My daughter will be 6 in February and has started having nightmares/night terrors during the night. I know it’s common to have bad nights with dreams and that you can’t avoid it, but when it’s happening, every night, I feel terrible for my daughter. When I ask what the dream was about she doesn’t remember (shes practically still sleeping/sleepwalking)
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She needs an evaluation asap
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My daughter had these i kid you not she was dressed to warm for bed time when i dressed her cooler she didn’t have them
…might try?
No caffeine or sweets after 4pm or 6 pm
She has an active imagination
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She needs to be evaluated. Now.
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Both my younger 2 sons experienced this around that age, it was horrible they would wake up screaming and crying but would look straight past me and be twitchy it took ages to settle them, they were still sound asleep i think and neither could remember anything the next day. They had it a handful of times over about a year then stopped completely. They were both extremely energetic kids at that age which I’m sure had something to do with it, it always seemed to happen after very busy and exhausting days x
Find out if you home is haunted! That is usually the culprit for constant night terrors. Everyone always wants a doctor to evaluate and give pills for stuff like that, that’s not the fking answer smh your child is not crazy!
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Dont listen to Star Jasmine Serrano she seems angry &have no idea how an evaluation goes.it has absolutely nothing to do with pills or medication. She needs an evaluation asap! U wanna get it done now b4 it becomes a major uncontrollable problem
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A few of my kids are sleepwalkers & was told never to try to wake them & that it is hereditary.No they don’t remember the next day when you ask them.I have one that wakes up crying everytime talking about some crazy stuff.Sometimes they understand you when you talk to them & sometimes they don’t.When they don’t understand you I take them by the hand & back to bed.I always ask if they are tired & if they do underatand they normally say yes & when they say yes then I know they understand & I tell them just to go back to bed.Never yell at them cause it might startle them.I have been through a few night terror ones & I just lay down with them or have them sit/lay with me.Night terrors could be cause they are really tired & could probably be going through that sleep paralysis which could be very scary for a child to experience.I have dealt with some of those myself & it is scary & only happens when you are very tired & your body is fully relaxed.I have discussed these things with my kids doctors.Yes they can do research with your kids if you want to put them through that ir just figure out how to handle it yourselves.I just deal with it myself cause my kids don’t need to be put through out or put on medication & it only happens every so often.Some weeks are good to where there is nothing or there is something a few days in a row or a few times a week.
Some kids have them and there’s nothing you can do except try to alleviate any stress she may be going through…they can be brought on by stress, new school, developmental growth, active imagination, fear (of dark, for example). Usually they outgrow it.
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Sleep apnea can trigger night terrors, so yes it’s important to see her pediatrician. My brother would sleep walk, talk, yell in his sleep. The recommendation for him was a set bedtime and making sure he wasn’t overly tired. Stress management (basically making sure he had plenty of play time outside). Don’t wake her up. Just make sure she isn’t going to hurt herself and if she gets out of bed, gently lead her back to bed. It’s scary looking but kids don’t remember it.
Talk to her or take her to a professional, it could be a sign of abuse.
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maybe try a weighted blanket and see if it gives her better sleep and more relaxed
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My pediatrician told me any screen time before bed will make that worse also dont use melatonin he said that also makes it worse .
I dont know what the answer is but I had night terrors growing up. Mine didnt develop until I was 12 though. And yes, you dobt know what the dreams were about. I couldn’t and still have no idea. But my aunt says that giving melatonin would help.
My daughter sleep walks, and talks. Very common . Doctor said white noise helps, fan or music on low, ocean sounds etc.
My son has these when he’s not napped…It’s horrible seeing it but it doesn’t do any harm either.They never remember it and just go straight back to sleep after it.I just sit and stroke my son’s back,if he lets me and wait for it too pass. He will grow out of it ,so will your daughter…( mum of 6 ,nearly all of them had at least one or two xx
Keep asking. Night terrors can be from a trauma that she hasn’t shared with you. Keep an eye out on the people around your daughter. Sending you positive thoughts.
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My grandson had.night terrors his doc put him on melatonan but seek professional.advice anyway in case
does she sleep in other homes?
Is she sleeping alone or sleeping next to you? Try putting her in bed beside you and see how it goes. If it doesn’t happen when she is with you there may be something unnatural in her room.
Lived through many nights like that. My sons solution was earlier to bed. He would get overtired and then his sleep cycles did not work right, he would get ‘stuck’ between asleep and awake
Have you taken her to her pediatrician? That should be first on your list
My daughter had them for awhile plus some sleep walking…grew out of them but years later when she was older had a couple of episodes of sleep walking…
Talk to the pediatrician. Ask for a sleep study.
Ok sooooo several people in my family have night terrors. I don’t recommend you do anything rash. My daughters are unpredictable however when I was little my dad learned the trick to get out of one. You must induce the brain to wake with a bodily function. My brother used to scare us so bad as kids he’d talk crazy and look at us with a scared far away expression. Now my daughter does the same and this trick didn’t fail my dad nor has it failed me. Everyone has bad dreams the goal is to wake from them. Not everyone can because their sleeps are so deep. It’s quite common really has to do with genetics and brain function… Not spirits or abuse (though abuse can invoke the brain to act abnormally) just sit her on the toilet. Her body will say “hey brain wake up”
“My daughter has been mid sentence but start to pee and say mom why was I crying why am I in your bathroom” definitely makes me feel like I’m helping her because she is awake and no longer afraid (and normally hugging me) remember not everything requires a PhD but it always helps to ask advice from a professional versus social media. Best of luck to your family I know it’s so so scary to see your baby be afraid and feel helpless
She is scared about something give her some warm milk before bed preay with her she should be sleeping in no time ,
Put amethyst crystal under her pillow, sage her bed and room,close all closets and drawers in her room.
