Nightmares in Children and How You Can Help

Through personal experience I have learned the hard way just what nightmares in children are all about. Many parents look forward to the time when their child or children go to bed each night because they will then have a little quite time but when your child has nightmares every night that is not the case. In my house, bed time is dreaded in many ways and not only by my husband and I but also our son.

He just turned six years old and has nightmares at least once every single night. One out of four children has nightmares once a week but there are a few out there who have them constantly. Nightmares usually happen in the light sleep stage. I have looked up a ton of information the nightmares and some say that they happen in the deep sleep stage but I have found with my own personal experiences along with real experiences from other parents that the light sleep stage is when they usually take place. When a child has a nightmare they usually wake up very frightened and scared. Many times they will cry out for their parent or just go to them. I have woken up many times with my son by my side and not even realized that he crawled in bed with me.

So what causes these nightmares to take over their little minds while they are sleeping? Many times there can be a major event that has taken place and can leave a child feeling alone and afraid. Of course scary movies and things like that can make a child have nightmares as well. For a lot of children, my son included, it is just because they have such a vivid imagination.

There are many things that we can do to help our children when they have problems with nightmares. The first thing to do is to comfort them and do not make fun of them or make them feel bad about being scared. Ask your child to tell you about the dream and discuss it with them. If a night light helps, then use one. If you child is dreaming of monsters or bad people take a moment to look around and let them know everything is ok. Try not to allow your child to sleep with you even though many times that is a very hard thing to do, especially when you are tired and need some sleep yourself. Read soothing stories and things before bed to put those images and thoughts in their minds instead of scary things. Allow your child to pick a toy or blanket to help give him comfort that he can sleep with.

You can also talk to your child about trying to control their dreams. Many children are able to do this while some are not. Tell them that it is their dream and they can do what they want in their dream such as telling a bad person to go away and not come back. Even though I do not agree with violence, sometimes your child may fell the need to beat up the bad guy in his dreams. In my opinion, if it helps them overcome their fears of bedtime and bad dreams then it is ok. If you try this with your child and they fail just continue to reassure them and help him or her come up with other things to try in their dreams.

Nightmares for children are very scary and when they have them very often it can make getting a good night sleep hard for the child and for the parents. If your child continues to have these nightmares and nothing helps them then I suggest talking to the pediatrician about it.