Toddler Night Terrors vs Nightmares: How to Tell and What to Do

Short answer: Night terrors happen early in the night, in deep sleep: your toddler may scream, thrash, and stare with open eyes, but they’re not really awake, can’t be comforted, and won’t remember it. Nightmares are bad dreams that happen later in the night; your child wakes up scared, wants you, and can often tell you about it. For a night terror, stay close, keep your child safe, and don’t try to wake them. For a nightmare, comfort and reassure.

What is the difference between night terrors and nightmares?

Night terrors are a partial waking from deep sleep; nightmares are scary dreams. The AAP explains that night terrors take place during the deepest stages of sleep, early in the night, often before parents have gone to bed. Nightmares happen in the second half of the night, when dreaming is most intense. That difference in sleep stage explains everything else:

	Night terror	Nightmare
When	Early in the night, usually in the first few hours	Later in the night or early morning
Sleep stage	Deep non-dreaming (non-REM) sleep	Dreaming (REM) sleep
What it looks like	Screaming, thrashing, sitting up, eyes open, fast breathing, sweating	Wakes crying or frightened, often calls for you
Responds to you?	No, may push you away or not seem to recognize you	Yes, wants and accepts comfort
How long	Usually a few minutes; the NHS says up to 15 minutes	Short, but falling back asleep may take a while
Remembers it?	No	Often yes, older toddlers may describe it
What to do	Stay close, keep them safe, don’t wake them	Comfort, reassure, help them settle

The AAP says nightmares can start as early as 6 months, though young toddlers can’t tell you what they dreamed. Night terrors occur most often in toddlers and preschoolers.

At what age do night terrors start?

Often in toddlerhood, earlier than many parents expect. The NHS says night terrors are most common between ages 3 and 8, but research shows they’re also very common in younger children. A long-term study of 1,940 children in Quebec, published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2015, found that sleep terrors peaked at 18 months, when about 34% of children had them. Over the whole of childhood, from 18 months to 13 years, about 56% of the children had sleep terrors at some point. By age 13 only about 5% still did.

The same study found that night terrors and sleepwalking tend to run in families. Children whose parents had sleepwalked were more likely to sleepwalk themselves, and about a third of children with early sleep terrors later sleepwalked.

What should I do during a night terror?

Stay calm, stay close, and wait it out. It’s much harder on you than on your child, who won’t remember anything. The NHS and the AAP agree on these steps:

1. Don’t try to wake them. The NHS says your child may not recognize you and may get more upset if you try to comfort them.
2. Keep them safe. Move anything they could hit, and stop them from climbing out of the crib or bed or falling down stairs. The AAP says to gently restrain only if they try to get out of bed.
3. Don’t talk much or hold them tightly. The NHS advises not trying to stop them moving unless there’s a risk of injury.
4. Wait for it to pass. Most episodes last a few minutes. When it ends, your toddler usually settles straight back into sleep.
5. Don’t bring it up the next day. Your child won’t remember, and talking about it may worry them.

What should I do after a nightmare?

Go to your child quickly and comfort them. The AAP suggests reassuring them that they’re safe, reminding them that dreams aren’t real, and helping them fall back asleep. A few things can help a frightened toddler:

• Hold them and use a calm, low voice.
• Leave a dim nightlight on if it helps.
• Check the room for scary shadows or shapes together.
• Offer a familiar comfort object if your toddler is old enough to have one in bed.
• Keep the rest of the night boring and predictable, so it doesn’t turn into a fun middle-of-the-night visit.

During the day, keep scary shows and stories away from bedtime, and keep a calm, steady wind-down. Our toddler bedtime routine guide has a simple routine that works for most families.

What causes night terrors in toddlers?

Nobody knows exactly, but certain things make them more likely. They seem to happen when a child gets “stuck” between deep sleep and waking. The NHS lists these triggers:

• Being very tired or unwell. Overtiredness is one of the most common triggers, including after a dropped nap or a late night.
• Disturbances during deep sleep. Sudden noises at night, or needing to pee, can interrupt deep sleep.
• Stress or something frightening. A big change, like a new sibling, starting daycare, or a move.
• Family history. As the Quebec study showed, these sleep patterns run in families.
• Breathing problems during sleep. A 2003 study in Pediatrics found that many children with sleep terrors also had sleep-disordered breathing, and that the episodes often went away once the breathing problem was treated. If your toddler snores loudly most nights, mention it to your pediatrician.

How can I prevent night terrors?

Mainly by protecting sleep. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 11 to 14 hours of sleep in 24 hours, including naps, for children aged 1 to 2, and 10 to 13 hours for ages 3 to 5. Toddlers who regularly get less are more likely to have episodes.

• Move bedtime earlier if your toddler is overtired, especially during a nap transition or a 2-year-old sleep regression.
• Keep a regular schedule for naps, bedtime, and waking, even on weekends where you can.
• Try scheduled waking. If the terrors happen at the same time each night, the NHS suggests gently waking your child about 15 minutes before that time, every night for 2 weeks. Rouse them just enough that they stir, then let them fall back asleep.
• Use the bathroom before bed for toddlers who are toilet trained, since a full bladder can stir deep sleep.

If your toddler wakes fully at night and can’t get back to sleep, that’s a different problem from night terrors. See our guide on a toddler waking at night and not going back to sleep.

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