Your little one often has trouble falling asleep, so tonight, you’re lying beside them until they drift off. But all of a sudden, they cry out, and their eyes jerk open. They begin to thrash their arms and legs about, and their breath sounds very heavy. Naturally, you’re frightened. You try to comfort them, but they don’t seem to hear you and begin to push you away. What’s happening? Is your child okay?

What your child is experiencing is a night terror. Night terrors can be truly frightening to witness, but they’re not unusual in kids—around 15% of us will experience night terrors at some point in our childhood years. But they’re certainly rather strange, so let’s attempt to demystify these peculiar occurrences.

What are night terrors?

Night terrors are mysterious sleep episodes, quite different from a nightmare or a bad dream. During a night of terror, the sleeper will likely wake suddenly with a scream or cry. While their eyes might be open and their pupils dilated, they won’t see their surroundings. They may hyperventilate, thrash around, and even jump out of bed and rush about the room.

Although the episode will be frightening to witness, your child is neither awake nor frightened. They’re stuck in a zone between two sleep cycles that should come to a stop within a few minutes (though an extreme night terror can last up to 30 minutes). Come morning, they’ll likely have no idea the night terror took place at all.

Night terrors generally happen in the first half of the night, when we get the majority of our deep sleep.

So, why does my child have night terrors?

Though the exact cause of night terrors is unknown, they have been linked to the following:

An erratic sleep schedule
Being overtired
Periods of intense emotions and stress
Fever

Now that we have a better understanding of what might cause night terrors, let’s explore how to prevent and respond to them.

How should I prevent and respond to night terrors?

To a certain extent, night terrors cannot be prevented. There are, however, a few things you can do to reduce their severity and the number of episodes.

A peaceful bedtime routine

It may seem obvious, but it’s important to remember that children benefit from being put to bed at the same time in a calm, quiet environment.

Your response

Our natural response when seeing a frightened child is to hold and comfort them. The trouble is, your child isn’t actually awake or aware of your presence, and trying to hold them might only cause them to thrash even more. They may even push you away or attempt to fight you off, which can be very unsettling for a parent. You might try a gentle pat or back rub and a series of soothing ‘shh’ sounds. If your child sits up or gets out of bed, do your best to lead them back and into a lying position. The goal is to keep them safe from falling out of bed, down the stairs, or crashing into walls and furniture.

Don’t worry, your child

Children won’t generally be aware of their night terrors, let alone remember them, so it’s best not to raise the subject. Doing so might only upset them or cause bedtime anxiety.

However, it is important that you let any babysitters or family members who tend to your child know to expect night terrors. Tell them how best to deal with an episode while making sure your little one isn’t nearby, catching snippets of a conversation that will surely confuse them.

What do I need to know and do about night-terrors?

From Unii’s Toddler Sleep Journey, we share what you need to know and do about night terrors.