Ben has never been a great sleeper. I blame myself entirely for this, I'm weak and way too light of a sleeper to ever sleep train well.

For as long as I can remember he occasionally wakes up with a stange crying fit.

It's sort of like a night terror but I'm not sure that's what it is.

He's inconsolable, he screams, kicks, runs away from me, etc. You can't talk to him, offer him anything (blanket, milk, pacifier, etc) or that just makes him angrier, makes him cry harder. He'll thrash about and kick the sides of his bed, and if I try to pick him up he just arches his back and screams bloody murder and wiggles until he gets down then runs away from me like I"m about to murder him. 

But it all seems very much like a regular "Ben tantrum". This is exactly how he acts when he has a tantrum. Rolling on the floor, kicking, screaming, talking to him just makes him angrier, etc.

Usually he'll suddenly "snap out of it" and then start crying a different, more pathetic, less angry cry and then he'll want me to hold him or he'll take some milk or a blanket, etc.  Then falls right back to sleep.

And he's been doing it since he was a baby, I clearly remember the arched back in incosolable crying.  It happens anywhere from once a month or less to a few times a week, I think he goes through phases.  It's been twice this week, though, so I guess he's in a phase right now.

So is this a night terror?

Or just a sleeping tantrum?

I swear, I'm the only parent in the world who's kid has tantrums in his sleep!

Maura does something very similar to this and I have always figured that they were night terrors and she just suddenly calms down and goes back to sleep also.  It is so frustrating and like Ben she sometimes won't do it for awhile and then other weeks it's 3 or 4 times.  I think they typically outgrow night terrors by 5 so I hopefully only have one more year of this.  I hope things get better for you.

Amy