Get her evaluated. I did that as a kid and my parents ignored it tried the no sweets or certain foods before bed and even tried waking me up In the middle of them. When I finally saw my pediatrician about it, they found out what was going on way to late. Be on the safe side and mention it to her pediatrician so they can check your daughter and make sure it’s a phase and not something else going on in life.
If a big change was made recently, that could be the source. When my son and I moved unexpectedly he was getting night terrors and had them for a few weeks.
My daughter had nigh terrors and once she did you can’t and shouldn’t wake them. She has outgrown them as will your child. My daughter had them worse what we visited my dad it’s not unheard for them to be worse when they are away from the comfort of home.
Seek a child therapist!!!
Comfort her quietly never wake her from it. Be there for when she wakes. Sometimes you can break the cycle, if they happen the same time roughly every night you can wake gently about 20 mins before that to bring her back into rem sleep
My daughter used to have bad dreams. She gets them occasionally when shes off her sleep schedule/routine.
My daughter was having them it ended up being caused by anxiety I got her anxiety under control and they went away!
My kids pediatrician advised light calm classical music played all night, it helped a ton! Good luck hun
My brother used to get horrible night terrors. We eventually realized that if he ate too close to bedtime, it caused them. We cut off the bedtime snack and they went away 
Our daughter had them too. It was awful for her! We had t let her sleep on our floor on a pallet for about 2 weeks.
I took her to build a bear and let her make a special brave stuffy that would be with at night. It gave her something to hold when she felt scared. She spent many nights between my husband and i
Has there been any big changes in her life? Is she having problems at school? Has there been any other changes? Like behavior?
Night terrors can just be that, usually they appear the most at 18mo-3years because kids become more aware of the world around them. Things like the shadow of the tree branch looks like a creepy hand ect.
At 6…unless there’s developmental issues you’re already aware of; I’d be looking for the root cause.
In the meantime…just hold her. Sometimes fully waking her up, getting her a glass of water, and then snuggling her back to sleep will help.
My daughter started that at about 7. S
he grew out off in about 2 years. But I would just lay down with her and we would create a new dream. Awesome fanciful tea parties with cool colorful characters.
Soft music did seem to help to.
I hate to be that person, especially since it can just be one her phases and all the above ideas are good! However, this was happening with my then 2 yr old. Turns out there was abuse involved. Just another possibility.
It does absolutely no damage to wake her up during a sleepwalking episode. Talking as a sleepwalker, I prefer being woken up. The “never wake a sleepwalker” is a myth and a bit of a dangerous one.
Night terrors are mostly caused by anxiety so figure out what the root cause is. What in her life is causing stress? Normally I suggest journaling before bed and/or after waking up but she’s young so maybe drawing instead? My kids journal and it helps a lot.
So you can get an essential oil defuser and use lavender. There are also devices you can put between her mattress to help. It vibrates ever so often to help. There are a lot of good resources now to help with things like this. Good luck. I would also suggest maybe putting a chain or lock on the door your daughter can’t reach. Sometimes when they do this they can sleepwalk and try to go outside.
Enter her dream to take away fear. One time I got my daughter to say tiger was coming and so told her Daddy took care of it and she settled right down. Just an ie. Might want her to be checked for apnea.
My sons 6 turning 7 in a month and this has happens to him! Hell randomly wake up middle.of the night totally out of it will not say anything some times hes shaky or sweaty some times he just walks in a few circles usualy goes back to bed when he hears my voice.
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If they are night terrors they could be caused by growing pains
May she be delivered in the name of Jesus Amen
My son had nighttares from 5-13 , the Dr told me if he didn’t grow out of them by 15 they could be for life. Keep a diary what she’s eating, what’s going on in her life. They are triggered by something going on or happening. My son would get them when he was going to his father’s everyother weekend. When his father stopped showing up for him they stopped. Don’t wake them… very bad to do so…peditration at sick kids hospital told me not to do it again it can cause problems as I woke my son up cause I didn’t know at the time and he went into a sezure. … after that I would just calmly talk to him. Say mama’s here it’s alright in a calm voice till he settled down. He even took a tent down while we were camping one year… my son would walk around throwing things yelling sometimes they got so bad.
I had them when I was a toddler up until about 4 or 5. This is what my mom told me and I have vague memories of waking up scared and not wanting anyone to touch me. I never remembered the dreams.
My son went through this, and it only lasted two months. He would wake up twice every night screaming, or walking around yelling. Just use comforting words and make sure she goes back to her bed safely.
My son is 9 and recently walked out of our house at 2 am in the midst of a night terror. It’s super scary. He doesn’t remember any of it and was about 5 houses up the street until I caught up with him because he was moving so quickly. He goes for months without any than has them for a few days straight. We wake him about 45 min into his sleep cycle when he has them and it seems to ‘reset’ something when he goes back to sleep. We also got him a white noise machine that he uses and that seems to help. For my son, you physically can’t wake him once he’s in it, he’s in it and they can last anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes. Usually I smell it before he has one because he is actually sweating in fear. Normally a warm child but he turns white and his hands and feet get freezing cold. I just sit with him and calmly reassure him until he wakes up on his own or goes back to sleep. He usually doesn’t recognize me and never remembers when he has one. It’s harder on us as parents than it is them. And yes he does have anxiety which has been evaluated. My husband also had similar episodes as a child.