Sleep disruption is a parent''s most frequent concern during the first 2 years of a
child''s life. Half of all infants develop a disrupted sleep pattern serious enough to warrant
physician assistance.
Night terror disorder is characterized by recurrent
episodes of intense
crying and fear and by difficulty arousing the child. Children can also experience signs of
autonomic arousal (eg, tachycardia, tachypnea, sweating) during episodes. Children do not
recall a dream after a night terror and typically do not remember the
episode the next
morning. Night terrors are frightening episodes that disrupt family life and cause the child
significant distress and impaired daily function. Onset is usually in children aged 4-12 years;
the disorder generally resolves during adolescence. Peak
frequency in children younger than
3.5 years is at least 1 episode per week; among older children,
Peak frequency is 1-2
episodes per month.
More abstracts about the Night Terror among children