Nightmares/terrors in 7 year old

[PoptartPoptart]

Not sure if I should be posting this in health or behaviour/development so I've done both.

My 7 year old DS has recently started waking in the night, usually about an hour or two after he goes to bed. He calls out and then starts screaming/crying but can't tell me what is wrong. It's almost like he is hallucinating and seems to be still asleep. He is always very warm and soaking with sweat. It takes me about 20mins to calm him down and settle back to sleep, but sometimes he wakes again about an hour later with exactly the same screaming.

I've heard that night terrors are common in younger children but DS never experienced them until recently so it's freaking me out a bit.

I don't think he is stressed or worried about anything, there have been no major changes to his life or routine and he is his usual happy self during the day. He doesn't even remember these episodes in the morning.

Could it be the heat contributing to these nightmares as his room can get quite warm so I've now put a fan on low in there to try and move the air about a bit. He drinks plenty too, so it's not dehydration related.

Any experiences or advice please?

My DS suffered from night terrors for a little while. He looked so very terrified that it was all I could do to remain composed myself.

I then followed a suggestion that came from a child-care professional, though I can't remember who. Put child to bed as usual. Wake the child about 30 min (I think) before he usually wakes with the terrors - he won't wake with terrors at this point btw, he'll just be all sleepy. Settle him back to sleep.

This took about 3 days to work. I so hope it works in your case.