What to do about my regular and 1 1/2 hour long confusional arousals in my 17 month old?

My daughter has had "confusional arousal" episodes since about 10 months. One of her most frightening episodes (for me), actually happened when I thought she had woken for a nap. (As scary as it is to witness during the night, it was far worse to witness this behavior during daylight hours!) Unlike what I have read, her episodes do not usually happen within the first hour or two of sleep. She goes to bed no problem around 7pm but will usually not "wake" with her episodes until 10:30am / 11pm , 12:30pm, or around 2:30am. (Perhaps the start or end of her sleep cycles?) Also, from what I've read, her "episodes" seem to last far longer than average.  Normally it ends up being about a 90 minute process from start to finish. (I would LOVE a 5 minute episode!)  Early on, she would always scream as she woke, now sometimes it's a scream, otherwise calling out and crying.

She is currently recovering from being very sick with the flu and an ear infection, and as a result is having these episodes every night.  (We also had a very strange episode this week where she "woke" with an episode at 12:30pm, and it seemed to last 2 hours +, she is getting more verbal, so when she asked for her "baby" doll, I gave it to her and put her back to bed.  It unfortunately then turned into outright screams which I chalked up to perhaps being in so much pain from her ear infection...but in retrospect think she may not have been done. She finally was quiet and sleeping at 5:30am.) That episode was rare, but it illustrates the bigger problem I am having as she is getting older. It is hard for me to tell when she is done some nights...I do not want to be in her room if she is just awake and playing after the episode. Needless to say, this has been very trying on our household over the last 7 months. Any help or direction would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Your description indicates that the episodes are really not confusional arousals or so-called night terrors, at least in part. I say this because she is apparently in a wakeful state in some of these occasions, and that does not occur with arousals. The only way, really, to approach this is via the behavioral route. That is, by experience let her resume sleep on her own.  You could consult with a pediatric sleep disorder specialist for the purpose of investigating if your daughter is displaying an abnormal sleep cycle pattern, but nothing in your description indicates that her pattern per se is abnormal.