4 yr old waking up several times a night crying

[camie170]

my four year old son wakes up several times a night crying. hes screaming like he's in pain, but i cant find a single thing wrong with him. he is fine during the day and before he goes to sleep. he has no health issues, so i dont understand whats wrong. he has been doing this for about 6 months and always seems to wake up at the same time during the night. im thinking this is just maybe becoming a habit for him, and i would like to know how to break it. im losing a lot of sleep and so is my 10 yr  daughter who sleeps in the next room. i have tried ignoring him, but he will just continue to scream untill i get in there to comfort him, and even that takes me a while to get him to settle down. i did notice a lot of times he will be scruntched up in a ball, and at first i thought he was having stomach issues, but i dont understand why only at night???

[shadowserpent]

could also be growing pains, seriously my son pulled this on me for 4 months then stopped and still occasionally will do it but its tapered off alot.

[RockRose]

Is this happening shortly after he goes to bed - like,  within an hour and a half?  

Does he appear to completely recognize you and talk to you during this time?  Does he remember it well the next morning?

This sounds like night terrors to me.  I think they should be called "night agitation" or "night tantrums".  They occur in the early part of the night,  and the child isn't actually fully awake - they have to be woken up during the tantrum and then they will usually be able to go to sleep shortly afterwards.

Does this sound like what is happening?