Night terrors in children 5 years old. Are night fears dangerous for a child? How to overcome a child's nightmares

It turns out that night fears are quite common. But I had never heard of them before, and I didn’t know anything. Neither my friends, nor their parents, nor the local doctor and paramedic of an ambulance have heard about nighttime fears! I had to face them personally. But first things first.

One night I heard crying from my daughter's room and thought that she had a bad dream.

"Mom mom!" - muttered daughter and cried. When I ran into the room, I saw that my daughter was not sleeping, but was already sitting on the bed. The eyes are wide open. I did not attach much importance to this. I put it back in the crib, began stroking the child's head, soothing it. A minute later, the daughter was asleep.

I had already forgotten about this incident. But a week later I put my sick daughter to sleep during the day. Her temperature was low, but nasty - 37.7. She fell asleep quickly. After about 1.5 hours, my daughter sat up on the bed and said: "I woke up, I don't want to sleep anymore." And she began to cry. I was surprised: "Well, don't sleep." The daughter did not answer, but began to cry even louder. The cry has turned into a scream. I tried to calm her down, but at that moment the neighbors started knocking. My daughter was scared. She began to scream, break free, shout: "Neighbors! Neighbors!" What happened to me, you have no idea. I grabbed her in my arms, began to calm her down. She struggled, called me. Her eyes were wide open, but she couldn't see me. She looked at me, but saw the neighbors! Then she broke free, began to crawl on the bed, I tried to take her in my arms, but she got up and ran to another room. She shouted: "Neighbors! Neighbors! Mom!" I took her in my arms, began to rock. A minute later, the daughter calmed down, closed her eyes. I was shaking for half a day. On this day, the district police officer came, called because of the temperature to listen to the lungs. The doctor said he didn't know what it was.

- Apparently, something was dreamed ...

- But she didn’t sleep!

Try to sedate at night.

The doctor left. At first I wanted to look on the Internet for what it was, but I didn't know how to type in a search. So I started calling my friends. They had never heard of such a thing. Someone said that I had to go to a neurologist. In the morning I made an appointment with my daughter to see a neurologist. But it took two (!) Weeks to wait. The next week, nothing like that happened. My daughter recovered and went to the kindergarten.

Once a friend came to visit me with a small son (1.5 years old). Rather, she did not come to visit. She had mice at home. Do not laugh. It is the mouse. A friend was just terrified of them. Her husband was late. And the mice were running around the apartment. So a friend came to me. It was already 9 o'clock in the evening. The children made noise. They barely calmed me down. They put him to bed. It was about 10 o'clock, the beginning of 11. The children fell asleep instantly. At 12 o'clock I heard a scream. My daughter called me. Eyes open, but does not see me. I grabbed her in my arms. She began to feel sick. She struggled. I said different words to her. But the scream got stronger. I gave my struggling daughter to my husband and called 03. There I was asked about everything. My daughter was screaming all this time, and they heard it, after 5 minutes the team left, and me ... They put me in touch with a pediatrician who advised us to wash the child with cold water !! You can't even imagine what happened to the baby when she was washed! She was so scared that she had a real hysteria. In general, with grief in half, after 5 minutes my daughter calmed down. An ambulance arrived in 40 minutes. The doctor told us that it was most likely a brain tumor. Imagine hearing this. I was shocked. I never expected to hear such a diagnosis. In the morning I called a friend in tears. She is studying to be a psychologist. She calmed me down and said that she had found our "disease" on the Internet. “These are night fears,” she said. I felt funny: "What are you? Have you ever seen night fears manifest like this?" “Not nightmares! Fears! This is completely different,” a friend told me and read about fears 3 times (we did not have the Internet at that moment). Only then I believed that we had nothing to worry about.

Night terrors are normal. The "attack" looks awful, but there is nothing wrong with it. What are "night fears"? How do they manifest? What to do? I will write about it in my own words.

The child has a bad dream. Night terrors are dreamed of during slow wave sleep. Nightmares - in the long phase. That is why the child remembers nightmares, but does not remember fears. He can't say what scared him. The child wakes up, but not completely, but partially. Eyes open wide, but he still can't see you. The kid is crying a lot, muttering something, maybe even running around the room. Usually children under 7 have fears. They should not be present during daytime sleep. We had them a couple of times during the day against the background of the temperature. Most often this happens against a background of very high temperatures. My daughter's body reacts like that even to a not very high temperature. Why this is happening, we were not told. Night terrors can last up to half an hour. The child cannot be woken up. He is frightened by people and objects in the room. In the morning, the baby does not remember what happened to him.

