“I have a 28 month old boy who seems to wake up at night roaring but he is actually asleep. It seems he is having a night terror or something. We can’t go near him or get him out of the state he is in.  It’s very distressing to watch and listen to him?”

This does sound like your child is having night terrors. If this is so there is very little you can do for your child while he is experiencing them other than try and keep him from banging his head or falling down stairs etc. Night terrors are very common in toddlers. They are still asleep when they are experiencing them. You will not be able to wake your child and if you do manage to wake him he will probably become very frightened. He is still asleep and once the night terror is over children usually return to their normal sleep state. Sometimes they can last for 1 hour. I know it is very distressing for parents to watch but don’t worry unlike nightmares he will not remember this in the morning.

At this age children are developing very quickly and trying to make sense of the world around them. If they are occurring frequently try and make sure he has a regular bed time routine and is getting enough sleep at night as over tiredness can trigger them. Also if they do happen regularly at pretty much the same time each night maybe wake him before the time they usually start so it breaks his sleep cycle.