The child had a terrible dream, afraid to sleep. How to solve the problem. Is there a difference between a nightmare, a nightmare and night fears

18.06.2019

It is impossible to believe, but one-year-old children are already capable of having terrible dreams. Sleep fears appear in the first phase. Bad dreams can not only disrupt the sleep of the crumbs, but also cause inhibited development, a depressed state. If nightmares torment the child on a regular basis, you will need the help of a specialist. The psychologist will explain all the reasons for the appearance of nightmares in children and methods to combat them.

During the day of waking, the child experiences a lot of excitement, experiences, plays with friends, makes new discoveries for himself. As a result, the baby's brain is overexcited and cannot enter the stage of inhibition. As a result, a physiological phenomenon of a hallucinatory nature appears during deep sleep.

When a child has nightmares, he can actively move: waving his arms, twisting his legs, sitting down and even running.

Blood pressure rises, sweating increases. Respiration is rapid and jerky. Despite the wide open running eyes, the baby is still fast asleep. It is impossible to wake him up, at the moment of such a state he is not able to recognize loved ones and navigate in space. In the morning he will not remember what happened to him at night.

Night horror lasts 15-20 minutes and does not appear again (on the same night).

Children's nightmares are not a genetic disorder. They can manifest themselves due to the presence of functional diseases of some organs and systems. Night terrors can cause mental illness, sleepwalking. Boys from 3 to 5 years old see terrible dreams more often.

Causes

Children's psyche is very vulnerable. There are many factors that can cause nightmares, both psychological and physiological in nature.

Psychological:

The baby begins to feel the state of the mother already in the womb at the 6th week of development. Difficult childbirth, stressful conditions during pregnancy can affect the future state of the baby.
Postponed surgery, disaster.
Unhealthy atmosphere in the family: constant quarrels between parents, divorce of mom and dad.
Lack of sincere conversations with parents.
Chronic overwork, emotional overstrain: long time spent at the computer, TV, mental, physical overload.
Stress during the period of acquaintance with kindergarten, school.

Organic:

Disruption of the internal organs, fever, shortness of breath, adenoids, enuresis.
Full bladder.
Horror can symbolize the appearance of ARVI.

Incorrect or changed diet.
Eating spicy and heavy meals before bedtime.

Daily regime:

Time for sleep has not been set.
Increased anxiety before going to bed.

Age features

Children, young and old, go through nightmares. At a certain age, fears will surely come to an end.

At the age of 3, a child develops a personality, the nervous system matures, so it is not surprising that at this age a child suffers from nightmares. Terrible dreams at 3 years old - a pattern.
6-7 years is the period when a child begins a new life stage. He goes to first grade. Unaccustomed stress has a detrimental effect on the dreams of babies. Even a dead butterfly or bird can terrify a child.
The next period is 7-8 years. Scientists have proven that at this age children often have terrible dreams. In a lifetime it is impossible to see as many night horrors as these defenseless children.
12 years is the time when childhood nightmares disappear.
Teenagers also have nightmares. But they happen in a completely different way.

Scientists believe that when a child has nightmares at night, he learns to overcome his fears and go through difficult life stages.

What to do

Nightmares can overtake any child. Parents need to react to this correctly so as not to scare them even more. You should talk to the baby, convince him that dreams are just pictures that will not do him anything bad. The kid should read the confidence and calmness on the parent's face.

Parents should look into the above list of possible causes. By eliminating them, you can help the child get rid of the nightmares.

Build relationships with your baby;
Protect him from domestic quarrels, overly tiresome computer games, frequent viewing of horror films on TV;
It is necessary to make a daily regimen so that the child goes to bed on time, day and night;
Mental and outdoor games should be given a certain time;
It is necessary to check the health of the crumbs;
Before going to bed, you can read a fairy tale to the baby, sing a lullaby so that he feels calm while falling asleep;
If the baby is ready to tell what he dreamed, then you can find out all the details from him. Together with him, you can depict the characters of dreams on paper and come up with a funny story, and then tear the piece of paper or cut it with scissors. The child will laugh and be less afraid of bad dreams;
Before going to bed, you can give the baby tinctures of soothing herbs;
You can take your baby for a walk before bed, or prepare a bath with soothing herbs for him;
It is necessary to exercise in the morning, fill the day with useful impressions;
Many kids get scared by a fictional monster living under a bed or in a closet. This is an excuse to test your acting skills. Drive him away with the available means, and then check whether the mythical monster has left the darkness.

Usually, nightmares stop dreaming on their own after identifying and eliminating the causes. But there are times when you need to see a doctor.

