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Night Terrors in Children

July 21, 2008

Does your child often get up at night with a sudden jerk and fright? Does your child often cry and shriek at night along with getting up with a terrified look? If yes, then your child may be facing the problem of night terrors which is a common problem among young children. It has been found that night terrors are common in young boys especially between the age group of 3 to 5. Children suffering from this problem usually display symptoms like loud cries and shrieks, sweating, fast breathing along with an increase in heart rate. Typical night terrors last for about 5 to 30 minutes after which the child returns to a regular sleep. Unlike the general perception, night terrors are different from nightmares as the latter occur during the early stages of sleep while the former occurs in later stages of sleep cycle.

Parent’s role becomes important in helping the child overcome this problem as such children need extra love, care, support and assurance from their parents. It is believed that children who are overtired and overstressed are at a higher risk of facing this problem of night terrors. Thus, as a parent, you should set up a proper schedule for your child to prevent him from overstressing himself. This can be done by making your child stick to good bedtime routine which would ensure that he gets adequate rest to prevent this problem from recurring. There might be some children who suffer from the problem of chronic night terrors. To prevent your child from getting frequent night terrors, one should try to wake up the child before the usual time by which he gets this problem. This would help in interrupting and altering the sleep cycle which in turn would help in the reduction of the episodes of night terrors. Many children outgrow this problem as they grow up. When episodes of night terrors occur in your child, one should focus on comforting them by assuring them of the presence and affection of the parents. A simple hug or a cuddle can help a lot in getting your child out of this terrifying problem of sleep or night terrors.


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