Night Terrors

As most parents know, a good night's sleep is a rare commodity in our world. When you are pregnant, people always comment on how little sleep you will get once the baby arrives. So, when the sleepless nights begin, I believe most parents are prepared. What they don't expect, however, is how long those sleepless nights last— years! My son is 3 ½ years old, and there are still restless nights: nights when he refuses to go down as well as those wonderful nights when he wakes up at 3am for a "Pop Tart and a quick episode of Diego. Of course, my husband and I don't acquiesce. But once my son is up, it takes what seem like hours to lull him back to slumber.

With desperation in her voice, my friend recently called me to ask one simple question, "Why don't children sleep?" I struggled with an answer. Not able to come up with one I instead sympathized. "I know," I said. "Hang in there." Despite the fact that I shared in her angst, I couldn't help but add "It will get better."

My latest sleep dilemma has been night terrors. Blood-curdling screams (not exaggerating) have awoken us three night in a row. Running into my son's room, I see he is distressed, screaming and rolling around his bed. The weird thing about night terrors is that he is pretty much inconsolable. There is nothing I can say or do to make him feel better. I just have to wait for it to pass which seems to take forever. I hate to see him so upset and not be able to do anything about it. Has anyone had any experience with this? Is there anything at all I could do to prevent them?