedtime
Strategies for Managing Stress: Completing Stress Cycles
#1 Secret to Healthy Relationships
Belly Breathing to Manage Stress and Anxiety and for Gut Health
Understanding Gatekeeping in Parenting
Boosting Melatonin Without Supplements
