Night terrors in toddlers: what they are, why they happen and what not to do

Sleep · Updated July 2026 · All articles

Your toddler is screaming. Their eyes are wide open. You rush in, reach out to comfort them, and they look straight through you as if you are not there. Nothing you do helps. It goes on for ten minutes, then stops as suddenly as it started, and in the morning they have no memory of it whatsoever. If this sounds familiar, what you witnessed was almost certainly a night terror. This article explains exactly what night terrors are, why they happen, and, just as importantly, what not to do during one.

What night terrors are (and are not)

A night terror is a partial arousal event. It occurs during deep non-REM sleep, which is most concentrated in the first third of the night (typically one to three hours after your child falls asleep). During deep sleep the body is physically relaxed but the brain is in a state of very low consciousness. A night terror happens when the brain makes an incomplete transition from deep sleep toward lighter sleep, becoming partially awake in a way that triggers strong physical responses such as screaming, crying, or thrashing, but without the child actually regaining consciousness.

Because the child is not conscious during a night terror, they are not dreaming, they are not processing fear in the way they would if they were awake, and they will have no memory of the episode. This is one of the most important things to understand: the event looks frightening to you, but your child is not experiencing it in any meaningful conscious sense.

Night terrors are classified as a parasomnia, the same family as sleepwalking. They are not a sign of psychological disturbance, a response to trauma, or an indication that something is wrong with your child's development. They are a neurological artefact of the way young brains handle the transition between sleep stages.

Night terrors vs nightmares: how to tell the difference

The two are frequently confused, and the confusion matters because what you should do differs significantly. A nightmare is a bad dream that occurs during REM sleep, which is concentrated in the second half of the night (after midnight, typically). Your child will wake from a nightmare, come fully to consciousness, remember the dream, be able to describe it or ask for reassurance, and respond normally to comfort. A cuddle, a reassuring word, a lamp left on: these all help with nightmares.

A night terror is the opposite in almost every way. It occurs in the first third of the night, typically before 11pm. The child does not wake fully. They may appear awake because their eyes are open, but there is a characteristic blankness or absence in their expression. They cannot be reached by comfort because the part of the brain that processes comfort and social interaction is still switched off. Talking to them, turning on lights, or trying to hold them can actually prolong the episode by introducing stimulation.

A useful rule of thumb: if your child wakes at 2am, remembers something frightening, and wants a hug and a reassuring story, that is a nightmare and you should comfort them. If your child is screaming at 9 or 10pm, their eyes are open but they are not with you, and nothing you do reaches them, that is a night terror and your role is to keep them safe rather than to comfort them.

How common they are and who gets them

Night terrors affect roughly one in six toddlers and young children. They are most common between 18 months and 6 years of age, with a peak between 2 and 4 years. The vast majority of children outgrow them entirely by mid-childhood, and many stop having them even earlier. They are not rare, and if your toddler is having them, you are far from alone.

Night terrors have a genetic component. If you or your partner experienced night terrors as a child, or if there is sleepwalking in the family (these parasomnias share the same underlying mechanism), your toddler has a meaningfully higher chance of experiencing them. If both parents had them as children, the likelihood increases further. This is not something you caused by anything you did; it is simply neurological inheritance.

What a night terror looks like: screaming, thrashing, eyes open but absent

Episodes typically begin abruptly, often within one to three hours of the child falling asleep. The child may bolt upright, start screaming or crying loudly, have flushed skin, appear sweaty, and show rapid breathing and heart rate. Their eyes may be wide open or half open, and they may stare in a fixed way that does not track your movement. They may call out words or appear to be reacting to something, but they are not responding to their actual environment.

Some children walk during a night terror, which adds a physical safety dimension. Others stay in one place. Episodes most commonly last between 5 and 20 minutes, though they can occasionally run longer. The end is usually abrupt: the child simply settles back into deep sleep, often without even waking up. They will usually sleep normally for the rest of the night and wake with no recollection of the episode.

Triggers: overtiredness, illness, stress, schedule disruption

The single most consistent and well-evidenced trigger for night terrors is overtiredness. When a child has accumulated sleep debt, they spend more time in deeper and more prolonged non-REM sleep as the brain attempts to recover. This extended deep sleep phase increases the probability of a partial arousal event. A toddler who has missed a nap, had a late night, or been through several consecutive nights of disrupted sleep is significantly more likely to have a night terror.

Illness and fever are a second common trigger. The physiological stress of being unwell changes sleep architecture in ways that can provoke partial arousals. A toddler who is fighting a cold or has a temperature may have their first night terror, or have them more frequently than usual, during the illness. This tends to resolve once they have recovered.

Schedule disruptions, transitions, and stress also play a role. Starting a new nursery, a house move, a new sibling, a change in the caregiving routine, or any significant shift in the child's world can increase frequency. This does not mean the change was wrong or harmful; it just means the brain is processing more during sleep. Most increases in frequency settle down within a few weeks as the child adjusts.

What to do during an episode

Your job during a night terror is narrow but important: keep your child physically safe. Stay in the room or nearby. Remove any hard objects from the immediate area if they are thrashing. If they are moving toward something hazardous such as stairs, gently guide them away without restraining them. Keep the room reasonably dim, as bright light can be additional stimulation.

