When your child was a baby, she or he would wake up more frequently at night during significant developmental changes such as crawling and walking.

But as early as 18 months old, your child can wake from experiencing nightmares—vivid and emotionally intense dreams. Researchers have found that approximately 40% of children ages 2 to 8 experience nightmares.

A smaller number of children experience some thing more intense called night terrors. Nightmares and night terrors have common triggers, such as (but not limited to) a fall, seeing violence on a television news program, or a significant loss such as the death of a pet or loved one.  With young children, seemingly harmless experiences can be traumatic because they have not yet developed categories to understand unfamiliar experiences and therefore feel frightened.

While parenting through both nightmares and night terrors can be upsetting, neither sleep disturbance in and of itself is serious cause for concern. If your child shows signs of stress in other ways (like bedwetting or daytime anxiety), you may want to talk to a child therapist who can help identify an underlying issue such as an unrecognized traumatic event or fear. In a similar vein, if your young child experiences regular sleep disturbances without other accompanying signs of stress for more than a month, you will want to consult a trusted professional for guidance.

Although they do have common triggers, nightmare and night terrors are different sleep disturbances and need different responses from you. The table below helps you understand just how to see your child through one of these disturbances.

	Nightmare	Night Terror
Description	Vivid and emotionally intense sleep experience Occurs in early stages of sleep The child fully wakes and usually remembers a significant part or scene of the bad dream. Common in children ages 3-6	Intense yelling, screaming, and/or crying Lots of movement and signs of anxiety Can happen several times a night Occurs in the later stages of sleep The child does not fully wake and remembers little or no content of the bad dream. Common in children up to 8 years old
Strategies	Go to your child and assure him that he is safe. Tell him that you will take care of the (monster, snake, bad guy) in the morning and help him back to sleep. In the morning, let him draw a picture of the thing he feared. Talk about the picture and then talk about how to keep him from “getting you.” (such as putting a blindfold on him or taking out his teeth). As your child learns strategies for overcoming the object of his nightmare, talk to him about becoming aware of himself while dreaming (lucid dreaming) and encourage him to try his plans to disarm the monster during the night.	When you suspect that your child is experiencing a night terror, be present with your child, keep him safe (from hitting his head on the bed rail or falling out of bed, for example), and do not wake him. Night terrors are harder on the parents than the child because, again, he will remember very little.

By Anne Oxenreider

Has your toddler been having nightmares or night terrors? Share your story below.