Treatment

It is necessary to seek medical help in the following cases:

Attacks of night terrors occur more often than once a week;
After preemptive awakening, the attack continues;
The duration of the attack is more than 45 minutes;
During seizures, the crumbs have profuse salivation, the body twitches, strains;
Walks in a dream;
The attacks begin in the second phase of sleep;
The child is haunted by fears throughout the day and he remembers the nightmares that he had.

Treatment for parasomnia should be under the watchful eye of a doctor. The doctor will immediately explain to the parents that it is impossible to wake the child at the time of the attack - it is useless. You can talk to your baby in a clear, calm tone to bring him back into deep sleep. Every movement of the baby should be monitored so that he does not harm himself and those around him.

With a severe stage of parasomnia, the doctor prescribes pharmacological preparations for the child in the form of a benzodiazepine tranquilizer: diazepam, its analogues. They suppress the fourth stage of sleep and help get rid of fears. These drugs can be used for a short time.

If a child has seizures, then the parents need to keep a diary. In it, you need to mark how many times a week the baby experienced attacks of fear, the duration and their time of occurrence.

A few days later, using the entries in the diary, you can predict the exact time when the child will have nightmares. Before they occur, you can wake up the baby for 5 minutes to offer him a drink or go to the toilet. Then you can put the child back on the bed. This method will save the tiny man from terrible attacks.

Does your child often have nightmares, does he sleep badly, constantly wakes up at night with fear, calls you to him? Where do children get bad dreams? What can you do to help overcome your fears?

The kid gets many impressions during the day, both positive and negative. The fragile child's psyche transforms the worries and worries experienced during the day into dreams. When there are too many negative emotions or experiences, they develop into.

Childhood fears

According to psychologists, the parents are most often to blame for the fact that children's fears develop into nightmares or phobias. And by the way, one of the most terrible childhood fears is the fear of separation from mom. Observe if you are telling your child “You are naughty, I’m leaving you!”? This is a taboo phrase! If a child under one year old is unconsciously afraid of being left without a mother (it is at this age that babies refuse to go to the arms of unfamiliar aunts, they immediately begin to cry), then after 2 years this is already a conscious fear. If you do not help the child to get rid of him, then he will not only see nightmares and move to your bed at night, but can also grow into a person with a fear of loneliness, fear of being left without a partner.

It is important for you not to ignore the problem and not be led by the alarmist, but to help the child cope with fears, instill in the baby the confidence that the mother loves and protects even at a distance, a meeting follows the separation, and a new day follows a dark night!

Often, emotionally sensitive children grow up with suspicious parents. Moms and dads overprotect them (including using and intimidation), and babies ... are even more afraid. Psychologists are unanimous: there is no need to "train" children by leaving them in a dark room. Better to come up with a game in which darkness is an ally. For example, finding a treasure with a flashlight.

In general, the most important thing is to fight not with the darkness, but with what actually worries the baby. Psychologists have noticed that children who sleep with their parents have no fear of the dark. Chances are, your little one just wants to be with you all the time. Perhaps you went to work too early and in the first two or three years of his life he stayed with the nanny for a long time? .. So that the child is not afraid of losing you, “saturate” him with love when you are together. Play hide and seek (this is a good prevention of fear of loss). Never leave home without warning a child, even a small one.

Nightmares often refer to problems in your relationship with your parents. A child who is eaten by someone at night is criticized all the time during the day, they want to "remake".
Someone is chasing a toddler who is under stress due to harsh shouts and pressure. Analyze your style of communication with your child, add active games during the day, calm conversations - in the evening. The complete absence of fears in a preschooler is also abnormal. But if your son has more than 9 phobias at the age of 3, and your daughter has more than 7, then you need to go to a psychologist.

Where is the bad dream

bright events of the day, both positive and negative, overexciting the nervous system;
strong fright: it can be like a dog in the yard, or an unpredictable or too harsh reaction of mom or dad to an offense, threats to send to an orphanage or hospital, any everyday situation may not be a trifle for a crumb;
unfavorable conditions at home: frequent quarrels, loud screams, intimidation, punishment, assault, as well as lack of contact with parents, replacement of live communication and outdoor activities with gadgets, conflicts in the garden or school;
feeling unwell: overeating at night, an abundance of sweets, stuffiness in the bedroom;
cartoons and fairy tales, the plot of which is scary (with scary characters).

What to do?