What did I do wrong during the seizure?

• She took the child in her arms.
• I washed (once on the advice of a doctor).

What to do?

• Put the baby back in the crib and hold it gently, if the baby runs around the room, he may bump, and this will frighten him even more.
• Quietly soothe, pat on the head.
• Do not turn on bright lights in the room. He scared my daughter.

What we did to stop fears:

• We temporarily stopped inviting children home. My daughter is very emotional and active. She gets excited quickly.
• She did not show any cartoons or films where there is at least a hint of a fight, horror, witchcraft. I completely ruled out foreign cartoons, although very few of them were watched.
• I began to spend more time with my daughter in the evening before going to bed.
• Before going to bed, only calm games.
• I put to bed on time.
• Obligatory sleep during the day. If I didn't sleep during the day, sometimes there were fears.

Hope my story helps someone. I was recently at the clinic. I took a certificate from a doctor and heard my grandmother describe the same "symptoms". An elderly woman asked the doctor what it was. And the pediatrician asked the same question: "What does the child say? What is she afraid of?" The grandmother tried to explain that the child was not saying anything. I realized that this pediatrician also does not know the correct "diagnosis". I would like to believe that someday we will have more competent doctors. Then mothers do not have to look for an answer on the Internet, call their friends and relatives in search of the right answer.

Now my daughter is almost 4 years old. There were no fears for more than two months.

Personal experience

Comment on the article "Night Fears"

my eldest daughter -2.8 also has fears from time to time at night. I turned to neurologists, prescribed drops of buy-by-horror. I read the composition, I threw it out. I myself rummaged through the pharmacy kiosk, I found the children tea, an evening fairy tale. We were helped but not immediately by herbs help.plus no emotions and noisy games-we read and listen to soothing melodies. 1 cry in the morning and not every day

04/23/2009 12:49:32 pm, milagro.mia

12/29/2008 20:57:30, Alex

Hello! It is impossible to describe in words. Night fears are quite common. I myself was afraid until I was 12 years old.
Don't play at home, listen to any music. Take a shower or a bath before going to bed. Listen at least 15 minutes every day. Syashenny Quran at least Azan or from the Quran surru
"Maryam" about St. Mary in 1 month everything will pass

12/29/2008 08:55:47 PM, Alex

Total 12 posts .

More on the "Night Fears" topic:

It’s not the children who are playing, but the adults, and the children are looking at the reaction of their parents. She has no night fears, she just does not like to sleep alone.

I also think that these are night fears. Are you sure the baby is awake? Ours sobbed with all her might at night, and we could not calm her down for a long time, until ...

At the end of the closing ceremony, a very beautiful song was performed by the Abkhazian singer Khibla Gerzmava "Goodbye, Sochi!" I don’t know whose poetry I didn’t find on the Internet. I tried to write it down by ear. I didn’t make out one piece before the last chorus to the end. Help! (-: [link-1] (song starts from 131 minutes). UPD Found! Information and text from here [link-1]. "Olympic waltz" Lyrics Igor Nikolaev Music Igor Krutoy Premiere February 23, 2014 Performed by Khibla Gerzmava ...

Of course she worries, she is still small, and when she is small, she is calmer with her mother, especially at night. I remember my night fears very well.

But in parallel with enuresis, nighttime fears appeared. Moreover, if at first she just left her room several times, called for a kiss or a drink, but then all the same ...

The discussion below turned out to be stormy, you will not say anything :) I will try to reduce the intensity of passions, transferring the conversation to a theoretical channel. Fear is a negative emotion and is unpleasant to experience. With this, I hope no one will argue. So why did such a fierce rejection come from the thought that fears can be dealt with and overcome? As far as I understood, the arguments of the opponents boiled down to three: 1) you can live like that, there are a lot of adults who are not disturbed by fears, 2) someone was fighting with ...

It looks like night terrors (not nightmares). My daughter was almost one and a half to three years old. Does it usually start in an hour and a half after laying down?

