is this night terrors?

[reeva]

DS2 (age 6) often wakes up crying an hour or two after he goes to bed. The first thing I hear is a thump. By the time I rush upstairs he is almost always standing in the middle of his bedroom crying and shaking. Sometimes his teeth are chattering. Usually he is bathed in sweat - and it happens much less since I changed his bed to having a summer weight quilt. He can sometimes talk to me and answer questions but I don't understand what has scared him. He doesn't calm down until I move him into another room and then he falls asleep quickly and can't remember a thing about it the next day. The last time it happened - two nights ago - he kept saying "alright, I'll do it" (whilst crying hard)and he told me that there was something in his room which was neither a man nor a woman but was talking angrily to him and telling him to do naughty things. Then he has no memory of any of it the next morning. He shares a room with DS1 (age 7) who sleeps right through it all.

Hi Reeva
This does sound like night terrors but its only from my own experience that i say this my Ds sufered very bad night terrors from age 5 - 10 on and off his episodes would start around 11.30 he's start crying out then he would begin shouting and hitting himself swearing it got very bad and very frightening to see your child like this. But as you say the next morning he had little or no recollection of this. We looked on the website for advice and one tip we got was when they were going through this keep their feet cold with a wet cloth seem s funny i know but believe me it worked and shortened the episodes also try waking them just before the time they usually start . Just reading up on it helped us as we knew why it was happening and that the things they were saying which could be quite upsetting was necessarily how they felt.
Here is some info which might help you understand what is happening :-...................
Night terrors happen during deep non-REM sleep. Unlike nightmares (which occur during REM sleep), a night terror is not technically a dream, but more like a sudden reaction of fear that happens during the transition from one sleep phase to another.

Night terrors typically occur about 2 or 3 hours after a child falls asleep, when sleep transitions from the deepest stage of non-REM sleep to lighter REM sleep, a stage where dreams occur. Usually this transition is a smooth one. But rarely, a child becomes agitated and frightened ? and that fear reaction is a night terror.

During a night terror, a child might suddenly sit upright in bed and shout out or scream in distress. The child's breathing and heartbeat might be faster, he or she might sweat, thrash around, and act upset and scared. After a few minutes, or sometimes longer, a child simply calms down and returns to sleep.

Hope that helped

Yes it sounds like your ds does have night terrors. My dd1 still gets them sometimes, but as she has no recollection of them in the morning, she is not upset by them.

Night terrors are difficult for parents to deal with, but do not cause difficulties for children. When dd1 went on a school residential, she had one every night. She did wake her classmates, but they were very nice about it. I'm not sure how pleased her teacher was, I think that she was terrified that dd1 was having a fit.

My dd's night terrors do not have any particular trigger, but change in routine does not help. Neither does being over tired. She had a run of them when she got a new bed.

Some websites claim that waking the child an hour after they have fallen asleep can prevent a night terror. This is supposed to interfere with the sleep pattern, but I have not found it perfect.

Most children grow out of night terrors as they get older. Even if they do not, they are not harmful.

He had another episode last night although it wasn't so bad this time. I feel sorry for him but if it is night terrors then I know that its normal (sort of!).
The thing that worries me though is what if he did something dangerous because "the bad person" tells him to?? Is that part of night terrors too?

Reeva i know my ds tried to jump of the top bunk bed once but had no recollection of this the next day !!! so the best thing is just to stay with them during the episode talking calmly making sure they cant hurt themselves and i found once we did this is passed much quicker.