If your child wakes up at night screaming and tossing and turning in bed, they may be suffering from night terrors. What can you do about nightmares to help your child sleep better?

 

What is night terrors

Around 5% of pre-school children suffer from night terrors. Night terrors are most common in children under the age of six and are triggered by certain brain activities. Most children grow out of the age of night terrors by the time they start school.

Part of the brain is stimulated during night terrors, while the rest of the brain, including consciousness and memory, remains in a sleep state. A child with night terrors moves out as if it were awake, but is actually still asleep and will not remember it later.

 

What to do against night terrors

Do not try to wake the child or treat them as if they are awake. Speak in a calm voice and appear as relaxed as possible.

In case the child is sleepwalking, make sure that all windows and doors are well closed and that nothing is in the way.

If the night terrors occur regularly, keep a detailed record of them. Once you have found a pattern, wake the child up a few minutes before a night terror usually occurs. Do this every day. After a while, you can try to let the child sleep through the night. Night terrors often disappear if you interrupt the child's sleep pattern for a while.

If the seizures do not improve, consult a paediatrician.

 

What are nightmares

Nightmares, in contrast to night terrors, usually wake the child up. The child usually remembers the incident and the dream. Nightmares are caused by acute problems and worries in everyday life or by things the child has seen on television.

In contrast to night terrors, nightmares are a sign that the child has fears and the cause is not always obvious. In children, nightmares occur most frequently between the ages of 3 and 5, when they become more aware of their environment. As long as nightmares do not occur regularly, there is usually no cause for concern. Nevertheless, you should try to talk to the child to find out the cause of the dream.

 

What to do about nightmares

Try to get the child to tell you what the dream was about or have them draw it for you. However, don't force the child to talk about it if they don't want to.

Give the child lots of affection and reassure it.

If the nightmares occur frequently or are always about the same subject, you should consult a doctor.