It’s better to comfort your child in their own room than to let them leave their bedroom and sleep elsewhere. This helps them to trust their own bed is a safe place. If your child calls out, ask again what’s wrong, then assure them everything is OK, they’re safe, nothing will bother them - and that they can sleep comfortably alone in their bed all night.If your child has a hard time being separated from you, be reassuring, but then tuck your child back into their own bed, not yours! Be gentle yet firm about staying in bed. What may seem funny or trivial to you is very real to your child. Ask open-ended questions that allows them to tell you what makes them scared at bedtime. What is your child afraid of? Begin by identifying the fear.Some tips to help your child overcome nighttime fears: How you, as a parent or any caregiver, address your child's fears and offer reassurance will affect their ability to fall and stay asleep. Strategies for overcoming nighttime fearsįear of the dark, monsters in the closet or simply anxiety about going to bed – all are relatively common in young children at some point during their childhood. Whatever creative solution you think may work is worth trying. Draw pictures of nightmares and then tear them up and throw them away as a symbolic gesture. Read stories about getting over nighttime fears. Together you and child can find creative ways to help them outgrow nightmares. Consider leaving the bedroom door open to show your kids that home is safe and you’re close-by.Avoid keeping bright lights on in the bedroom, but a night light can bring comfort.But let your child snuggle with any favorite soft toy or security blanket through the rest of the night. Encourage your child to go back to sleep in their own bed.Most will still be tired and able to return to sleep soon. Stay with your child for a short period of time following the nightmare. This is a time when comfort and cuddling is appropriate. Work to identify stressors in your child's life, and talk about them. The dreams may be about school, worry about family or other issues that are bothering them. Work to see if there is a theme to the nightmares – especially if they are occurring frequently. Talk about the nightmare during the day.Try to avoid material that may be upsetting.
PSYCHOLOGY OF DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES TV
In the 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime, don’t let your child watch scary movies or TV shows, or read frightening bedtime stories. Keep the bedtime routine light and happy.Enough sleep can cut down on the number and intensity of nightmares. Kids often need more sleep than they regularly get (check out recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for optimal hours for each age group). Steps to take to reduce your child's likelihood of nightmares include: Can I reduce my child's risk of having nightmares? Older kids are likely to have nightmares related to scary movies, or upcoming stressors like starting a new school. Younger kids are likely to have nightmares about being separated from their caregivers or seeing a monster. Types of nightmares differ by developmental stage. After age 12, girls are more likely than boys to have nightmares. Nightmares in children can happen at any age, but they usually start between the ages of 3 and 6, and decrease after age 10. Chronic or very frequent nightmares happen less often. Most children experience at least one nightmare. Which children are more likely to get nightmares? Some medications may also cause nightmares or disturbing dreams. Children who have experienced traumatic events may have frequent nightmares. They’re more likely when kids are overtired or experiencing stress. The exact cause of nightmares isn’t known. Some kids may also resist bedtime because they want to avoid bad dreams. They can involve fear or anxiety, and other emotions like anger, sadness, embarrassment or disgust.įor children, nightmares seem very real to children and they may have trouble returning to sleep after a nightmare. These dreams usually occur in the last third of the night, when we have more rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Nightmares in children are scary or frightening dreams that usually wakes them up.
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