The term "nightmares" refers to repeated episodes of fear, aggression and other dysphoric emotions. A child in this state jumps out of bed screaming, crying, expressions of horror, autonomic reactions, his eyes are open, but he does not react to the environment, cannot formulate the cause of fears. In most cases, episodes of nightmares are sporadic, but the need to exclude organic causes, the painful condition of the child and the whole family require a serious attitude to these conditions, without references "mommy, the child will outgrow".
Possible reasons. There are two known sleep phases: the period of rapid (REM) and slow (non-REM) eye movement. The REM and non-REM periods alternate every 90-100 minutes. During the REM period, EEG activity is close to the daily pattern. In older children and adults, non-REM accounts for 75% of all sleep. Nighttime fears associated with bad dreams are recorded during the REM period in the second half of the night. Night fears are largely explainable (stress, stress), the child wakes up and reacts to the environment. He can tell what worried him, for example, a bad dream. Moreover, the child can tell what he saw in a dream: a monster, a terrible animal, an evil person, etc. Night fears are periodically recorded in 2-11% of children.
Nightmares ("night terror") are less common (in 1-6% of children), occur during the non-REM period, proceed violently, with autonomic reactions (for example, sweating), it is extremely difficult to wake up such children during this period, in memory the reasons do not persist, the episodes are accompanied by a feeling of weakness. The first episodes of nightmares are usually recorded at the age of 3-6 years, the maximum frequency - at 10-12 years (night fears - at 7-9 years). At a younger age, the frequency of night fears and nightmares in boys and girls is the same. In older childhood, nightmares are more common in boys (as opposed to nightmares). As the nervous system matures, the frequency of nightmares decreases to 1%.
In 7% of cases, nightmares ("night terror") are recorded in a family history. There was a connection between nightmares and sleepwalking (the latter is associated with the HLADQ-B1 haplotype) with frontal epilepsy.
Potential triggers are general stress, school problems, family conflicts, prolonged sleep deprivation, chronic illness, fever, a full bladder, airway obstruction, alcohol, nicotine, and psychostimulants.
The clinical picture. Nightmares are more often recorded in shy, neurotic children and adolescents, usually in the first 1-3 hours after falling asleep (as opposed to night fears that occur in the second half of the night). The child suddenly begins to scream in a dream, move, jump up, eyes can be wide open, screams are incoherent. The reaction to the environment is weak, attempts to wake up are unsuccessful. It is impossible to recall these episodes in the future. Tachycardia, rapid breathing, sweating are often recorded.
The criteria for the diagnosis are:
... repeated episodes of sudden awakening with panic reactions in the first third of the night;
... disorientation, poor response to awakening attempts;
... the inability to remember an episode of a nightmare during the day (in young children) or an incomplete understanding of it (in adolescents and adults);
... lack of reliable association with medication or disease.
In our opinion, nighttime fears and nightmares are more common in children after hypoxic disorders in childbirth, concussion, attention deficit disorder and motor arousal, with neurotic parents, and overprotection.
Differential diagnosis is carried out with acute stress disorders, hallucinations, periods of apnea, nocturnal cramps, panic attacks, restless legs syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other neurological and mental disorders.
Additional studies (EEG, polysomnography, imaging techniques, Holter heart rate monitoring, biochemical tests, etc.) are necessary only to exclude possible somatic and neurological disorders that occur under the guise of nightmares. There is no specific test for nightmares ("night terror").
Treatment. First of all, it is required to restore the regime, relieve excitement before going to bed, abandon noisy games, as well as exclude psycho-traumatic situations and regulate family and school relations, if necessary, with the help of a psychologist. It is necessary to treat conditions that provoke night fears or nightmares: adenoids, broncho-obstructive syndrome, somatic diseases, anxiety syndrome. It is recommended to limit computer games, watching television programs, physical activity, being in the fresh air is useful.
In severe cases, tricyclic antidepressants and nootropic drugs are prescribed for special indications. Therapy with these drugs is rarely used. In wide clinical practice, more physiological drugs, in particular derivatives of aminobutyric acid, have moved forward into the first line.
Aminophenylbutyric acid hydrochloride (Anvifen) is known as such a drug. Anvifen is a drug that combines a tranquilizing effect with a nootropic (improving cognitive function) effect, it has antiplatelet, antioxidant and some anticonvulsant effects; improves the functional state of the brain by normalizing its metabolism and affecting cerebral blood flow. During the course admission, it increases physical and mental performance (attention, memory, speed and accuracy of sensory-motor reactions); reduces the manifestations of asthenia (improves well-being, increases interest and initiative (motivation for activity)) without sedation or arousal; helps to reduce feelings of anxiety, tension and anxiety, normalizes sleep. All this is the rationale for the use of Anvifen in children experiencing stressful reactions at school and at home, with overload and sleep disorders. The drug is available in capsule form and has a unique children's dosage of 50 mg of active ingredient in one capsule.
According to our preliminary data, in 15 children aged 5-7 years, when Anvifen was prescribed for sleep disturbances, general anxiety, and nighttime fears, a significant improvement was noted. After a 2-week course, nocturnal awakenings stopped, appetite improved, children became calmer, and the process of preparing homework was easier.
Thus, nightmares and nightmares are not uncommon in childhood and adolescence. The exclusion of the primary disease is required, after which the task of treatment becomes completely pediatric. Correction of the regime, psychological climate is recommended. Anvifen has a positive effect on children's anxiety, anxiety, night fears.

