Children With Nightmares - Sleeping Problems In Children

Children With Nightmares - What Parents Can Do

Does your child suffer from feelings of insecurity and sadness? Does he or she often cry in the middle of the night? Does your child tell you about bad dream stories? If answer to all these questions is in affirmative, then be very careful. Your child may be suffering due to nightmares. For young children nightmares are enough to resist them to go back to sleep. They become too terrified of sleeping. This is a great trouble not only for children but also for parents.

Nightmares could be distressing for young minds. They contain very important information about critical emotional challenges in the child's life. For children nightmares could occur as a result of events like joining a new school, moving to a new neighborhood or living through a separation or remarriage. Nightmares or night terrors bring on anxiety, depression and apprehension for hours or even days afterward. It also disturbs children's ability to get a sound sleep. It may trigger insomnia, or fears and phobias regarding sleeping and dreaming.

There lies a difference between nightmares and night terrors. A nightmare is an unpleasant or terrifying dream. Everyone dreams whether children or adults. But nightmares occur more commonly in children than adults. Where as night terror is not a dream. It is an altered state of sleep known as parasomnia. Adults usually do not experience night terrors.

A child generally wakes up after a nightmare and feels distressed afterwards. Parents find it hard to comfort a child after a nightmare. However, a child will not wake up by night terrors. Though child may keep his or her eyes open but will not be conscious enough to recognize or communicate. Waking up children afterward will confuse them. After a night terror, children settle down easily. But this doesn't happen after a nightmare.

Children who experience a nightmare become reluctant to go back to sleep. Often nightmares occur later in night, that is, during the light stages of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Children undergo night terrors generally earlier in night during deep non-REM or delta sleep.

Both nightmares and night terrors are alarming for parents. They should be cautious in handling their child. They must to talk to their child about his or her fears. Parents should help their children to get away with any insecurity. When parents give their children reassurance and encouragement to look at imaginative solutions to dream dilemmas, their ability is restored to play with images in their nightmares. Then they may not feel threatened afterward.

Parents can do a lot in helping their child recover from sleeping disorder. For example, avoid watching aggressive or frightening television shows or movies, especially at night when children are around. Try not to quarrel in front of children, if possible. Parental fighting and abuse disturb children a lot.

Children nightmares are the cause of concern if the dreams persist and are recurring. In such a case it is advisable to consult a doctor.