Night Terrors: A horror movie comes to life
"I awoke to a blood-curdling scream," recalls Michele Carroll of Gloucester County. "Before I could wipe the sleep from my eyes, I found myself running down the hall. I wasn't sure what to expect as I followed the sounds to my son Michael's room.
Carroll found her son sitting in bed rocking and mumbling. His body was trembling as sweat poured from his face. His eyes were open, but he wasn't seeing a thing. "My first instinct was to put my arms around him," she says. "But as I went to touch him, he threw his body back violently and screamed. He began to flail his arms and legs as if being attacked by something horrible."
The next 20 minutes were filled with uncontrollable crying and seizure-like movements. Suddenly Michael fell back to sleep, and the episode ended as quickly as it started. The next morning, he had no memory of what happened.
What are night terrors?
What you should do
What are night terrors?
Carroll didn't know at the time, but her son had experienced a sudden awakening from sleep known as a night terror. A night terror is a sleeping disorder that primarily occurs in boys between ages 3 and 7. "Night terrors are usually short lived, lasting 10 to 30 minutes," explains
John M. Tedeschi, MD, chief of pediatrics at Virtua West Jersey Hospitals.
The part that Carroll found the most disturbing was her inability to comfort Michael. "Some nights he would cry my name, and I'd be sitting right beside him. All of the things I did in the past to comfort him didn't work. It was a parent's nightmare." Dr. Tedeschi says: "Even though the youngster may not be fully awake or aware, it's important for the child to sense the parent's presence."
In contrast to the nightmares that most children experience, night terrors are far more intense and are marked by symptoms like Michael's: uncontrollable screaming or sobbing, flailing or thrashing, rapid breathing and sweating, inability to waken or comfort, disorientation and confusion, and no memory of the incident.
The two types of dreams occur during different sleep cycles. Nightmares happen during the dream phase known as rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Night terrors, on the other hand, usually occur during the slow-wave sleep or non-REM sleep.
What you should do
While the cause is unknown, night terrors are commonly associated with stress. Some parents find it helpful to enforce a wind-down time before bed. Carroll helps Michael relax with soothing music. She discourages him from watching TV and playing video games before bed. She's also limited his snacks to one hour before bed since there appears to be a connection between night terrors and certain foods with caffeine such as chocolate.
Dr. Tedeschi, named a Top Doc by
Philadelphia Magazine, says that night terrors are frightening to parent and child alike, but they rarely require professional help. He says: "They typically disappear as children enter the teen years." He does caution, however, that if they become more frequent or intense, a parent may want to consult a physician. One place to begin is the Virtua/duPont children's health program, which offers pediatric specialty care for a range of conditions.