What are sleep terrors?
Sleep terrors can be very scary for you to watch, but be assured that little ones have no memory of them – so it’s not at all scary for them. Sleep terrors occur during the first half of the night (about 90 minutes to 3 hours after they fell asleep) when your child is in his deepest sleep. About 3% of children get sleep terrors, usually beginning at about 4-years-old, but they can also happen in younger children. During a sleep terror, your child may moan, cry, scream, or thrash around and look very scared. When he wakes up, he will have no memory of what happened – so, it is scary for people watching the sleep terror, but he won’t remember a thing in the morning because he is asleep during all of this! Be sure to keep your child is safe during a sleep terror to make sure he does not harm himself if he is moving around. Also, make sure he is getting enough sleep. Putting him to bed a bit earlier may help. Finally, avoid having a conversation about the sleep terror with your little one – he will have no memory of it.
About Dr. Graham Reid
