my daughter is 2 and she woke up in the middle of the night screaming and yelling( not normal for her) was it a nightmare or a night terror? and what is the difference?
2006-07-07 05:29:14 · 18 answers · asked by tkay 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
she did it 3 times last night!
2006-07-07 07:21:38 · update #1
Nightmares are when you have a bad dream and can explain what happened. A night terror is when a small child has a bad dream and can't explain or doesn't understand what happened. They will eventually grow out of it once they are a little older and can tell you what's going on. All you can do is hold and comfort her until she goes back to sleep. Poor little sweetie. Both of my two have had them before.
2006-07-07 07:30:24 · answer #1 · answered by noseygirl 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Probably just a nightmare. The difference is that a nightmare is a single instance of a bad dream. Night terror is a recurring dream that continues to haunt a person causing major damage to them mentally, physically, and emotionally. Only worry about it being night terrors if she continues to wake up screaming on a regular basis. Other than that, just calm her, reassure her, and put her back to sleep knowing that mommy is there to watch over her.
2006-07-07 12:33:59 · answer #2 · answered by The Shadow 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I took Early Childhood educaion in college and if my memory serves me correctly a night terror is more frightening for a child. They will scream and thrash around and may even seem to be awake but they really aren't. It is best to let the child stay asleep and not wake them up so they can get through the terror on their own. NIght terrors are a result of your childs mind replaying their memories of the day.
Night mares are just bad dreams and the child will not scream and thrash around.
Your daughter probably had a night terror and it is perfectly normal. It suggests her memory is in proper working order. My daughter who is now 3 also had the same experience. I just let her sleep and she quickly got over those night terrors.
Good luck to you.
2006-07-07 12:48:12 · answer #3 · answered by jen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
During a nightmare she'll usually come fully awake and not want you to leave her. During night terrors, which my 5 yr old has suffered from since he was a toddler, they look like they are wide awake but are not actually fully awake. My son actually becomes terrified when he sees me during a night terror, like I've grown two heads or something. He doesn't actually speak clearly at all during a terror then lays down after about 10-15 minutes of screaming and falls back to sleep.
2006-07-11 17:23:32 · answer #4 · answered by J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Night terror", also known as sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from the fourth stage of sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can occasionally be recalled by the subject
common current usage, the term nightmare refers to dreams of particular intensity, with content that the sleeper finds disturbing, related either to physiological causes, such as a high fever, or to psychological ones, such as unusual trauma or stress in the sleeper's life. The occasional body movements seen in nightmares may have a use in awakening the sleeper, thus helping to avoid the frightening dream-situation.
2006-07-07 12:37:36 · answer #5 · answered by momie_2bee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My 2 year old wakes up once and awhile very scared and we have determined that it is a a nightmare and they don't know the difference between a dream and reality. A night terror is when they are screaming and they don't wake up. This is what our child's doctor told us. We just re-assure her and I sit in her room for a while to she falls back to sleep if she is really upset.
2006-07-07 13:01:14 · answer #6 · answered by tigga303 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is kind of hard to explain the difference. But a nightmare is what you have when you are totally in the sleep stage. You are scared but can easily wake up out of it.
A night terror is not so easy to get out of. The couple of times my children have had them it has taken me up to an hour or more of trying to wake them up and calm them before they have stopped screaming and calmed down enough to wake up and be ok.
2006-07-07 12:34:42 · answer #7 · answered by foolnomore2games 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could be night terror, but it may also be an ear infection. If she has a fever, is nauseous and "pawing" at her ear, take her to the Dr. immediately. Those ear infections hurt like all get out!
Her pediatrician can explain nightmare vs. night terror.
Don't ask people on yahoo to give you pediatric medical care advice, but go right to her doctor. Most of the folks who post and respond on yahoo are kids, themselves.
2006-07-07 12:34:35 · answer #8 · answered by sweetsinglemom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nightmare is occasional, and ends upon waking. Night terrors are often and you do not wake, even though you can see and walk around, you are not awake yet. There are bad, be careful that you do not hurt the child if you try to wake him.
2006-07-07 12:34:53 · answer #9 · answered by Terrence J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my opinion is a nightmare is something that happens once in a while, and a night terror is the same dream every night or almost every night--- not sure if that is the exact definition, but thats my thought
2006-07-07 12:40:31 · answer #10 · answered by angelcdm228 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