Night Terrors

There is something that I had not heard of until my daughter experienced them a few years ago; they are called night terrors. What happens is that she will start crying out and flaying around while still asleep, even while I am there trying to wake her and saying whatever comforting thing I can think of. Sometimes these last up to 10 minutes, and are very emotionally draining for her as well as myself. Last night she even fell out of bed when my wife was going to her, and she hit her mouth on her small table that is next to her bed. She still didn't wake up right away. 5 times I ran to her room when I heard her crying out last night. I then sat on the side of her bed while I tried to keep her from hurting herself while she was kicking about, saying, "No, no, stop it!" It's confusing to me, because I sometimes can't tell whether she is talking in her dream, or is talking to me in her upset state. She even kicked me in the face twice, sent my glasses flying and tried to bite me. The best thing that I have figured out to do is to first of all not get angry with her. It's not easy. Second is to not give up on her, and to stay close while saying positive and reaffirming statements like "You're ok. You are safe. You are in your room and you had a bad dream. I am here with you and I will not leave you alone. You are completely good and are not doing anything wrong." It might be that saying those things is more of a help for me than her. It helps me stay present with her while she is going through this, and it helps me to not become reactive.

Also my son woke up a few times last night, as he usually does. Last night though, it was unusual that he wanted me to put him down while I was in the bathroom. He walked over to the doorway and pointed to the dimly lit living room while talking in his baby talk. He then walked on his own down to the end of the hallway. I followed him while he stood there at 3 in the morning, pointing to the loving room and having a conversation with his imaginary friend. I say imaginary, but truthfully I wonder. I believe that there is more in this world than we perceive, and sometimes something happens to remind me of this. As I picked up my son last night it seemed to me that he wanted me to see what he was seeing, and he seemed disappointed that I couldn't. I was too.