possible nightmares?????????/

My child is 2yrs. 3mons. over the last three months or so ,he has woken up crying and screaming throwing things uncontrollably.    He has only done this a few times but it is a few times too many for us.... .  He is a very smart boy with no speech problems or learning disabilities. He is a bit wild throughout the day( stems from wrestling with his 9 yr. old brother) but nothing like when he wakes up in the middle of the night . Anything to worry about???   P.S. not a broken family,a bit of loud discipline but no violence      hope this helps with your answer.........thank you.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Actually, though the episodes are upsetting, they likely do not represent anything to worry about. They do not occur as a result of nightmares, but actually occur during a phase of sleep that is different from the phase qwhen dreaming occurs.

Children of your son's age experience, as a normal part of development, episodes of sudden partial wakings, during which they can behave in the way you describe. At these times your child is not really fully awake, and you should not try to wake him up. Simply do what you can to be reassuring, and 'guide' him back to sleep.

If you'd like to see more about these episodes, utilize our SEARCH function and type in Sleep Terror or Nighttime Wakings or Night Terror or Sudden Partial Wakings and you can read additional notes about the topic.

[Mother of 4]

My youngest daughter had night terror, it was horrible.  She'd wake in fits of rage, screaming, kicking, rolling, swinging arms.  I would recommend that you look up night terrors.  It helped me deal with the situation and most children grow out of this behavior.  My daughter no longer has night terrors, but recently started sleepwalking.  She had night terrors from age 1 to 4 1/2.  hope this helps.