Night Terrors and Nightmares in Children. What’s The Difference?

Night terrors and nightmares are both sleep disturbances that can affect children, and can be just as frightening and alarming for the parents! The two have distinct differences in terms of when they happen, what happens and how they affect your little one. Let’s look at each of them, with tips on how best to deal with them in the moment and during the daytime too.

Night Terrors

Night terrors are most common in ages 3-7 years. As horrible as they are for parents, the child themselves often has no memory of them at all in the morning and will eventually outgrow them.

When do they happen?

• Typically occur during the first few hours of sleep, often within the first third of the night.
• Can happen multiple times a night 
• Happen during deep sleep

What happens?

• Your child may suddenly sit up, get out of bed, scream, and appear scared. They could even move around the room, but are still actually asleep! 
• They might have a rapid heartbeat, sweating, and be difficult to wake up or comfort
• Their eyes may be open, but they’re actually not really awake and are likely unaware of your presence
• Lasts a few minutes to half an hour and the child often settles back to sleep without fully waking up or acknowledging you’re there

What should you do in the moment? 

• Stay with your child and keep them safe if they are moving around 
• Don’t wake them up as this can make them more distressed 
• If they are having night terrors at the same time every night you could try waking them briefly 15 minutes before to reset their sleep cycle and try to avoid the night terror 

 

Nightmares

Nightmares can happen from around age 2, but peak around age 3 to 6. Unlike night terrors, children will often remember nightmares and may talk about them the next day. All children have nightmares now and again, but frequent nightmares can be a sign that your little one has a lot on their mind. 

When do they happen?

• Usually happen in the second half of the night.
• Occur during REM sleep, which is when most dreaming happens.

What happens?

• The child may wake up fully from sleep, often feeling scared or upset and shouting for their caregivers
• They can usually describe what happened in their nightmare, which is often vivid and frightening.
• The child may want comfort and cuddles and might have difficulty falling back asleep

What should you do in the moment? 

• • Unlike with night terrors, they will be fully awake and able to have a conversation with you so reassure them that they are safe, it was just a dream and none of it is real
  • Lots of cuddles and comfort to help them get back to sleep 

 

What can you do during the day to help both night terrors and nightmares? 

• Try slowing down bedtime, and avoid screens before bed 
• Keep a sleep diary of things you’ve done in the day, foods eaten etc to see if you can spot any patterns 
• Try to identify anything in your child’s life that might be causing worry or anxiety. It could be something big such as change of nursery or school, moving house, changes to the family setup etc. Or it may be something that seems small to us – a fall out with a friend or an upcoming spelling test. Whatever it is, big or small, talking about these topics and offering reassurance can help them be more peaceful in sleep overnight

 

If you’re struggling with your little one’s sleep, we’d love to help. Take a look at our courses or 1:1 consultations, or get in touch if you’re not sure where to start!