To ask you about night-terror experience?

[Cuppatea14]

Freaking out a bit about DD (nearly 5yo) who has just started to have horrific night terrors. She got concussed about three weeks ago and that seems to have triggered them? She is absolutely wild during them, screaming in terror and running around the upstairs of the house looking for us. She doesn't have any recollection in the morning but has become anxious going to bed so I think there is some residual memory somewhere in there. Looking for reassurance or to hear other people's experience, concerned that there's something underlying it?

My DS had them at about that age. I found them terrifying if I'm honest.

He would scream, and point/look under the bed. He would be so terrified, that it would genuinely scare me. He didn't remember them the next day.

The only advice I can give is that you just have to get through them. It would take him about 20mins to calm down and drop back to sleep - even though he wasn't really "awake" during that time. He wouldn't let me cuddle him, didn't respond to anything I said. You just have to sort of soothe and shush them and steer them back into bed.

DS2 has/had them from about 2. He's now 7. He hasn't had a 'proper' terror for a good while now thankfully.

Usual pattern was about 2 hours after falling asleep. In the early days we'd find him sat in the corner of his bed shaking and sweating and utterly terrified and screaming things like, "please don't. Let me go. I want my mummy". Utterly dreadful to witness.This progressed to racing around the house begging us to come with him. He would also cough loads whilst it was happening.

Eventually i realised that there was a moment of semi-lucidity and if I timed it right, I could get his attention and ask him to 'soft' my face (his word for gently touching someone). I could then get him out of bed at that point and take him to the toilet which seemed to break the cycle.

Night terrors are horrible and awful to witness. In addition it makes leaving him with a baby sitter very risky as we don't think it's fair to ask someone to have to deal with it.