Speak calmly and quietly if you speak at all, but do not expect a response. Many parents find it helps to narrate quietly, saying something like "you are safe, I am here," more as a way of managing their own anxiety than as something the child can consciously process. The episode will end on its own. Most children settle back to sleep quickly after it resolves, often without ever having woken up. If you find it useful, note the time of the episode so you can look for patterns.

What NOT to do during an episode

Do not try to wake your child. Waking a child from deep sleep abruptly is disorienting and often prolongs the episode rather than ending it. They may become more distressed, confused, and harder to settle afterward. The impulse to wake them makes sense because you want to reach them, but it works against the natural resolution of the event.

Do not restrain them unless they are about to hurt themselves. Holding a child tightly during a night terror can increase the physical thrashing and escalate the episode. Light physical presence, a gentle hand on the back, is different from restraint. Do not turn on bright lights, which adds sensory stimulation. Do not repeatedly call their name or try to engage them in conversation. The most effective approach is calm, minimal, safety-focused presence. In the morning, there is generally no reason to mention the episode to your child; they will not remember it and raising it may create unnecessary worry.

Scheduled awakenings: what they are and how to try them

If your child is having frequent night terrors that are significantly disrupting the household, and the episodes happen at a fairly consistent time each night, scheduled awakening is worth trying. The approach involves gently rousing your child about 15 to 30 minutes before the time they typically have an episode. "Gently rousing" means making them slightly less deeply asleep by touching them, moving them slightly, or quietly saying their name: not waking them fully, but shifting them into a lighter sleep stage.

The mechanism is that by nudging the child into lighter sleep before the usual deep-sleep trigger window, you cause them to cycle naturally past it. Across consecutive nights, this can reset the pattern. There is reasonable clinical evidence that scheduled awakening reduces frequency in children with predictable, regular night terrors. The commitment required is doing it every night for at least two to four weeks. If the episodes are not at a consistent time, or happen only occasionally, scheduled awakening is not a useful tool.

When they usually stop and when to seek advice

The reassuring reality is that most toddlers outgrow night terrors entirely. By school age, the majority of children who experienced them as toddlers have stopped. The resolution happens naturally as the brain matures and sleep architecture shifts toward more adult patterns. There is nothing you need to do to make this happen; it occurs on its own developmental timeline.

It is worth speaking to your GP or health visitor if night terrors are happening every night or multiple times a night for more than a few weeks, if the episodes involve significant walking that raises injury concerns, if your child seems distressed during the daytime or shows other signs that something else might be going on, or if episodes are beginning for the first time in a child over 7. These are not emergencies, but they are situations where a professional perspective is useful. A GP can also rule out other sleep conditions that might present similarly, such as obstructive sleep apnoea.

Frequently asked questions

What is a night terror?

A night terror is a partial arousal event that happens during deep non-REM sleep, typically in the first third of the night. During a night terror a child may scream, cry, thrash, sit up, or appear terrified with their eyes open, but they are not conscious and have no memory of the episode in the morning. They are not dreaming and cannot be comforted in the usual way, because the part of the brain responsible for conscious experience is still asleep. The event is far more distressing for the parent watching than for the child experiencing it.

What is the difference between a night terror and a nightmare?

A nightmare is a bad dream that happens during REM sleep, typically in the second half of the night. The child will wake fully, remember the dream, and be able to be comforted. A night terror occurs in deep non-REM sleep, usually in the first third of the night. The child does not wake fully, has no memory of it, and cannot be reached through normal comfort. If your child wakes at 2am frightened and wants a cuddle and a reassuring story, that is a nightmare. If they are screaming at 10pm, eyes open but clearly not present, that is a night terror.

How common are night terrors in toddlers?

Night terrors affect roughly 1 in 6 toddlers and young children. They are most common between 18 months and 6 years of age, with a peak frequency between 2 and 4 years. Most children outgrow them entirely by mid-childhood. They run in families; if you or your partner had night terrors as a child, your toddler has a higher chance of experiencing them.

What should I do during a night terror?

Stay close and keep your child physically safe. Remove any hard objects they might hit if thrashing. Do not try to wake them up, restrain them, or shine a bright light. Do not try to talk them through it in a reassuring way; they cannot hear you in the usual sense. Most episodes last between 5 and 20 minutes and end on their own when the child naturally transitions to lighter sleep. Afterwards they will often settle back to sleep very quickly. Keep notes of the timing if the episodes are frequent.

What triggers night terrors?

The most consistent trigger is overtiredness. When a child has accumulated sleep debt, they experience more intense and prolonged deep non-REM sleep, which increases the chance of partial arousal events. Illness, fever, a disrupted schedule, starting a new nursery, a change in the household, and stress can all increase frequency. Identifying and addressing the underlying trigger is usually more effective than treating the episodes themselves.

What is scheduled awakening and does it work for night terrors?

Scheduled awakening involves gently rousing your child very slightly about 15 to 30 minutes before the time they typically have a night terror. The aim is to shift them out of the deep sleep phase that produces the event, causing them to cycle into lighter sleep and bypass the trigger window. There is reasonable clinical evidence for its effectiveness in children with frequent, predictable night terrors. It works best when episodes happen at a consistent time each night and when you can commit to doing it every night for two to four weeks.

This article is for general information only. If you have concerns about your child's sleep or health, speak to your health visitor or GP.