Night terrors

[helsbels03]

Hi dd1 (7years) has night terrors. These are very different to bad dreams, she has one a night for about 2 weeks then they disappear for a couple of months and resurface when she gets over-tired. This last bout have been particularly bad and wondered what advice anyone had ( or reassurance that she will grow out of them).
They last about 20-45 mins, she screams, shouts, bounces about on get bed. Appears to be hallucinating about things coming towards her, calls out. Then lays down and carries on sleeping. She is def not awake and can't remember them in the morning. Her eyes are open, but she has a scary glassy stare that looks through you. When she was younger she had them a lot more often, but just screamed and calmed down quickly. Now she is calling out and shouting things which is really scary for dd2 who shares her room.

Any advice? Do I need to take her to dr? Will that freak her out more as she dies not remember them in morning?

My eldest used to have them lots i used to hold her and reassure her and they passed quickly try ssshhhing and stroking hair just let know ur there it will pass

It is an awful thing to go through, full sympathies. My dd has them when she was 2, they are very hard to deal with as you cannot be a source of comfort. I found it very upsetting.

Not sure there is anything a GP could do, unless anyone else knows of a helpful referral? I tried to cut back on too much physical exertion and avoid her becoming overtired - easier said than done. Cut out TV in the hour or two before bed? Could any foods trigger it?

Sorry not to be more help. It's tough to witness.

My son had night terrors, they seemed to occur if he was too warm at night, he was the same, glassy eyed, normally upset about "something coming to get him" even though I stopped any tv, books etc before bedtime. He never remembered any of it, he always needed to go to the toilet just after an episode, tmi but always a number 2. He would then go off back to bed as if nothing had happened. His started from about age 3 and got more regular till about age
7 or 8 then they were less frequent, he had his last one at age 14 after 2 weeks hols at his dads where I suspect he had been up till all hours playing xbox etc so his brain was overactive. Its a scary thing to go through but it will get better.

Thanks for replies, I was just wondering if it is when she gets too hot - only a short one tonight, although it is still early. She was very hot and sweaty, i usually put it down to the terror itself, but maybe it is because she gets hot?

I was going to say hot and overtired/overstimulated can be triggers. If there is a pattern timing wise you could wake her before the expected episode just very briefly. This can put them back into a deep sleep as these episodes are thought to happen when transitioning into sleep cycles iirc.

She hasn't had one tonight, and I took her pjs off before she went to bed. Should I be worried about these? Do I need to speak to my GP? I am really worried she has a deep emotional issue she can't resolve, me and dh haven't always go along and although we have worked through it she did see us arguing ( never any violence or anything like that) but she is very sensitive.