Nightmares are scary dreams
which most children will experience every so often.
Usually, nightmares occur late into a child’s sleep
period (between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.), with the child
waking up and coming into your room to seek comfort.
Children may
want to tell you what happened in the dream and why it
was scary to them. Even if they’ve talked it out, they
may have trouble going back to sleep. Also, don’t be
surprised if your child has the same nightmare again
throughout the week.
Nightmares can
often happen after a child has experienced a stressful
physical or emotional event (injections, being left
alone, being hungry, etc.). In the first 6 months after
such an event, a child may have nightmares, which can
actually be a healthy way for the child to come to grips
with what has been happening in their life, getting them
adjusted to any changes caused by a particular event,
allowing them to reach a final acceptance and peace.
Keep track of
any nightmares that seem to occur too frequently to make
sure that you know if your child’s sleep is being
continuously disturbed. If this is the case, your
child’s ability to function during the day may be
adversely affected by their lack of sleep and stress
caused by the continual nightmare. Should this happen,
speak with your child’s pediatrician as to whether some
form of treatment may be required. More often than not,
nightmares, even repetitive ones over a short period of
time, usually don’t pose much of a threat.
Night terrors,
also known as confusional arousal or partial arousal,
happen during deep sleep (usually between 1 a.m. and 3
a.m.). A child having a night terror will often wake up
screaming, sweating, and breathing fast. If you were to
look at your child’s eyes during a night terror, you’d
notice that their pupils may look even larger than
normal. He or she may still be asleep although their
eyes may be open, and it may appear as though they are
looking through you. Your child may call out your name,
yet seem unable to recognize you. Also, they may be so
confused that they will not be able to answer you when
asked what’s wrong. As you comfort your child, they may
begin to scream even louder, and may start to flail
their arms about in order to defend themselves from what
is scaring them. It’s very difficult to actually wake
your child from a night terror, however, when they do
wake up, they usually won’t remember what just happened.
Children experiencing a night terror are not actually
dreaming, so once an episode is over, they will
generally settle back to a quiet sleep without any
difficulty.
Children enter
their deepest sleep of the night within 15 minutes of
falling asleep. This stage of deep, non-REM sleep
usually lasts between 45 to 75 minutes. It’s at this
point when children typically transition from deep sleep
to a lighter stage of sleep or even wake up briefly
before falling back to sleep. Night terrors happen when
a child becomes stuck in the deepest stage of sleep, and
is unable to come out of it and move on to the next
stage of sleep. The episode may last as short as a
minute, or as long as 40 minutes.
Parents should
not try to comfort the child through holding or cuddling
when a night terror happens since this may give the
child an even stronger sense of being forceably
restrained. Trying to wake them will prolong an episode,
however turning on some lights may be calming. You
should also protect your child from injury by standing
between them and windows, or moving furniture.
Night terrors
can be treated with medications, hypnotherapy, or with
other types of relaxation training if there seems to be
a serious problem. However, the best way to try and
“treat” night terrors is through prevention. Keeping
your child from getting overly tired, by carefully
scheduling waking and sleeping times, and by taking the
child to the bathroom before your bedtime can help in
contributing to the prevention of night terrors.
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