Literature
1. Tarasenko E.A. Features and sleep disorders in infants and young children: Author's abstract. diss. Ph.D. - M., 2011 .-- 27 p.
2. Pagel J. Nightmaresand Disordersof Dreaming // Am. J. Fam. Physic. - 2000. - Vol. 61. - P. 2037-2042.
3. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. International Classification of Sleep Disorders: Diagnostic and coding manual. 2nd. Westchester, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine; 2005.
4. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.
5. Partinen M., Hubin C. Epidemiology of sleep disorders. In: Kryger M., Roth T., Dement W. (Eds.) Principles and Practice in Sleep Medicine. - Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2000. - P. 558-579.
6. Nielsen T., Laberge L., Paquet J. et al. Development of disturbing dreams during adolescence and their relation to anxiety symptoms // Sleep. - 2000. - Vol. 23. - P. 727-736.
7. Muris P., Merckelbach H., Gadet B. et al. Fears, worries, and scary dreams in 4- to 12-year-old children: their content, developmental pattern and origins // J. Clin. Child. Psychol. - 2000. - Vol. 29. - P. 43-52.
8. Kotagal S. Parasomnias of childhood // Current Opin. Pediatr. - 2008. - Vol. 20. - P. 659-665.
9. Hublin C., Kaprio J. Genetic aspects and genetic epidemiology of parasomnias // Sleep Med. Reviews. - 2003. - Vol. 7. - P. 413-421.
10. Lecendreux M., Mayer G., Bassetti C. et al. HLA association in sleepwalking // Mol. Psychiatry. - 2003. - Vol. 8. - P. 114-117.
11. Bisulli F., Vignatelli L., Naldi I. et al. Increased frequency of arousal parasomnias in families with nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy: A common mechanism? // Epilepsia. - 2010. - Vol. 51. - P. 1852-1860.

anonymous, female, 30

Good afternoon. The son is 5 years old. A month ago, the first time there was a night attack of this nature: at about 12 at night he began to scream, cry, said that it was painful, scary, he was all frightened, jerked his legs, tried to escape. It was not possible to wake him up, she took him to another room in a dim light, gradually calmed down and immediately fell asleep, in the morning he did not remember anything. During the night, 2 such attacks - about 12 and an hour later again. Then he fell asleep until morning. It was repeated every other night, then after 2.3, now once a week. Active during the day, but a little annoyed, touchy. We made the eeg of a night's sleep. During the eeg, I did not wake up at night, there was no attack. The conclusion is as follows: with prolonged monitoring for 20 hours during wakefulness and nocturnal sleep, changes in the brain were revealed with the presence of a focus of epileptiform activity in the frontotemporal regions on the left (the nature of the graphoelements corresponds to the "Rolandic" complexes). Epileptic seizures were not recorded during the study. The main activity is age-appropriate. Alpha activity is not expressed. Beta activity is poorly expressed. Delta activity dominates in the form of a rhythm with a frequency of 0.5 Hz, high amplitude, most pronounced in the right anterior temporal region (f8) help to clarify the picture - does this indicate the presence of epilepsy in a child? And what actions should be taken? Or is it age-related and will pass by itself? Thanks in advance for your reply. I want to add that the child is very developed, he started talking early, and has no visible deviations.

anonymously

Good afternoon, Vasily Yurievich. Today I visited a pediatric neurologist. Based on this EEG conclusion, he diagnosed idiopathic epilepsy (???). Prescribed to take depakin (Konvulex) syrup for 3 months according to the scheme. But I read in the instructions that it is used in children only in case of seizures or tics. We do not have these symptoms. The question is: is it necessary? And isn't the doctor reinsured? The question is probably provocative, but I don’t want to once again stuff the child with unnecessary drugs with a bunch of side effects (including death). Unfortunately, we have only one pediatric neurologist, so there is no way to get advice from several specialists. Please help me figure it out. P.S. Probably, she identified the source of night fears: disturbance of the sleep regimen for 1.5 months, stopped sleeping during the day, fell asleep late (due to a temporary move). When he returned to his usual routine, there are no seizures at night. Perhaps you should take sedatives over antiepileptic drugs? And then watch ... I am very grateful for the answer.

