Sleep Terrors (Night Terrors)

Night terrors (sleep terrors) happen when your brain is partially asleep and partially awake. It causes a state of panic or fear. You or your child may sit up or jump out of bed, cry, scream, start sweating and feel your heart beat fast. Night terrors usually last between one and 30 minutes, and you’ll fall back to sleep when they’re over.

It can be difficult for parents, caregivers or sleeping partners to calm you down during a night terror. In the morning, you won’t remember what happened.

Night terrors are a type of parasomnia. These are a group of sleep disorders that affect sleep movements and behavior. They happen during the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) stage of sleep, usually in the first part of the night.

Night terrors in children

Children are more at risk of night terrors, especially between ages 3 through 7. Most often, children grow out of night terrors when they reach adolescence or adulthood. Children may look dazed with their eyes open or sometimes closed. Children aren’t easily consoled or responsive to simple conversations during an episode and may become more upset if you try to calm them down. They may have partial awake behaviors such as kicking, mumbling or unclear speech. Kids who have sleep terrors are more likely to sleepwalk later in life, wet the bed and they likely won’t remember what happened in the morning.

Night terrors in adults

Night terrors are less common among adults. Adults may be more injury-prone than children, as many people suddenly get out of bed when one happens. Night terrors in adults usually point to an underlying mental health condition, like post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorder.

What’s the difference between night terrors and nightmares?

It can be easy to confuse night terrors and nightmares, but there are differences.

How common are night terrors?

One study estimated that sleep terrors affect 1% to 6.5% of children between 1 through 12 years of age. They’re less common among adults.