HANDLING SLEEP TERRORS
B Y  J O D I  M I N D E L L ,  P H . D .
 

IT'S AN HOUR after your child has fallen asleep and all of a sudden you hear a blood-curdling scream. Your child is frantic and unconsolable. Is she having a nightmare? No, it's probably a sleep terror. Sleep terrors, or night terrors as they are often called, are dramatic and quite distressing to witness. They are common in preschool-aged
and elementary-school aged children.

Sleep terrors often begin with a scream or shout and your child will look terrified and be extremely agitated. During the frenzied event, children may hurt themselves or someone trying to calm them. As disturbing and frightening as
these events appear to the observer, children having them usually are totally unaware of what they are doing. In fact, sleep terrors are much worse to watch than to experience.

For the child, a sleep terror is less traumatic than a typical nightmare or bad dream. An easy way to distinguish between sleep terrors and nightmares is to determine who is more upset the next morning. If your child is more upset, then it was a nightmare. If you are more upset, then it was a sleep terror. About 5 percent of children have sleep terrors, with most sleep terrors occurring when the child is between 5 and 7 years, although both younger and older children can also have them (note, most    children do outgrow them by puberty). And, sleep terrors run in families. Studies find that 96 percent of children who have sleep terrors have another family member who has experienced sleep terrors or sleepwalking.

Once you know about sleep terrors, they are usually easy to identify. First, they almost always occur within one to two hours after falling asleep. So, if your child goes to bed at 8:00, the sleep terror will occur between 9:00            and 10:00. Some parents can even predict the exact time that they will occur, such as at 9:20. Second, your child will probably have no memory of these events. The reason is because she is essentially asleep. A child who is               experiencing a sleep terror is basically stuck halfway between asleep and awake. And, last, during these events most children avoid being comforted. They may get more upset if you talk to them and try to calm them down. This
can be the hardest part for parents.

It is also important to understand what sleep terrors are not. Sleep terrors are not nightmares. Your child is not dreaming during these events, although it may look it. Sleep terrors are also not an indication that your child has some serious psychological problem, or even that she is upset about something.
 

CAUSES

We don't know what exactly causes sleep terrors or why children look frightened during them. They are actually the same thing as sleepwalking, but just more dramatic. What we do know is that there are certain things that               make sleep terrors more likely to occur.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION.
Not getting enough sleep is the number one reason that a child has a sleep terror. If your child doesn't get enough
sleep on Saturday night, on Sunday night he is more likely to have an episode.

FEVER OR ILLNESS.
A high fever or being sick can cause sleep terrors. The higher the fever, the more likely an event will happen.

STRANGE PLACES.
Sleeping at grandma's house, a friend's house, or any strange place can lead to a sleep terror.

STRESSFUL TIMES.
Sleep terrors often occur during periods of stress. It is not the stress itself that causes the sleep problems, but the sleep deprivation that often goes along with it. If you are moving, going through a divorce, or there has been a death in the family, your child may not be getting to bed as early as you would like and may not be getting enough sleep. If your child is worrying before falling asleep, he also may not be getting the sleep he needs. Whenever this happens, sleep terrors are more likely to occur.

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