Avoid poor sleep due to night terrors in babies
Author Name: Heidi Holvoet, PhD
Medical fact-check: Dr Leah Alexander, M.D., F.A.A.P.
Dreams - Nightmares - Night Terrors
A night terror
,
also
called confusional arousal or sleep terror, is not a dream. It is
a state,
how a baby or
child feels and reacts when waking up from a deep
sleep
. This makes it very different from a
nightmare
.
Confusional arousal is usually
harmless
and does not disturb baby much. But it may be frightening for you and
disrupt naps and nights. Good to note also that these are not seizures.
More common from 4 years and up, night terrors can happen from the age of 18 months old and some parents of even younger babies have reported them too, though they've not necessarily been medically verified. If you'd like to read more about night terrors, have a look at this article and this one .
How to recognize night terrors
Sleep terrors happen
a
couple of hours after going to sleep
.
Your baby
will
seem awake with
eyes wide open and often be panicky, and scream
.
She'll appear
confused
,
sometimes anxious and may sweat and breathe
more heavily than usual.
It will probably be more
scary for you than for your baby. She won't even remember nor will she
notice you or react to you.
After a couple of minutes, she'll go back and drift off again - or in
some cases
wake up normally for a night feed.
Help your baby sleep well anyway
To
avoid night
terrors
, make sure your baby doesn't get overtired:
fatigue is an important trigger.
What you can do:
- Go into her room straight away. Don't be frightened because she doesn't react to you. Do not try to wake her up either but make sure she does not get hurt when trying to sit, stand or moving arms and legs about. Tuck her in once she's calmed down and went back to sleep.
-
If
your baby has very frequent terrors, you can try to
break the pattern with the
following technique
.
For a few nights (weeks if they are not that frequent) write down at what time the terrors start. You will normally discover a certain pattern and a time slot in which a terror typically occurs. Then, for a few nights (even if you are not sure there will be a terror) gently wake up your baby about 20-30 minutes before that time slot.
Sit up with her for a few moments, talk to her softly and then put her back down to sleep again. If she is not easily awakened like this, you can try changing her diaper but avoid 'too exciting' activities or it may be difficult to get her back to sleep again ...
This short wake time can help change her sleep pattern and that can avoid the confusional arousal after a while.
- Consult your doctor or pediatrician if the terrors continue to be very frequent.
Dreams - Nightmares - Night Terrors
Article Author: Heidi Holvoet, PhD - Founder, senior sleep consultant
Heidi Holvoet, PhD, is the founder of the Baby Sleep Advice website and movement, an award-winning author, baby & toddler sleep consultant with 15+ years experience as well as a certified lactation counselor.
Over the years, Heidi has received several awards inluding a Mom's Choice Award (MCA) and National Parenting Awards (NAPPA) for her Baby Sleep Advice website, programs and books. Also, Baby Sleep Advice was awarded "Most Trusted Infant's Sleep Solutions Company 2023" in the Benelux Enterprise Awards 2023.
Heidi continually conducts personal research and participates in continued education and in that way stays up to date with current scientific and pyschosocial infant care.
She is also a member of the Association of Professional Sleep Consultants of which she was one of the earliest contributors. She obtained her PhD degree in physics at the University of Ghent in Belgium.
Heidi is passionate about helping babies and their parents sleep more and better, with her trademark approach that has been proven and praised time and again by parents worldwide to be effective and truly no-tears. Respect for you as a parent and your baby, is at the heart of Heidi's warm and kind support. Her approach always keeps in mind a baby's needs and abilities at any given age, is based on pediatric science and the most up to date knowledge in infant care and sleep science.
As well as the award-winning baby sleep programs, Heidi offers popular 1:1 consults and easy-access 30-minute SOS Sleep sessions.

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