Battle Your Child's Night Terrors

May 5 -- Since almost the day he was born, 10-year-old Kasey McGregor has been plagued by sleepless nights.

At night, he experiences a strange condition called night terrors in which he cries out and moves around wildly, even though he is fast asleep.

"It's as if he's a different person when he has the night terror," said his mother, Kim Vanderklis. "He physically looks different, he sounds different."

The Pearl River, La., woman actually videotaped her distressed son in a desperate search for answers to his bizarre nighttime behavior.

The boy's father has been equally puzzled.

"You'll hear him making noises, and he's just wandering around and trying to pick up imaginary things," said his stepfather, Eric Vanderklis. "And you tell him to go back to his room, and as long as you stay calm with him, he'll go back to his room."

But the family has found an even better solution from an unexpected place: another mom, in a different state, whose son suffered from the same disorder.

Many Sleep-Challenged Children

For a long time, Kasey said he felt like he is the only one who has the problem.

"I thought I was like one of the rare 20 kids who have it," he said.

But Kasey is hardly alone. More than 2 million children experience some type of sleep disorder. Last year, Good Morning America met Cody Gross, a New Jersey boy haunted by night terrors. He would jump up in bed with his eyes wide open, breathing rapidly — even banging his head — all while deeply asleep. He would have no memory of his actions in the morning.

The story on night terrors resonated with distraught families across the country. After seeing Cody's story, Niki Mathis of Elkland, Miss., connected instantly, having dealt with her own son's night terrors. She sent Good Morning America an e-mail outlining a solution called "scheduled awakenings," which involves waking the boy after he goes to sleep.