Dr Tanya - Our Resident Pediatrician

I have a 3 year old daughter who has terrible nightmares on a regular basis. She wakes up screaming, shaking and pointing or grabbing at things that aren't there.  My husband and I allow her to sleep with us, so she knows we are there and will feel safe, but it doesn't seem to help.  She has been suffering from what I assume are "night frights" for over a year and a half.  I am extremely restrictive about what I let her watch on TV, as a way to limit her from seeing "scary" things.   I don't know what else to do, and I'm afraid this could possibly lead to psychological problems.  Help! - All Mommy

It sounds like your daughter may be having "night terrors" which occur in infants over 18 months, usually in the first part of the night. The typical pattern is a child who wakes up approximately 3 hours after going to sleep, acting like she is possessed (don't worry, she's not). She may scream, shake and point at things. She will not be comforted by you and won't even realize you are in the room, so you might as well get her back to sleeping in her own bed. After each "episode," she should easily fall back to sleep on her own. Night terrors don't cause psychological problems. In fact, the next morning she won't even remember the event (although you might need therapy, since you will). What causes night terrors? Stress and tiredness can contribute, so set a regular bed time routine and take a look at everything else going on in your child's life. What can you do to break the cycle? Since night terrors generally occur around the same time every night, try waking your child up about 15 to 30 minutes prior to the episode. This will hopefully break the sleep cycle allowing her brain to jump into the next stage of sleep when the terrors don't occur.