3 year old crying in sleep

[BonesOfWhatYouBelieve]

DD1 is nearly 3.5 and sleeps pretty well but recently has started crying in her sleep. She's doing it right now (she's been asleep since about 7pm) and if we go in it seems to upset her more because it does seem like she is asleep and so when we go in she reacts like we've woken her up (rolls away, tells us to go away, cries a bit harder). It's not a really upset cry that she does, more a whiny cry. Would you just leave her to it? It feels mean to just sit downstairs listening to her but going in upsets her more and I'm not sure what the issue is. Maybe a nightmare? Anyone had similar?

The other issue is this often happens in the early hours (3am & 4am last night) and combined with DD2 (5 months old and an absolutely atrocious sleeper), we're really getting hardly any sleep. Is there anything we can do to stop DD1 getting upset while she's sleeping?

Night terrors probably. My son (just 3) gets them but he screams very loudly for about 30 mins, it's awful!

I'm told stirring them gently to get them out if the sleep cycle stops the terrors but I've not tried it as he sleeps so badly I daren't attempt it.

This sounds exactly what happened when my children have worms. I have 3 and all 3 have caught it from nursery at some point. I knew with the second two as soon as they started whimpering and crying in their sleep it was worms. The worms only come out at night and it can be very uncomfortable for them. I’d buy a packet of Ovex and treat the family just incase.

Sorry, just read that back. Terrible wording!

Its likely night terrors. They do happen at specific time during sleep cycles. Not alot you can do, they will pass. They are awful though

Thanks, I hadn't considered that. I've just gone in and had a look and cant see any round her bum. She's recently potty trained and at pre-school with a bunch of other recently potty trained children so I guess it's not unlikely though. I'll check again in the morning and tomorrow night to be sure.
I know you say to maybe get the treatment as a precaution anyway, but with DD2 being only 5 months, a quick google tells me she can't have it (and I'm breastfeeding as well so it seems I can't either) so I do want to know for sure.

Horrid things. I found around the bum area to be quite red even if I couldn’t see them and if I could, they just looked like little bits of tissue. I panicked when my second caught them last as I had a 6 month old. I was so horrified at having worms in my home and not being able to treat everybody, I called the GP. He told me that it is very unlikely for an adult to catch them from children as we tend to wash our hands more and not to worry if baby catches them because they can’t reinfect themselves by scratching as they wear a nappy and to just bath them every day to get rid of potential eggs.

I absolutely hate them, have had them in the home 5 times, I feel like my house shuts down for two days with the amount of washing and cleaning I end up doing, urghhh.