Algorithm for mums and dads

If the baby came to you at night, return with him to his room, ask what exactly he was scared of, why he is crying.
Explain to your child that
he was frightened by a terrible dream and, opening his eyes, he chased him away! Now you need to turn on the other side and again try to fall asleep.
Be gentle and calm. Kiss the baby, wish him good night and warn him that you are going to return to your room to go to bed. Leave the night light and the open door in the nursery.
If the baby calls you again, be sure to come to him as soon as possible and comfort him again. In no case leave your child unanswered to his call for help! In the morning, you can come up with a happy ending to a nightmare night story and laugh at it.

Every mother knows that her child has dreams from birth. To be convinced of this, it is enough to observe the baby a little: he either smiles in a dream, then suddenly frowns. There are also situations when a child sees something frightening - in this case, he can scream, cry and wake up.Some parents do not attach importance to this problem: well, think, something terrible was dreamed. But in vain! Nightmares are not so harmless for the child's psyche - they scare and upset the child, and they can even be a sign of a serious illness.

Is there a difference between a nightmare, a nightmare and night fears

If you look from the perspective of medicine and psychology, then all these conditions have different degrees. A child's nightmare is a vivid dream in which an aggressive event occurs - someone is chasing the sleeping person with the intention of causing harm, he falls or drowns, etc. Bad sleep implies a negative event, for example, a child is given a deuce or someone takes something away from him. Night terrors are the fear of sleeping in the dark, etc.

For parents, all these states do not have a fundamental difference, because they all can be connected, have the same reason and always bring equally negative emotions to both the child and adults. That is why I decided to consider all three problems in one context.

Do children really have bad dreams?

Why fight with bad dreams: restful sleep is a healthy psyche

A terrible dream that once dreamed is quickly forgotten, and it makes no sense to make a tragedy out of it. But if nightmares dream more than once every few months or become intrusive, you need to urgently sound the alarm.

You can find out that something is wrong with dreams not only from the words of the child - kids are often afraid to voice their fears, forget what they dreamed about, or simply cannot explain what is happening. Because of nightmares, behavior changes: the child is afraid to sleep alone, asks not to turn off the light. Children's fears can go so far that the baby refuses to be without adults during the day, leaves the door to the toilet and bathroom open. Daytime fears are even more dangerous than nighttime fears.

All this is very unsettling for the psyche. It is known that almost all adult fears and phobias come from childhood. By the way, poor studies can also be the result of nightmares.

Why do children dream and where do nightmares come from?

Dreams are dreamed when the brain is active and the body is resting: at this time, all energy is spent on rethinking the experience gained and new information. The active part of sleep, when a nightmare may occur, is known as the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage. If you look under your eyelids at this time, you can see how the eyeballs move very quickly. Nightmares and bad dreams tend to occur in the second half of the night when the REM intervals increase. Some scientists argue that nightmares worry children more in the first 3 hours after lights out, and bad dreams - closer to morning, but as practice shows, every person is different.

Vivid images drawn by the brain seem to a sleeping child as real as events in life, so he experiences genuine emotions. This is why the baby screams and cries. When children wake up because of a terrible dream, it is difficult for them to return to reality, therefore, seeing their mother, the kids still continue to get nervous.

Adults also have vivid dreams that are difficult to distinguish from reality, even when they wake up. But this happens less often, because the adult brain already has experience and knows what exactly cannot be. The first realization that a nightmare cannot cause harm comes to preschoolers at the age of 5, but even knowing that this is so, children still worry and fear for a long time. It is still difficult for them to control emotions.

Causes of night fears

It is not yet known what exactly causes nightmares - a bad dream can suddenly occur for no apparent reason, but there are a number of factors that are guaranteed to lead to night fears.

the child is frightened with scary tales, cartoons, they are allowed to play games - horror stories;
the baby is nervous, brought to stress;
the child is afraid of something: punishment, exams, high school students, etc .;
new events - moving, the birth of a brother or sister, divorce of parents, etc.;
taking certain medications;
making breathing difficult;
diseases of the nervous system - sleepwalking, autism,.

Sometimes nightmares become a child's reaction to moral or physical trauma - nightmares dream of children who have arrived from hot spots, places where natural disasters have occurred, those who have been in an accident or drowned.

The nightmare often reflects the age-related experiences of the child - the struggle for independence, aggression, sexual changes. Characters can be not only monsters, but also people and animals. The child may be frightened by events and their own actions, which may be followed by troubles.

How to save a child from nightmares: a bad dream - go away!

