My five-year-old girl has been having what the family doctor calls night terrors. It is more a terror for me than for her, because it frightens me to see her so much afraid, but she goes back to sleep. Sometimes she wakes again and again. The doctor says she will outgrow them. But what causes them? And what can be done about them, short of giving her Valium or something?

A.

Night terrors are a sleep disorder that affects 2-3% of young children. They are most common between the ages of 3 and 5, and usually resolve by age 6, but may affect a small number of older children and adults. While it can be frightening to see your child screaming and thrashing out of a sound sleep, the night terrors are not dangerous. The child usually does not remember the event in the morning. They occur during the deep non-dreaming stage of sleep, so they are not due to a nightmare or bad dream. It is thought that they may be the result of an immature nervous system that does not adapt easily to shifting from one stage of sleep to another.

Fatigue, psychological stress, sugar, caffeine or heavy food intake in the evening can all precipitate night terrors. Besides elimination of sugar and caffeine, a light evening meal and avoidance of fatigue and stress, there are a number of simple measures which have been helpful in at least some cases. Establishing a regular bedtime with a period for relaxation and quiet before sleep may be helpful. Some children's terrors are precipitated by becoming too warm in bed- so fresh air, cool bedroom and minimal bed clothes are worth a try. When a terror occurs, turn on the light, go to your child and quietly and calmly reassure her.

Since night terrors most commonly occur at a regular time of night (midnight to 2 AM), you may want to try waking your daughter about 30 minutes before the usual time she has the terror, reassure her and keep her awake for about 5 minutes. This technique was used in a study of 19 children with night terrors. All 19 were free of night terrors after one week of scheduled waking.

You might want to try a gentle sedative like Chamomile in a tea or extract form at bedtime. There are a number of homeopathic remedies that are indicated for night terrors including Cina, Chamomile and Zincum metallicum. Consult a good homeopathic materia medica or homeopathic physician for assistance with choosing a remedy.

My youngest son had night terrors when he was younger. He would start crying and wheezing in the night. When I would go to him, his eyes would be open, but he would not respond to me. I found that getting too warm in bed seemed to increase his terrors. I also found that if I tried to ask him what was wrong or what he was frightened of it made the terror worse. He would quiet down and go back to sleep much more quickly if I calmly reassured him that everything was ok. He outgrew these after a few years and sleeps well now.

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