Night tantrums are a common guest in families with preschoolers. Every fourth family knows what it is, and every seventh experiences episodes of uncontrolled night excitement all the time. Why does a child wake up hysterically at night?

What does that mean?

Experiencing night tantrums in a child, every parent asks himself this question.

Hysterics is a special form of strong nervous irritation that leads a person to a partial or complete loss of self-control.

In babies, it manifests itself in the form of a loud cry, crying, convulsive sobs, accompanied by motor excitement, rolling on the floor. Most often, a child wakes up at night with hysteria from 1 to 5 years. Persuading adults does not help with this.

A tantrum can occur 1 to 3 times in one night, and it can last from 5 to 40 minutes.

This is dangerous?

Doctors say that in most cases, when a child wakes up at night and screams hysterically, this is not a disease, but a feature of tender childhood. Its cause is the immaturity of the nervous system of children.

Pediatricians say that in most cases, nocturnal tantrums are not dangerous and do not need treatment. By a maximum of 7 years, they pass on their own.

Why does a child wake up at night and scream hysterically

A child's tantrum at night can occur for one of the following reasons:

• The presence of a neurological diagnosis, which confirms the increased fatigue of the baby.
• Excessive emotionality of the child. Sensitive children who are sensitive to events that occur during the day are more prone to nighttime tantrums.
• A large number of impressions that the child is forced to “process” in a day. If in one weekend the kid has visited a cinema, a zoo and a children's party, his nervous system is in a state of extreme excitement. This excitement does not have time to "fade away" and remains for the night. In this case, the baby's sleep is superficial and weak. At night, the child is hysterical, but being in an affective state, in the morning he does not even remember about it.
• The stress that accompanies the child during the day. There can be many things that the child perceives with negative emotional connotations. This is adaptation to a new team - getting used to the kindergarten group, feeling unwell after an illness, a reaction to the departure or separation of parents.

Possible consequences of night tantrums

Episodes of nocturnal agitated behavior cause the following symptoms:

• drowsiness;
• headache;
• bad mood;
• anxiety.

The result can be poor health not only for the child, but also for his parents. Calming the baby who raised all the sleeping family members, the parents get nervous, do not get enough sleep and experience the same negative feelings.

Getting rid of the problem

Tantrums in a child before bedtime or at night, if they do not become persistent, do not need to be treated. You can help your child with extra attention, love, and concern.

Behavior of parents at the moment of a child's tantrum at night

• At the first screams coming from the nursery, you should get up and go there. It is important to understand that the episode of nocturnal arousal is often not recognized by the child. It can be part of a dream.
• Without losing your calm, walk up to the baby and hug him. Stay with him until he calms down. In this case, you need to firmly, but not rudely, hold it and calmly wait until the hysteria dries up.
• When you put out night tantrums in a child of 2 years old, special physical strength is not required. With older children, this is more difficult, because during uncontrolled excitement, they can swing their arms and legs so that they involuntarily hit you. For this purpose, you can use a blanket or blanket. Wrap your screamer like a baby and hold it until it stops kicking, then gently rock it. Take your baby to the toilet and send him back to bed.
• Don't make those nighttime episodes enjoyable. Do not allow the rest of the night to be spent in your parents' bed. Strictly limit coaxing and conversation in general. When you start talking with your baby, you can focus your child on the attention you give him at such an inopportune moment. Children easily perpetuate deviant behavior for the sake of the indifference they get.

Prevention of night tantrums

In order to reduce episodes of arousal to zero, it is better to prevent them, not extinguish them.

These tips will help not only when the baby screams at night, but also when the child is hysterical before bed:

• Observe the baby's day regimen. Tell your little one about his plans for the day. If the child knows the schedule of his affairs and activities, then this reduces his nervous tension;
• Introduce strict restrictions on watching TV and electronic gadgets. It is better if they are not used at all two hours before bedtime;
• Instead of TV in the evening, read interesting books, listen to music, play quiet games;
• Night tantrums in a child 3 years of age and older are significantly reduced if there is no stress in his life. This condition provokes malnutrition, lack of sleep, negative emotions, a feeling of loss of control over life;
• Vivid impressions, a large amount of entertainment during the day significantly increase the occurrence of tantrums;
• Provide your child with adequate physical activity. Non-competitive sports will be useful - swimming, gymnastics, yoga;
• During the day, give your child enough attention, talk and play with him;
• Don't ask too much of your little one. Modern children have a very stressful lifestyle, and stress is a companion of this lifestyle.

