Cries in the Night

Connor went to bed as usual last night. Teeth brushed, PJs, story, kisses and lights out. All good. Then at just before midnight he woke up yelling and crying inconsolably. 

I heard the crying in my dreams first. Then I woke up and went into his room to calm him down. But nothing I did helped. He continued to cry for a long time. My husband woke up and came in the room too. I tried to lay Connor back down in his bed, but he just sat back up again. I tried holding him, but he kept straining against me, pushing on my arms as if to get away. I continued to hold him as best I could until he finally calmed down. I put him back in bed, pulled the blanket up and waited to make sure he was ok. Then I went back into my room and fell asleep. 

A few hours later, my husband repeated the process when Connor woke up again screaming. He turned on the hall light thinking that maybe the darkness was scaring him. 

An hour later, Connor was up crying again. This time he was at the top of the stairs in the hallway. At this point I picked him up and brought him into our bed. Being in the same room as us tends to calm him down, but he still had a hard time falling back asleep. 

I'm not sure what to do for him. He might be having nightmares, but I think it's actually night terrors. I know that can happen with kids his age, but it doesn't make it any easier. There's literally nothing we can do to calm him down, just wait it out. And often he doesn't even open his eyes while he's crying. I'm not sure he remembers any of it. I feel so helpless when this happens, but it's not every night. Hopefully, he won't have another one for a while.