My two year old has had a few night terrors lately and I was wondering what they really are? She starts crying usually after a couple of hours after going to sleep . When we comfort her she keeps on crying until we fully wake her up. Then she goes to bed normally. Could this be a oob

Thanks

Hi,

At that age they are just beginning to realize that adult arms cannot shield and comfort them forever, that their own wills have to face up to  conditions around them. They're active to the point of muscle aches that won't go away and they're more conscious of their own illnesses etc. -- It's sort of a pre-existential crisis.

So I agree with jetman and with the toddlers-- that at that stage sometimes nothing seems to help.

Bets

It can seem like you'd want to call it an OBE, but night terrors are not the same thing, no.  What you describe sounds like night terrors.  They seem to run in the family.  I had them frequently growing up, and even a few as an adult.  My son had them too, from the age of about 1.5 but he fortunately grew out of them very quickly. 

They happen in the deepest stage of sleep and to the person having it, what you experience seems just as real as real life.  You cannot tell the difference.  The person seems to be awake, and to them they think they are awake and think that what they experience is real reailty.  But anything and everything is complete terror and it just grows.  If you try to comfort them, they see you as something hideous. 

I tell my kids not to ever, ever, ever touch me while I'm sleeping.  If they need me they have to knock or call my name, but never touch me.  In that deep stage of sleep, just being touched can bring on a night terror. 

One example when I was about 19, I was living with my boyfriend and woke in the middle of the night.  I was frightened, not knowing why, and got out of bed.  When I pulled the covers back, there was a pool of blood in the bed under me.  I got out of bed and screamed.  My boyfriend got up and asked what was wrong and I showed him the blood and he said there wasn't anything there.  I even touched it and had blood all over me, but he tried to reassure me there wasn't any blood.  I was shaking and crying and could not understand why he couldn't see the blood.  So far, this is how the experience went for the both of us.  However, then it changed for me.  After a couple minutes in my experience, he turned into a some kind of half human half creature.  He had sores all over him and he began to talk mean, act like he was going to kill me, etc.  But in reality, he was still trying to comfort me and reassure me I was only dreaming.  In my experience, I tried to convince HIM there was something wrong with HIM!  Finally I did wake up to normal consciousness while still standing there.  All of a sudden he was back to normal, and the blood was gone.  The worst feeling in the world was waking up at that moment, because there was absolutely NO change in my consciousness whatsoever. 

Usually when you wake up from a dream, your brain goes through the changes in consciousness, however waking from a night terror is as if nothing has changed.  Just one moment to the next you suddenly aren't seeing all the hideous things you were just seeing a moment ago.  You feel like, "What is happening to me?  Am I going crazy?"  It's a very scary thing. 

I think my experience was extreme though.  I know that usually the person having the night terror will transition into another sleep stage and not remember much of what was going on.  For kids, it seems easy for this to happen, but for the parents trying to comfort them, it is hard to give comfort when your child is terrified of you.  My advice is just to try and soothe them, hug them, or wake them as quickly as possible.  They will usually awaken or just fall back to regular sleep.

I think it could be an lesson or a review experience possibly. Have you asked her to describe what she is experiencing or seeing? I know conversation can be difficult at that age but some children do have a great ability to let you know whats going on. Her limited vocabulary may make it difficult but you should be able to pick up on her "pictures" or sent thoughts. There is also a possibility of her reviewing her birth, which can be a painful experience. There is no reason to think that although she is but a child that her memories do not go back at least as far as her birth. Then of course there is just the old growing pains. Her body is growing fast and that can cause pain. I still say to ask her and see what she says.

OutOfBodyDude and Vicky,

Thank you for explaining your experience. It fits my impression of my son's night terrors when he was young. I couldn't wake him or comfort him, even though he would open his eyes in my direction. Not like a nightmare, because I could not get through to him. Talking to him or touching him, much less hugging him, during his night terrors would freak him out more. His shrieking would wake up everyone in the house. Laying him on the living room floor with his blankets and watching him from a nearby easy chair seemed to help, until he settled into a deep sleep and I could take him back to bed. It was unsettling to watch.

Carolyn

For what's it worth, i have come to believe and know that many, or most nightmares are more related to physical imbalances and issues rather than anything mental-emotional or spiritual in nature.  At least in my case, but Edgar Cayce's guidance also said so generally for most people.

 I use to get nightmares when younger, but my diet was much more unhealthy then, and i often ate close to bedtime (especially the combo tends to produce nightmares).

 Now that i don't do either, i don't have "nightmares" where terror and stark fear, irrationality, and/or total confusion/mindlessness are present.  

 I occasionally have difficult, emotionally oriented dreams where I'm working out emotional and unconscious issues, but its rather different than the nightmares i use to have when younger.  These latter dreams are much more coherent, make more sense, and aren't so irrational and terrifying.

 My advice would be to limit food anywhere near close to bedtime or naptime (have at least 2.5 hours between them), especially not any kind of junk food, large meal, or hard to digest foods like cheese (especially not in combo with starches of some kind), meat (especially not hotdogs, pork in any form, or cold cuts), wheat and wheat derivatives, etc.