When our baby or infant cries, we cry too.

Dear Mr Ashok Kumar,
Was this the first time and has it repeated since?
I can imagine how scary it was for all of you and puzzling at the same time. What you describe seems to be what we call 'Night Terrors'. Although it has terror in its name and as you have seen quite a hair raising experience, reassuringly it is neither dangerous nor is going to stay with him for long.
There are four stages of Sleep: and after a period of light sleep (when you can still say light is on and can be woken up by slight noises) we slip in to deep sleep. Night terror is a phenomenon when we are switching out of Non REM (rapid eye movement) sleep stage to REM stage (where usually we have night mares, dreams we can recollect, thrash around, grind our teeth etc)
During an episode of Night Terror a child suddenly can sit up terrified, thrash around and nothing you do seem to work and is not able to explain himself. They can scream or remain silent. It lasts a while. They then go back to sleep and do not remember much of it.
This is commonly seen in children 2-7 years, may repeat a few times and ultimately kids grow out of it.
Him remaining a bit dull the following few days seems to me was either a coincidence or may be you were watching him very closely.

If these things repeat very often, or you feel what I have explained above doesn't fit into what you experienced, see a pediatrician to make sure all is well!

Doctor, Thank you so much, it's a good explanation and great to know from you.

Dear Celine,
Looks like your four year old is very articulate and has found ways of telling you when she is upset either in as many words or by making some noises. Younger children often cry a lot as they can not express their frustration in any other way. Anger, sadness, joy and disappointment and many other emotions and feelings are all natural for kids. Encourage her to discuss more about why she is upset? What would make it better?
Ask her would you rather tell mamma why you are angry or upset rather than running away? Having said that when we are angry we all need some way to let our steam off. If it is not disruptive let her do what she is doing.
Hope she has a fun fourth birthday ahead! Best wishes.

your situation is not very uncommon. I too have seen a similar case in my neighbourhood. One of my neighbours has a five-year-old boy, who cries for almost everything. The other day, he was playing with my four-year-old son and while playing, fell down. He was wearing long trousers and so there was no injury as it was only a mild fall. Yet, the boy was crying uncontrollably. All of us, including his parents rushed in and tried to soothe him. but it didn't work. These incidents make me wonder if we are too obsessed as parents and do not want our children to cry it out. One day, my mother-in-law visited us and was surprised to see the boy crying so much. She asked me, "Is that boy always seeking attention?" I said "I don't know." Just wondering if children more for seeking attention than the real pain. I want to know if crying it out is the first step to fighting it out.

Dear Deepika,
Is the fall a concern or the tears that follow? Parenting is all about thinking what you are doing is not right sometimes isn't it? Small falls and minor injuries are part of growing up. If your instinct is to give him a hug and wipe his tears do that! Where I would agree with your husband is to make him realise it is ok to hurt a bit and that there is nothing to worry. Don't panic! It feeds into the anxiety of the child and some kids even learn 'use it' to get more attention.

Why don't you try this the next time it happens - ''say oh oh! there you go again! Did that hurt? It will all be better in a minute just like last time! Do you want a hug from mamma? See tears all gone Daddy we are going to tell daddy what a brave boy you have been!''

Thank you. We see this very often in young children. Usually when they are a little bit older. What you are describing may be what is referred to as growing pains. End of the day, both legs especially the calves hurt, kids may find comfort in massage etc.
This is usually because they run around so much in the day time. If only we did half of what they do, our legs would cramp up even more.
I would want to be reassuring but, make sure your pediatrician sees him once to ensure he is healthy, he may need iron or vitamin D supplements and your doctor will be best suited for that.