Will my child grow out of night terrors?

Any parent who has witnessed their child experiencing a night terror will testify to how distressing it can be.

Night terrors are brief episodes, usually lasting up to 15 minutes, where your child might scream, sweat, appear terrified, and move around before abruptly falling back asleep. Different from nightmares, which happen during REM sleep and can be remembered, night terrors usually occur in the early part of the night during deep, non-REM sleep. They are not technically dreams, but a sudden fear reaction driven by the fight-or-flight stress response and resulting spike in adrenaline.

Despite often having their eyes open, your child is not fully awake and will not recognize you during an episode. Because of this, waking your child from this state to comfort them can leave them more disoriented and confused, and they will take longer to settle back down.

NO CAUSE FOR ALARM

Episodes can be triggered by stress, tiredness, a change in sleep schedule, medication, or a fever and are more likely to occur in girls than boys. Studies in twins suggest a genetic component, and there is also a link with sleepwalking—research shows that a child of two parents who are, or were, sleepwalkers is more likely to experience night terrors, and around one-third of children who have terrors develop sleepwalking as they grow older.

No matter how alarming a night terror may be for you as a parent, rest assured that they won’t do your child any lasting physical or psychological harm—children rarely remember episodes. The most common age for children to experience night terrors is 2–4 years, but they can continue until age 12; reassuringly, most children grow out of them by the time they reach their teens.

Life Stages | Will my child grow out of night terrors?

HOW TO HELP

In some children, night terrors happen at roughly the same time each night, so it can help to gently wake your child shortly before an anticipated episode. Because they have been in a deep sleep, they will likely fall asleep again very quickly. Try doing this for seven consecutive nights; this can be enough to break the pattern without affecting their overall sleep quality.

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