Rude Awakening

There have been a couple of nights recently where Grayson cried out (after being asleep for hours) with what I think may be night terrors.

The latest one happened last night about 11 p.m. and when I went in to comfort him I noticed his eyes were still closed and he appeared to be sleeping, although fitfully. Naturally I picked him up to try and comfort him but he wrestled loose and crawled back in bed, still seeming to be asleep.

I stayed in there for a few more minutes until he calmed down and then did a little online research that pointed to night terrors which can be common in toddlers around his age. I also learned that trying to hold or comfort him during a terror is the wrong thing to do, as often times it makes the child panic and feel like their being attacked.

It's really hard to see Grayson appear scared and tell myself not to try and reach out to comfort him. Hopefully this will be a quickly passing phase. From what I could find, night terrors are often linked to things such as an expanding imagination, sleep deprivation or developmental milestones.

He's still taking really good naps and sleeping well at night overall, so I don't think the cause is sleep deprivation. I'm hoping we just need to get through some developmental stage and the episodes will go away. I try to tell myself maybe the developmental stage is getting ready for real potty training. That would totally be worth it! One can hope, right?