Doctor's help

If the efforts of the parents do not help, and the child wakes up at night and screams in hysterics several times a night, without calming down for more than 40 minutes, then this problem falls out of the category of "home" and the child should be shown to the pediatrician.

The doctor may prescribe:

• sedatives;
• massage;
• physiotherapy;
• examination of the nervous system.

Being a parent is not easy work. On the way, there are many problems that need to be solved on their own. By correcting the situation when the child wakes up at night with a tantrum, moms and dads become more experienced. They are relieved to understand that this and other problems of raising children are within their power.

Children's tantrum in a dream. The child is hysterical at night. Sleep strategy for children from a year

Every mother at least once in her life faced night fears in children. Most of all, babies are afraid of the dark, bad dreams, loneliness, and the absence of a mother nearby. But not everyone knows how to behave correctly when faced with a problem.

Where do they come from

There are no children who are not afraid of anything at all. But, when a baby has a fear of something for a long time, this is already a cause for concern.

Night fears in children do not arise out of the blue, they are due to a number of reasons and factors:

• heredity;
• difficult course of pregnancy and pathology of childbirth;
• suffered serious illnesses, operations, especially under general anesthesia;
• lack of a close emotional relationship with the mother;
• mental trauma of any origin;
• excess of impressions, neuropsychic overload;
• an unfavorable atmosphere in the family, the nervous state of the parents, conflicts, frequent quarrels and aggressiveness in relations with children.

The main sources of fear in the lives of children are:

• events in the child's life(moving to a new place of residence, moving to another school, kindergarten, quarrels, conflict in kindergarten, school, on the street);
• family situation(the birth of a second child, the appearance of a new family member, quarrels, conflicts, violence, divorce of parents, someone's death);
• the television- a huge source for receiving negative information (criminal chronicles, programs about violence, disasters, events, incidents).

Night terrors in children

Symptoms

The child, who slept sweetly a minute ago, shrinks from a heartbreaking cry. Mom finds her baby all in tears with wide open eyes full of horror. At the same time, he does not react to the appeal, any words of reassurance, waving his arms, trying to run somewhere. And after a few minutes, as if nothing had happened, he fell asleep. In the morning she remembers nothing about what happened.

Any adult can be intimidated by night fears in children. These are episodes with the experience of horror, which are accompanied by screaming and panic.

This is a harmless disorder of the arousal mechanism that has nothing to do with mental disorders. Part of the child's brain is still in the deep sleep phase, and part is ready to go into the less sound phase.

Nighttime fears are imbalances caused by overexcitement or fatigue. Fears appear during the first 2 hours of sleep and are considered part of the natural growth process for children under 6-7 years old.

How to help

Night fears pass with age, but parents can make life easier for their child by using the following guidelines:

1. Keeping calm... This is a common phenomenon especially in children 3-5 years old, but from the outside, everything seems terrible.
2. To be there until it's over... The task of an adult is to protect the child so that during an attack, swinging his arms and trying to run, the child does not injure himself.
3. Do not remember the night incident so as not to upset. Children often feel uncomfortable about losing control of themselves.
4. You Can Prevent Attacks of Night Fears by Waking Up... If the child periodically suffers from night fears, you can try to wake up 30 minutes after falling asleep, avoiding a new attack.
5. Make sure your child gets enough sleep by increasing sleep time. A small child under 3 years old should be given a daytime sleep.
6. Make sure that the child does not get too tired during the day... Children 7-10 years old who refuse daytime sleep should be put to bed earlier or allowed to sleep longer in the morning.
7. There must be a close emotional connection and fruitful communication between parents and children. Discuss the reasons for the concern. As soon as the child talks about it, he will understand that there is no reason to be afraid.

What are nightmares

Symptoms

Nightmares are vivid, dynamic, story-driven dreams that occur during REM sleep, when the brain is especially active.

Nightmares most often occur at night or in the morning occur during phases of relatively shallow sleep, in the second half of the sleep cycle. Falling asleep again is difficult.

How to help

Scary dreams can bother children from 6 months of age. They are associated with different stages of a child's development. At 2-3 years old, it is often a dream that children are left alone, at 4-6 years old, monsters, monsters and darkness dream.