Nightmares cannot be completely prevented, but parents can set the stage for restful sleep. Without the help of adults, a child with night fears will not cope.
To help your child relax and calm down before bed, do whatever you can to relieve stress by:

observe the regime - it is noted that the later the child goes to bed, the worse he sleeps;
keep calm - before going to bed there should be no noisy games, nervous tension, scandals, films that can excite the brain;
do not discuss serious problems at night;
choose soothing activities - tell good stories, sing lullabies, hug the child;
do not turn off the light completely - buy a small night light;
always leave the child's favorite toy next to the bed - it should be in front of our eyes if the child suddenly wakes up;
the bed should be soft, comfortable and smell good, and the room should be ventilated - in the heat, children have terrible dreams much more often.

With older children, a room in the form of a night light and a beloved bear will not work. Teenage night fears need to be dealt with by other methods, namely, to build sincere, trusting relationships. Your son or daughter should not keep problems to himself - then nothing will accumulate. The worst thing that a teenager can hear from his parents is to figure it out yourself! Talk, discuss, advise - do not be afraid to become friends with your children, your authority will not suffer from this, but the solution to problems will not come in a dream, but during the day, during an intimate conversation.

What procedures and medications help to improve sleep

Here it must be said that only a doctor should treat a child, and independent prescriptions can lead to dangerous consequences. Everything that is written in that paragraph is publicly available useful information, but not a guide to action.

Aromatherapy... Children who do not have allergies are well helped to reconfigure and recover from one of the smells. Fir oil, the smell of tangerine peel or vanillin work especially well.
Warm baths... Relaxing sea salt baths are soothing if you bathe your child 30 minutes before bedtime. The water should not be hot or cold; you need a warm temperature that is pleasant for the body.
Relaxing massage... It is done no later than an hour before bedtime.
Sachet with hops, valerian, or other soothing herbs... If your child is not allergic, you can put a small pillow full of soothing herbs in his bed. After a few days, when sleep improves, the sachet needs to be removed.
Warm enemas with valerian... For a small child, you can take no more than ¼ of a tablet. The enema should be extremely warm, then it will be absorbed into the intestines. Cold water will play the role of a real enema and only hurt.
Sedative medications... They are prescribed by a doctor. Read more about.

What to do if a child has a nightmare

Even if you cannot protect your child from nightmares, teach him how to respond to them correctly. Much depends on your behavior, including the mental balance of the baby. Unfortunately, there are no universal advice in this case - each child needs a different approach, so choose what is closer to your children.

If nightmares recur, be sure to show your child to a doctor. Unfortunately, bad dreams are a harbinger of some changes in the brain.

Alena Gerasimova (Dulles)

Toothy Jabberwock, Barmaley and the Gray Wolf grab you and drag you somewhere. Scary, even if it's just a dream! How to defeat monsters and calm your baby?

All children, without exception, dream of such horrors. This is completely normal: strong emotions experienced during the day, simple overwork, going to the doctor, or any other significant event for the child can cause a nightmare.

It is worth thinking seriously only if such dreams are repeated very often (every day, several times a week). But first things first.

How to help?

If a child has a bad dream, most likely, he will wake up and inform you about it immediately - cry, scream, call or come himself. What is the right way to behave in such a situation?

Be near

Hug the baby tightly, reassure him: “I'm with you! Do not be afraid, everything is over! " Comfort your child until he relaxes and calms down. Do not try to put him back as soon as possible, let him recover. If he is not fully awake, and in a half-sleep continues to whimper and worry, wake him up so that he "comes out" of sleep and realizes that he is next to you, in complete safety.

Listen and talk

Dispel your fears

When a child talks about his dream, most likely, he will share what he is afraid of in real life. For example, situations when he is lost (dreaming that you left and he cannot find you) or some scary fairy-tale characters (Baba Yaga or someone even more creepy).

Speak out these situations, talk about and explain what can actually happen and what cannot. Try to give your child a tool to help him cope with fearful situations. For example, teach him what to do if he gets lost, learn your phone number together, arrange where you can meet at the mall, etc.

If the baby is afraid of fictional characters, you can come up with magic tricks: for example, if you go to bed with a teddy bear, then no Babayka can do anything.

If, despite all efforts, nightmares happen quite often, seek help from specialists - a child psychologist, a neurologist. Perhaps there is a reason for the bad dreams that you are not aware of. Specialists will find it and help you cope with it.

Nightmares- the problem is quite common among children and adolescents. According to various sources, she worries from 2 to 11% of all children. It is imperative to fight nightmares in a child, as they interfere with good performance, normal mental development, drive the child into a state of fear, depression and depression. What are the criteria for nightmares, how to identify the fact of their presence?

