My wife is 49 and has 3-4 episodes a week. She is terrified to return to sleep many times. It scares the crap out of me and there is nothing I can do about them. Such a helpless feeling. I have run to the couch many times with a gun in my hand to help. The main theme is "make him stop".

My son had these twice. When I finally got him to snap out of it. A solid 10 minutes later. He was able to tell me he saw bats in his room. Once they were on his wall. Another time he told me one had gone under his pillow. Made me toss his bed and show me there was nothing under his pillow.

But both times it took forever for me to get him to calm down. Just grab him and hold on for the ride until it passes.

My wife had them in her mid 40s. Long story short, narcolepsy spectrum sleep disorder. Zyrem is our friend.

My daughter had them for two or three years and she's almost nine and hasn't had them in awhile. She'd seem awake but would sometimes make these swallowing sounds when she had the night terrors. Sometimes she wouldn't answer questions correctly during those terrors. I just comforted her, kept her close, and stayed with her through the night. Seemed to help. Just stay calm and keeping from walking off, etc. it should pass. Jus.t hard asleep, My daughter NEVER remembered most of it unless she awoke from the terror. Hang in There.

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No way, no how his little brain with so little experiences in life could ever create something so terrifying.
As a Christian I believe in spiritual warfare a constant battle between darkness and light good and evil whatever one may call it.
Crazy as it sounds the only thing I can come up with to explain it is evil trying to infiltrate his mind. We all know the younger one is the more easy it is to sway them.

I'll not claim to know everything. Every instance I've encountered of this has been solved by coming to this understanding. As a pastor, I've been asked to intercede in this way quite a few times. It has always been effective. For non-believers, as many have mentioned in this thread, hold them...love them, and reassure them.

ive had two in my life. It's the most absolutely terrifying experience that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The last one I was wide awake but totally paralyzed.. Heidi said I was whispering for her to shake me out of it WHILE it was happening.

You may have already looked into this. Night terrors can result because she is not breathing at night. She wakes up do to an adrenaline storm which can be terrifying. Enlarged tonsils, deviated septum, allergies could be at fault. Don't rule it out.

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Originally posted by cslinger:
Our munchkin had them a few times when she was really little but grew out of them quickly. Here is hoping it is the same for you.

What I think is funny is my daughter had a dream that she vividly remembers and is the reason she likes to sleep with the sheet over her face. I vividly remember a nightmare I had when I was like 5 and to this day I don't like sleeping with windows open.

The brain is a very strong persuader.

When I was a kid, I liked to go to sleep with the radio. Calmed the brain, quiet room at the time drove me nuts. Then I discovered that the CBS Radio Mystery Theater came on every night at around bedtime (King Biscuit Flour Hour on weekends). To this day, I still prefer a cover, at least a sheet, over my shoulders while sleeping. When I was a kid, it was my shield against the scary stuff on the radio.

Though, I suspect that sleeping with music influenced many things, outside of this "scary things at night" thread.

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Originally posted by JALLEN:
My youngest had nightmares about the "bad sheep."

How are those different from regular sheep? (Not joking, just curious what they're dreaming about that'd be described as "bad sheep")