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Nightmares in Children

August 22, 2008

Many children face the problem of nightmares making the peaceful time of sleep an experience of trauma. A child who experience nightmares wakes up in a jolt with screams or horrified expressions. While the cause of nightmares is not clearly charted out, it is associated with the stress and strain of growing up. Such children need emotional and physical support from their parents so that nightmares do not hamper the healthy development of a child. Moreover, recurring nightmares can make sleep time a traumatic time for both the parents and the child along with inducing fears and phobia about sleeping in a child’s mind.

Nightmares usually occur later in the sleep cycle and they can be caused by ordinary stresses of growing up, some traumatic event or even due to the active imagination of the child. As a parent, you need to give your child immediate support and assurance of your presence so as to help him to cope up with nightmares. A small cuddle or a hug can prove effective in comforting the child who has just woken up due to a nightmare. Similarly, calming him down by your presence and supporting words along with encouraging the child to open up and share his feelings can be effective in helping the child to come out of the nightmarish experience. One should not ignore the child or get angry at him as that can have an adverse effect on his mind thereby hampering his confidence and strength to deal with challenges of life. Moreover, an ignoring attitude of parents can lead to a feeling of insecurity in the child along with hampering his healthy development.

There are some preventive measures available which can help in the reduction of bad dreams in your child. these include making sure that your child stays away from watching frightening movies as these can later on reflect in his dreams as nightmares. In addition, talking and discussing about the child’s dreams can help him to give vent to his feelings which in turn can help a great deal in reducing the frequency of nightmares. If the condition persists and the child is continuously troubled at night, one should not feel shy of taking professional and medical help.


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