The kid requires love, attention and care. Simple actions by parents can save him from nightmares:

1. If a child wakes up from a nightmare and runs to his parents, do not scold him for this and send him back to your room. Sometimes, in order to calm him down, you have to take him to your crib, turn on the light, show that there is no one there, everything is in order.
2. Break the rules... It’s not about following the children’s lead, but from time to time you can leave him overnight in your bed or go with him, sit next to him until he falls asleep.
3. Give your child protection from nightmares- his favorite soft toy, which will always protect him from any trouble.
4. Communicate with your child more... Only a close emotional bond with parents can provide a child with a sense of security. If a child has nightmares, parents can relieve some of the stress.

The main task of parents is to be patient and grow with their children, overcoming fears together.

When to see a doctor

In most cases, parents themselves can help their children cope with nightmares and nightmares. But there are times that should alert parents.

You should immediately contact a specialist if:

• attacks of nighttime fears in children last more than 30 minutes;
• episodes occur in the second half of the night;
• if the child's behavior is inadequate, he twitches, his speech is incoherent;
• if, during an attack of fears, the baby's actions are dangerous to his health;
• the child develops daytime fears;
• if the cause of the child's fears may be a stressful situation in the family, frequent conflicts, violence, divorce;
• if nightmares not only do not pass, but, on the contrary, intensify, become more frequent;
• if fears from dreams affect the child's activity during the day;
• when, under the influence of fears and nightmares, the child often urinates during sleep;
• in any other alarming case.

You should pay special attention to attacks of night fears if children have convulsive readiness:

• stuttering;
• nervous tics with rolling eyes;
• sticking out the tongue;
• sudden head movements;
• twitching shoulders;
• repeated profuse urination at night;
• asthma attacks;
• false croup;
• bronchial asthma aggravate the situation of the child.

Fears are accompanied by:

• motor excitement;
• screams;
• sharp movements;
• blackout.

This is an urgent reason to contact a doctor, who will undergo diagnostics and special treatment with drugs. Classes of the child with a psychologist will be effective.

Treatment

Medication for nightmares is usually not prescribed. If the nightmares are the result of a physical or mental illness, treatment should be directed at it. If the nightmares are the result of stress or anxiety, counseling with a psychotherapist or psychologist is recommended.

In rare cases, for severe sleep disturbances, medications are used to shorten the rapid eye movement phase or prevent waking at night.

Diagnosing children's fears is a psychologist's job. During communication with children, specialists determine the degree of threat, sources and prescribe methods of struggle using various techniques:

1. Effective methods of working with children are drawing of fears, role-playing games and theatrical performances, where, using the example of the heroes of a fairy tale, cause and effect are pronounced.
2. Children are a reflection of the family environment, parental anxieties and fears. It is the parents who reinforce the child's model of behavior by imposing excessive distrust and cowardly behavior.
3. To make the baby less afraid of the dark and bad dreams, parents should avoid conflicts and improve family relationships. Playing sports has a positive effect on children. This can be swimming, jumping with obstacles, neutralizing fears of darkness, height, and water.
4. Dealing with children's fears involves directly removing the fear of fear in children. After all, they are afraid - this is normal and natural. Fear helps to avoid danger. Parents should repeat that they are not ashamed to be afraid, they need to accept their fears.

Raising a brave and active baby is not easy, but it can be done using some tricks:

1. Never humiliate a child or lift him up high. Communicate as an equal adult family member and individual.
2. Do not frighten the child, do not punish.
3. Children need to communicate with parents, relatives, friends, peers.
4. Draw and make with your child what he wants more often. This will help neutralize fears. In addition, you can assess the psychological state of his work.
5. Do not forget about the importance of physical contact with your child. Hug him often, stroke him, kiss him. This will give a feeling of security and safety.
6. A supportive family environment can help neutralize or minimize fears.

Every person has fears. And if adults can, with a great desire, get rid of them on their own, then children without the help of their parents will not be able to do this.

No one will object that there is a close emotional connection between the child and his parents, especially his mother:

1. If parents in childhood were prone to attacks of night fears or suffered from nightmares, their children are more prone to these phenomena than those whose parents did not have it.
2. Parents who experienced attacks of fear in childhood react more painfully to similar phenomena in children than those who did not have these fears, fixing children's fears at the reflex level. Anxious expectations of the next seizures at the subconscious level provoke them. Parting words such as: "If anything, we are near, call", "Go to bed, otherwise you will dream again", "Do not be afraid, there will be no bad dreams", on the contrary, play the role of an invitation, reinforce fears.
3. The emotional psychological state of adults is passed on to their children. If the mother is constantly alarmed, she is tormented by fears for any reason and panic takes possession of her, then the baby experiences similar emotions. Can your baby be guaranteed restful sleep and protection? Parents urgently need to bring their state into balance so as not to transmit anxiety to their children, otherwise problems with children's sleep cannot be avoided.

