Sleep Terror Disorder Is A Frightening Sleep Disorder – Nightmares and Night Terrors
Two sleep disorders that occur in children are nightmares and night terrors. Most children experience nightmares which are considered part of the normal developmental process. Nightmares can occur as soon as age two. They are most common in children between three and twelve years old. Very few children experience night terrors, as little as 3 percent have them. These sleep disorders can be very frightening to a child and may leave them in tears.
Nightmares
Several hours after you go to sleep you enter the REM stage of sleep, during this stage of sleep is when nightmares occur. During REM there is a general body paralysis and active dreaming. Although most dreams are good dreams there are some dreams that may be so frightening that they wake the child up.
Children most often can remember the dream when they awake in the morning. This nightmare sleep disorder only becomes a problem if the child has a problem going to sleep, is scared to go to sleep or is becoming sleep deprived. Remember to stay calm and be reassuring at all times if your child has a nightmare, if you become worried or frightened your child will react the same way.
Believe it or not there are ways to prevent nightmares. Keep a relaxed bed time routine. Find something comforting to do with your child before putting them to bed, weather its reading to them or telling them a story. Avoid letting your child watch a scary or violent movie hours before they go to bed. These often cause nightmares as well. Your child may have a severe emotional problem that you don’t know about, these nightmares may indicate that.
Night Terrors
During the first few hours of sleep in the deep non- REM sleep is when night terrors usually occur. Most often they occur at the same time every night. If your child wakes up screaming, crying or moaning they may be having a night terror. They may also sit straight up and scream, and although their eyes may be open they are still asleep. Unlike night mares, there will be no memory of this night terror or what happened during the night. Night terrors can last from 10 minutes to over an hour. Their heart rate will increase and they experience rapid breathing.
If your child is having a night terror do not try to wake them or comfort them. The best thing you can do is make sure they are safe and no harm is being done while they are having this night terror. There are several things that can contribute to night terrors including staying up extremely late, being overly tired, eating a heavy meal before bed time and some medications may also contribute to night terrors. Night mares and night terrors may seem very scary to the child and parent but they are not harmful and they are not a sign of any sort of mental illness. Children outgrow these sleeping disorders within a few months or years.
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