Comforting Your Child During Night Terrors

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By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- They are called night terrors and, clearly, they can be terrors for the parent as well. A night terror is a situation where a child will wake up. A child actually can be fine and then will wake up about a half an hour or 45 minutes into sleep screaming wildly.

They're screaming because they really don't know what's going on. From a parent or caregivers perspective it is quite disturbing because the child will look right past you. They have no idea what the issue is. So what do you do when your child experiences one of these events.

My advice is not going to be easy to follow, but after the first episode, it will make sense. What you need to do is comfort the child during the process. There is no sense in reasoning with him or her, you'll just get a faraway look. In a short time, the child will either calm down and go to sleep or snap out of it and talk to you logically.

Obviously, if you have any concerns, talk with your doctor and don't forget to tell the babysitter if you have a child that's going through that stage.