6 Ways To Help Your Child Get Over Nightmares

Nightmares or scary dreams generally awaken a child and then makes it difficult for the child to go back to sleep again; these dreams occur generally in the second half of the night and the child is able to recall the episode after waking up. They differ from night terrors that occur during the first half of the night and are associated with little or no recall. You can help your child get over nightmares.

Ways to help your child get over nightmares:

1) You could help a child avoid nightmares by making the bedtime routine happy, light and fun. Make sure you do not expose your child to things that are scary or could upset him/her from an hour before bedtime; this includes scary movies and TV shows, frightening bedtime music, scary music or any other scary stimuli.

  
2) Next make sure your child has adequate sleep by maintaining a regular bedtime schedule; this would cut down the intensity and number of nightmares.

3) Never discuss the nightmares at night, but during the day; try to determine the theme of the nightmare especially if it is occurring very often. Frequent nightmares would mean that there is something that is stressing or bothering your child; determine what it is and talk about it to your child and help him/her to overcome it. 

4) Help your child develop creative ways to overcome the nightmare; it has helped some to read stories about getting over nightmares, while others have drawn pictures of the nightmare and have torn it apart as a symbolic gesture. You and your child have to just be creative in finding a way that would help overcome nightmares.

5) Comfort, cuddle and reassure your child; it is the best way to help your child to overcome this sleep related problem. It would help to be near your child for some time after a nightmare; however avoid unnecessary pampering or attention as it would only aggravate the problem. You could provide additional support by letting him/her snuggle one’s favorite blanket or soft toy; you could also consider leaving the bedroom door open or leaving the night lamp on. Make sure you reassure your baby you are around for security and he/she is safe at home.

6) Nightmares are usually tackled well by parents however in extreme cases a consultation with a doctor may be necessary. The various reasons where a doctor’s consultation may be required are when the child’s nightmares become worse and increase in frequency, and when it finally affects his/her activities during the daytime. In such extreme cases certain psychological techniques like desensitization and relaxation strategies may be helpful, with guided dream imagery training proving very useful in adolescents.