She often wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. Needless to say, my wife and I haven't been getting much sleep and we're going into work exhausted. One of the most common concerns of parents is sleep disturbances, including nightmares and night terrors. Let's discuss nightmares first.
Nightmares occur quite commonly in young children.
Typically, a child with a nightmare wakes up completely, is very anxious, and usually remembers the content of the dream vividly. Childhood nightmares require no specific treatment, except for reassuring the frightened child. Occasionally, when nightmares become more frequent or occur on a regular basis, it may be a sign of stress in the child's life or environment. Also, the content of the bad dream or nightmare may be a clue to what is stressing the child. Night terrors occur less commonly and are different from nightmares.