Typical mistakes of adults

To cope with childhood fears, parents need to remember some rules:

1. Never worth denying and making fun of fear as a phenomenon. The kid is counting on understanding. Give it to him. Phrases: "What have you invented for yourself?", "Stop it!", "So big and you're afraid!" will not bring any result.
2. You can not blame and shame the child for his fears. This will add anxiety and guilt. Even the "future man" has the right to fear.
3. The child should not be offered to overcome fear directly. leaving in a dark room. Help him overcome fear. Walk together through the "scary" places where imaginary creatures can hide, so that he himself can see that there is nothing scary there. Looking under the bed, in every corner, on every shelf, and not finding a threat there, the child will calm down.
4. Children should not be scared that in case of bad behavior a monster will take him away (Baba Yaga, Barmaley, Babay).

Children's imagination is the cause of nighttime anxiety

All children are different. Everyone has their own views on things, imagination, fantasy. Children are able to invent for themselves objects of night fears, endowing them with the most insidious features. To combat night fears in children, parents can use their own abilities.

It is important to pull the baby out into contact by telling stories, including him in a dialogue, to find out the cause of the concern:

• Come up with a story with a happy ending that tells you a way to eradicate fear.
• Together, you can draw what the child is afraid of, and then destroy the drawing, and with it the fears. The child must understand that his nightly fears exist separately from him, and he can control them, change and defeat them.

How to overcome your fear of the dark

The fear of the dark is the most popular childhood fear that everyone goes through. There is a huge space for imagination. It is up to parents to turn their imaginations against fears.

Weak light sources are the first helpers in the fight against the fear of the dark. Taking care of the interior in the children's room, providing the baby with light sources of light, the parents also dispel fear.

These can be fluorescent stickers in the form of stars, a night light in the form of a favorite animal that will protect you, or a sun that shines even at night.

Fear of loneliness

Often, under the fear of darkness, children disguise their fear of loneliness. The child simply does not have enough communication with family members: dad and mom.

If, carried away by other activities, for example, playing, a child is not afraid to stay indoors without lighting, and calls his parents in the middle of the night, then he is not really worried about fear or a nightmare, but loneliness.

Try to give your baby more time and attention during the day, then at night he will stop calling for help.

Prophylaxis

It is easier to prevent any problem than to deal with it. By providing the conditions for normal sleep, we will reduce the risk of developing night fears.

Attacks of night fears and nightmares are typical for preschool children. It will not be possible to completely exclude them, you can only alleviate the child's fate.

Sleeping room

If material and living conditions permit, it is better to allocate a separate room for the child to sleep. The atmosphere should radiate peace and comfort.

1. Linen should be clean, fresh, made of natural fabrics of light soothing shades or with the image of your favorite fairy-tale characters.
2. It is allowed to use a "magic" night light, which will drive away fears, or a favorite toy.
3. It is recommended to isolate the room where children sleep from unnecessary noises and sounds.
4. According to the recommendations of Dr. Komarovsky, the air temperature in the room should be 16-20 ° C and air humidity 50-70%. Frequent wet cleaning and airing are mandatory.
5. To protect the child from injury and damage during an attack of fears, you need to check the sleeping place for sharp corners and dangerous objects.
6. A radio or video baby monitor will help you to know about the onset of an attack of fears or nightmares if the baby is in a separate room.

Ritual of going to bed

The child should be taught to go to bed at the same time every day.
The ritual of falling asleep should be pleasant, able to relax the baby after a busy day, calm his violent imagination.

They will help to find a peaceful sleep, distract from fears, creating a favorable atmosphere, and feel the love and care of parents:

• favorite fairy tale with a happy ending;
• sweet lullaby;
• listened to light music;
• soft toy;
• mother's gentle hug and kiss goodnight.

You should pay attention to the diet. In order not to reboot the stomach before bedtime, direct the brain to a calm rest, and not to digest food, heavy fatty fried foods should be excluded, sugary drinks, sweets, chocolate are strictly prohibited.

Psychological comfort

A healthy psychological climate in the family is important for normal sleep and the development of children. The child should be protected from unwanted negativity. Only a trusting relationship between parents and children can provide normal conditions for the development of a baby.

Parents should remember that only love for children, respect for their opinions, wise upbringing, and attentive attitude are the key to the baby's health, restful sleep for the whole family and happiness in general.

Video: How to Measure Childhood Fears