What Causes Nightmares In Your Child?

What Are Nightmares?

Usually your child would remember the nightmare and would be able to describe it to you. Keep the following things in mind:

1. Understand

   Firstly, it would require you to understand the type of nightmare that is scaring your child. If it is a one-time thing or does it have a certain pattern to it.

   The most common childhood nightmares are of scary animals, being left alone, darkness, toys coming to life, falling etc. If your child has nightmares about these things you need not worry much as it is common but if their nightmares are of a certain pattern like if it is about a particular individual or something that makes you feel that it is because of a past incident that scared your child then you might have to do something about it

2. Take the required action

   Now if your child’s nightmares are amongst the common ones you’ll have to find out a way to make them come out of it. Suppose if they have nightmares about scary animals you can narrate them a story with something positive about those animals. This would help them overcome the fear and would stop the nightmare. But if the nightmare in your kid is relating to a certain person or a past incident, you firstly need to check the person’s behaviour around your child and then might also consider taking them for some counselling

What Causes Nightmares In Your Child?

There are also night terrors in children but night terrors are very different from nightmares. It is a sleep disorder that causes feelings of terror.

Night Terrors vs Nightmares

Another major difference between the two is that when your child sees a nightmare your words or action can comfort them but if it’s a night terror then you can do nothing about it because even though it may look like your child is awake with eyes wide open, he/she might not respond to anything you say as they are caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake and are totally unaware of your presence.

Hence, the best thing to do in case of night terrors is to wait for the storm to pass. Do not try to hold your child as it may scare them even more but just make sure they do not come in contact with something that might hurt them. Night terrors can occur due to an insufficient sleep routine or even because it runs in your family and therefore it does not mean that your child has a psychological problem or is even upset about something.

Remember, both night terrors and nightmares might scare you for your child for a little while but it shall pass with time, just make sure you observe the pattern well and take the necessary actions. Do consult with a doctor if needed.

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