During an episode of night terrors, children can cry, shout or sometimes scream, but do not know that you are there.

A child may be sitting in bed or be out of bed, with eyes wide open, calling for you, but they do not 'see' you and may push you away if you try to comfort them.

They are likely to have a rapid heart rate, be breathing fast, and be sweaty, crying, shouting, or even screaming or groaning.
They may continue to cry or shout for a few minutes, sometimes up to 20 minutes, and rarely, for an hour or longer.

Then, quite suddenly they will relax, maybe look around briefly and go quickly back to sleep.
This can be scary to watch, but it does not hurt or scare children and in the morning they will not remember that anything has happened.

Up to 3% of children experience night terrors at some time - they are thought to be 'normal' for some children. Children are more likely to have disturbed sleep if other people in the family have also had sleep disturbances.

Night terrors are not a sign of mental health problems, but may happen more often in times of stress.

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