I am very concerned about my two year old at night. She will start screaming, and when I get to her room she is fighting and you can tell she is not really awake. She will push, hit, kick, and then she will snap out of it and be so terrified of what just happened. She won’t go back to sleep in her own bed (which creates another problem of her being in the bed with us). The other night she was sleep walking and when she realized she wasn’t in her bed she freaked. Is this common? What can I do to help her?

    

I would have a talk with your pediatrician about the sleepwalking, and see what he or she suggests. I know how scary the night terrors are; a little girl whom I used to babysit had them regularly. My cousin had them as well, and ended up in bed with my aunt and uncle nearly every night.

I have her two year old check scheduled for next week, and I will mention it! It is so scary because you can tell she doesn’t have a clue what just happened. I am afraid if I don’t try to hold her while it is going on that she might hurt herself (i.e. hitting her head, falling off the bed).

I have read that it can be a phase, but I am not sure. My husband has severe sleep apnea and does some of the same things. (Between the two of them I don’t sleep much). Is sleep apnea hereditary? Could she be getting it from my husband?

My daughter and my husband also used to have night terrors. My husband outgrew them by the time he hit puberty but I didn't want my daughter to have to wait that long! I quit letting her have sweets after 5 o'clock and she also sleeps with a lavender pillow (actually a teddy bear I stuffed with buds). She is doing much better these days.

I just wanted to throw an update in here. I decided to start setting her tv on a timer at night if she has to have the tv. If she doesn’t I got a Ni Hao Kia Lan (?) night light that plays music and displays on the ceiling. Since we have done that she has not woke up in a night terror. (I hope I didn’t speak too soon). I wonder if maybe something from the tv at night might have caused it.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I talked to my child’s doctor today at her well check about her night terrors. He said that at her age her mind is going 1,000 miles a minute and trying to stop it so she can sleep is hard. He also said that at this age there is nothing that we can really do, other than wait for her to grow out of it.
He did give me some tips though, and I want to share them in case anyone else is going through this.

1. Make sure when she goes to sleep that we re-assure her that she is safe, and make going to bed as pleasant as can be.

2. When she wakes up after a night terror comfort her and re-assure her that everything is ok. Do not let her get in the bed with you unless absolutely necessary since that will create another problem.

3. Make sure when they go to sleep that there is nothing in the bed with them that they could hurt themselves on. (ie toys, cups, bowls) (My child is a notorious hoarder, we find stuff hid everywhere)

4. This is a phase, and it should pass but there is no time frame to determine how long it will last.

I feel better talking to him, but these night terrors are really scary. Thank you all once again for your advice.