Nightmares- These are recurring episodes in which the child experiences feelings of fear and anxiety. At the same time, the baby can jump up in bed screaming, crying, wide-eyed, but at the same time weakly reacting to the environment. Usually, it is difficult to achieve an explanation of the cause of the fear from the child, and he also cannot remember and describe the dream.

In more serious cases, the so-called " night terror"when a child rushes about in bed, moans or screams in his sleep, it is very difficult to wake him up. Nightmares and" night terror "can be accompanied by sweating, rapid pulse, rapid breathing.

So for what featured is it possible to establish for sure that the child is tormented by nightmares? These include:
- often repeated abrupt awakening with a feeling of anxiety and fear, usually in the first third of the night;
- the inability in young children to remember the dream or the cause of the fear, adolescents cannot fully retell the dream;
- it is a well-known fact that nightmares are not associated with taking any medications;
- It is very difficult to wake up a child at the moment of a nightmare, and when he wakes up, he is poorly oriented in the environment.

Causes of nightmares in a child

Why at all children having nightmares? Finding the answer to this question can be difficult even for conscientious parents. Sometimes one can only guess about the presence of nightmares in a child, especially young children who do not even know how to speak.

First of all, it is obvious that any psychological trauma can cause the appearance of nightlife. One of such traumas can be a postponed situation that was accompanied by a fear of death (surgery, car accident, watching a horror movie, etc.). Another reason is the unfavorable family environment. These include frequent quarrels or divorce, overly strict upbringing, rough or cruel treatment of family members. Often nightmares are caused by overwork, if the child engages in too much mental or physical activity, sits at the computer or in front of the TV. A factor that predisposes to the appearance of nightmares in children, even at an early age, is the loss of strong contact with the mother in the first years of life. In this case, the baby feels defenseless and helpless, becomes especially vulnerable. For the same reason, do not limit the child's communication with peers. In the company of friends, he feels support from the same children.

but causes of nightmares have not only psychological roots, sometimes it can be various organic diseases. For example, shortness of breath, fever, cardiovascular problems, or a full bladder can trigger fear and anxiety at night. A special role here is played by the nervous system, which is still imperfect in children. Over time, when its formation is completed, nightmares most often leave the child, and if they bother, then very rarely.

What to do when your child has nightmares?

If you realized that to kid having nightmares, above all, never lose your composure. Even if in horror you ran to the bed of a wet screaming baby and hardly woke him up, you should not show your baby your emotions. You must calmly and confidently convince him that nothing really scary and dangerous has happened.

Again refer to the list of reasons, for which nightmares can appear, and carefully analyze if you have experienced similar situations. Accordingly, it is necessary to deal with them at the root: to restore communication with the child, to regulate relations in the family, to limit the time of working at the computer and watching TV, to allow the baby to rest more, to normalize the daily routine. You also need to treat diseases of the internal organs, which can be the cause of nightmares. Most often these are adenoids, rhinitis, arrhythmias, enuresis and others. Also try to limit outdoor games, avoid strong emotional stress just before bedtime.

Probably unnecessary talk that during such periods the child especially needs the support of the parents, the feeling that they are always there. Therefore, put your child to bed on their own and do not leave alone until he falls asleep. You can also try to discuss with the baby his bad dream, try to "decipher" it. Draw a nightmare with your child, and then make it funny and ridiculous. The drawing can be torn into small pieces, letting the child know that the nightmare has really been destroyed.

It helps many children well in the fight against nightmares phytotherapy. Before going to bed, you can give your child a warm broth, lemon balm, calendula, motherwort and other herbs that have a mild sedative effect. You also need to walk more often with your child in the fresh air and make sure that he exercises regularly.

Doctor prescribed Anvifen for nightmares

Sometimes nightmares all the same, they do not leave, and the parents are forced to turn first to a psychologist, and then to other specialists. In such a situation, the children are prescribed the medicine Anvifen. For that, of course, there must be good reasons, because this drug is a real antidepressant that affects the functioning of the nervous system. Anvifen belongs to a group of nootropic drugs that are distinguished by their ability to improve cognitive function. It has an anticonvulsant effect and improves cerebral circulation, due to which the nervous system begins to work more productively. It helps to normalize the child's sleep, get rid of anxiety and fear. The course reception of Anvifen helps to increase mental performance, concentration, physical activity and improve memory.

About other drugs with a similar mechanism of action Anvifen has fewer side effects. Drowsiness, irritability, and headache may occur at first doses. Possible adverse reactions from the gastrointestinal tract: nausea and allergies. It is important to accurately observe the dosage prescribed by the doctor; of course, it is impossible to take Anvifen on your own without first consulting a specialist.