Bad dreams, do you wake them up?

[terrabella]

♥

[Louisep]

I read somewhere that you shouldn't wake babies from night terrors (not sure of the difference between a terror and a nightmare) because it's hard for them to snap out of it and may associate you with the terror. DS seems to be having a lot of bad dreams lately and if I wake him he cries but if I leave him alone, he'll sleep through it. He's still a baby though, so it might be different.

I like your idea about waking them though, so that they're not stuck in a bad dream.

[terrabella]

♥

[Krisis]

In my experience, a nightmare is scary, but you get over it pretty quickly. A terror is just that - a terrifying experience with screaming, shaking, crying, etc. The subject may move around or sit up or whatever but does not appear to be "all there," whereas with a nightmare the subject gains awareness pretty quickly.

I have never had a night terror but my best friend and ex-roommate had them all the time. Once she had one in the middle of the night and her cat, who was sleeping next to my face, was freaked out when she jumped out of her bed screaming. Cat used my face as a launch pad. I still have a nice long scar across my chin.

You're supposed to grow out of night terrors, but for whatever reason my poor friend never did.