Is my daughter having a nightmare or a night terror?

Question

She falls asleep normally and about an hour after she is asleep she starts talking and sobbing in her sleep. When I wake her to ask what is wrong she says she doesn't know and she can't remember what she was dreaming about. If I ask her in the morning what she was dreaming about she is very adamant and gets a little upset that she doesn't know and can't remember. I talked to our family Dr. and he said to write down what she is talking about in her sleep to get a better idea of what is bothering her and go from there. It just really upsets me when she is crying like that. Any one have any advice? Thanks

Answer 1

Can you wake her? Have you ever tried? I'm not sure but I think I've heard that if you can easily wake them it's a nightmare, and if you can't it's a night terror.

Answer 2

My daughter was chased by a dog when she was 2 and for a month after she had night terrors. ( I know they were night terrors because I took her to the doctor) The first time scared the hell out of me. She was asleep in my bed and started crying, so I woke her up, or I thought she was awake! She then stared acrossed and started screaming for me to get the dog, I tried explaining to her that there was no dog, and then all of the sudden her eyes got huge and ahe screamed at the top of her lungs and started shaking uncontrollably! The only way I could calm her was to run out of the room with her and I ran to the bathroom and splashed water on her face to wake her! And she did it all night long, if I moved my leg under the covers, she started screaming at me to get the dog off her!!! I eventually kept a bowl of water by the bed so that I'd be able to wake her. The night terrors lasted about a month, but she is still terrified of dogs to this day! SO if your childs dreams aren't like this and to this degree, I'd think its safe to call them a nightmare!!!

Answer 3

From what I understand about night terrors, its nearly impossible to wake a child from them. It sounds like she's just having nightmares. If it's always happening at the same time (her first cycle through REM) then you could try going in and gently waking her about a half an hour after she falls asleep and then allowing her to fall back to sleep. That may be enough to disrupt the pattern and allow her a more gentle night's sleep.

Answer 4

I think your doctor gave you good advise. Especially if she doesn't remember when you wake her up. If you need to you can even put a baby monitor in her room. When she starts talking you can hear that way without waking her. Once you get an idea of what's going on of course wake her asap.

My son has night terrors, but he doesn't wake up when he's crying. It's very hard to get him fully awake. Usually I just pat him and talk to him and he'll settle down. Sometimes I do pick him up and rock him. It seems to get worse when he's teething.

See if you can't pick up something in your lives that makes the situation worse. Or, something new. Like her school or a dance class...or a new friend...

Answer 5

A nightmare is a bad dream in which the child can be woken up. A night terror is a deep level of sleep that makes it impossible to wake up the child. I purchased my son a special stuffed animal that I told him would be with him if he has a bad dream. It seemed to help.

Answer 6

how old is she?does she wake up crying shaking and is she hard to calm down? does she fall back to sleep with no problems once the first episode takes place? this is exactly what my son did and the dr. said it was dreams but in fact it was nocturnal siezures! his speach and behavoir are now horrible from them going on for so long and not being treated.it stared at 2 and we changed dr.'s when he was 5.thats when we found out.sometimes dr.'s even those you have seen your whole life have to be second guessed. good luck.

Answer 7

I think that's classified as a nightmare.

Night terrors are quicker, like when you wake and are just really really freaked out but have no idea why. Hers seems to be lasting longer than night terrors (meaning she's talking and upset actually in her sleep, not upon waking).

Answer 8

sounds like a nightmare to me. with night terrors the person feels like it is actually happening, and even though might seem awake they really aren't. they walk around and even have conversations with you. i know this one girl who seen bugs coming out of the corners of her room and they would surround her and the flowers on her bedspread would come to life and try eating her. all this was happening while she was awake (or so we thought). my nephew said there was a guy in his room and he was following him through the house. it was only me and his mom there but he didn't know it was us he thought we were strangers trying to help him find his way home.

if you are able to wake her up that easily then it is just dreaming. if she wakes up and looks bewildered or like she looking off into space but having a conversation then she will be having a night terror