It is late into\nthe night. You are awakened by your child\u2019s incessant screams, and upon rushing\nto his room, you see him sitting up in bed, seemingly awake but looking dazed\nand confused. Talking to him does not seem to elicit a response, and neither do\nyour attempts to comfort him. A situation like this would usually make you conclude\nthat all your little one had was a bad dream and encourage him to go back to\nsleep. But is there more than meets the eye?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What may seem\nlike a common nightmare on the surface may actually be night terror, which exhibits\nsimilarities to nightmares but takes place on a far more dramatic scale. Humans\nspend about roughly a third of their lives sleeping, and this percentage is\nsignificantly higher for kids in their infancy and early childhood phases of\ndevelopment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said,\nwhile sleep \u2013 especially quality sleep \u2013 is vital to the physical and mental\ngrowth in children, sleep disorders and problems are also very prevalent and\nstrike across the age spectrum. According to experts, sleep disorders affect 25\nto 50 percent of babies aged six to 12 months, and 15 to 20 percent of\ntoddlers. So how can parents decipher between nightmares and night terrors to\nensure their child\u2019s forty winks is not compromised?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knowing The Enemies Of Slumber<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unbeknown to\nmany parents, night terrors, also known as sleep terrors, are common, with an\nestimated one to six percent of young children experiencing them at least once,\naccording to WebMD. The disorder usually afflicts kids aged between three to 12\nyears old but has been reported to affect infants as young as 18 months. By 12\nyears of age or sooner, the problem usually resolves itself. Unlike nightmares,\nwhich tend to occur during REM sleep in the early morning, night terrors\ntypically strike in the late evening during non-REM sleep, which is when the\nchild is transitioning into lighter sleep or even wakefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another key\ndifference between nightmares and night terrors is that in the former, kids are\nable to recall what spooked them, while in the case of night terrors, they\noften will have no recollection of the event in the morning as there were no\nmental images to recall. All these make night terrors a source of distress and\nfear for parents witnessing the sleep problem for the first time, and it\u2019s no\nwonder that these events have historically been attributed to demon possession\nor other paranormal activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Terror Triggers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Classified as a\nparasomnia along with other disorders like sleepwalking, night terrors are\ncaused by over-arousal of the central nervous system (CNS) during sleep, and\ncan be triggered by a myriad of factors, including sleep deprivation and\nextreme tiredness, stress, sleep schedule disruptions, fever, and certain\nmedications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There also appears\nto be a genetic predisposition to having this type of parasomnia. A study that\nlooked at 323 pairs of twins showed six times the incidence in identical versus\nfraternal twins, and another study revealed more than twice the likelihood of\nnight terrors in the child of a sleepwalking parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A night terror\nepisode usually takes place one to two hours after your child goes to sleep,\nand typically lasts between 10 to 20 minutes, where your child may scream or\ntalk wildly, have faster breathing and a quicker heartbeat, thrash around,\nappear red-faced and sweat profusely, or even jump out of bed as if fleeing\nfrom some invisible monster. It may seem like your child is awake, but they are\ntypically inconsolable and might not even recognise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taming The Terror<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Night terrors\ncan be very upsetting for parents, who might feel helpless that they are unable\nto comfort their child. Remember that while intense, the episodes are fleeting\nand harmless, so be patient, stay calm, and wait it out while ensuring that\nyour child is safe. Try not to intervene or interact with them, since it will\nprobably be futile and may even agitate them further, making it harder for them\nto fall back asleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should you be able to wake your child up during a night terror, chances are he is scared and agitated, mostly because of your own reaction to the night terror in the process of shaking or yelling at him to wake up. Instead of trying to wake a child who\u2019s having a night terror, it is usually best to just ensure that he is safe, comfort him, and allow him to fall back asleep once the episode is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis article was first published in the Parents World Magazine, Issue 72<\/em><\/pre>\n