Eric came home from school around 9:30 or so last night and we sat on the couch, talking for a little bit. All of the sudden, from her crib upstairs, Hailey just started wailing. My first thought was that she was having a nightmare.

I had heard some of my friends discussing “night terrors” recently and that the best thing is to not pick up your child to comfort them right away because they are still asleep and you grabbing them might play into their dream if they are dreaming that someone has a hold of them. So, we went into Hailey’s room – she’s still crying uncontrollably but also, still asleep. We just stood by her crib and patted her a little bit and gently tried to wake her. It took a few minutes but she finally opened her eyes and stopped screaming. I picked her up and she looked at both of us and realized that she was alright. She was sobbing so bad. We felt horrible.

I don’t know if I’d call this a night terror or a nightmare. I’m not sure if there’s a huge difference in the two. I just hope it doesn’t happen very often because it’s enough to scare the bejesus out of you.