What are nightmares?
Nightmares are scary dreams that generally wake your child up
from sleep and seem very real to him or her. Depending on your child’s age, it
is often difficult for children to separate a nightmare from reality, even after
your child awakes from the nightmare. Nightmares can often make your child upset
and afraid to go back to sleep and may be a reason for bedtime struggles or refusal.
What causes nightmares?
Nightmares can happen for no known reason although they
sometimes appear to stem from your child seeing or hearing something that upset
him or her during the daytime. The exact reasons why nightmares occur is
unknown. In some cases nightmares may follow traumatic experiences or be
associated with psychopathology. Certain drugs that alter brain
neurotransmitters or cause dream sleep rebound may be associated with nightmares.
Nightmares can occur in children as young as toddlers but
generally start between the ages of 3 and 6 years. It is estimated that 10 to 50
percent of children at this age have nightmares significant enough to disturb
their parents. The developmental stage of life often is reflected in the type of
nightmare. For example, toddlers may have nightmares about being separated from
their parents; young children may have nightmares about getting lost, about
death or other real dangers; and older children may have nightmares related to
scary movies they’ve seen.
Nightmares generally occur in the second half of the night and
are associated with full awareness and clear recall if the child wakes up after
the episode. Little or no confusion is involved. These features distinguish
nightmares from night terrors which occur in the first half of the night and are
associated with little or no recall and a confused state of awareness.
How to help your child who experiences nightmares
There are several steps you can take to reduce your child’s likelihood of nightmares. Among them:
- Ensure adequate sleep. Is your child getting enough sleep and
maintaining his or her regular bedtime schedule and routine? Doing so will
likely cut down on the number and the intensity of nightmares your child may
be having.
- Keep the bedtime routine ‘light,’ happy, and fun. In the 30 to 60
minutes before bedtime, don’t expose your child to scary movies, TV shows,
frightening bedtime stories, scary music or other stimuli that may be
upsetting to your child.