Sleep-related paroxysmal disorders in infancy and childhood have recently been reviewed and classified by the American Sleep Disorders Association. Although in some patients diagnosis is easy to achieve, at times a video/EEG recording of the episodes is required because of the similarity to epileptic seizures. These disorders often represent a challenge for paediatricians as an accurate diagnosis is required. We report a review of the literature and a characterisation of our series of patients. Paroxysmal events during sleep are frequently misdiagnosed as psychogenic fits, epileptic seizures or physiologic events with evident disadvantages for children and families. The widespread use of neurophysiological techniques and better knowledge of the semeiology of epileptic seizures have led us to correctly define these events, which have sometimes been erroneously treated in the past.