Nightmares In Children: 5 Tips To Avoid Them

Children between the ages of two and six can have nightmares. They are part of our children’s development process. We can take steps so that nightmares appear less frequently.

Nightmares are normal episodes during a child’s development. Usually, they first appear around the age of 2-3 and with them the child expresses the experiences he has lived. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that children have bad experiences. In this article we will tell you how you can prevent your children from having nightmares.

When children have nightmares, they may be afraid of the thing they dreamed of or they may not want to go back to sleep because they fear they are having another nightmare. Here are some tips to prevent children from having nightmares so they can sleep soundly.

Possible causes of nightmares in children

Nightmares usually appear in the second half of the night, in the REM sleep phase. The causes can be:

Babies don’t have a regular routine.

Illness or fever. In these cases the nightmares are accentuated.
Babies don’t sleep the hours they need.
Anxiety or stress due to a change. For example, a move, the birth of a brother, etc.
Extreme tiredness.

Tips for avoiding nightmares in children

Little girl wakes up scared because of a nightmare.

In the child’s bedroom

You can use a night light in order to have a slight illumination in the room. In addition, you can make the child sleep with his favorite soft toy. This will give him security.

Check what they watch on television and avoid them watching it an hour before going to bed.

You must try not to let your children watch television an hour before they go to bed. If you really can’t, the content of the programs doesn’t have to be violent or aggressive. If they are cartoons they shouldn’t have too many colors so as to avoid exciting the brain before going to bed.

Create routines

It is important to establish daily routines. This gives children confidence and balance. This way they know what to do at any time of the day without any surprises. You always have to take a bath at the same time, and the same goes for when you eat, when you brush your teeth and when you go to sleep.

Read the bedtime story

It is very important that you read an age-appropriate story to your child before going to sleep. This way he will be able to relax. You can also play soft music or nature sounds to help them sleep.

What can I do if my child has nightmares despite these suggestions?

Go to his room and try to calm him down.
In a kind and caring voice, talk to the child so that he is no longer afraid of the one he already has.

Mother hugging and consoling her son after a nightmare.

Tell him what happened is just a bad dream and that mom and dad are there with him. Also, you can tell him a good story to distract him and make him forget the bad dream.
When the baby has nightmares, don’t take him to your bed. Otherwise, he will end up taking it as a habit that will be difficult to correct in the future. You have to calm him down in his room and make him go back to sleep in his bed.
If your child has nightmares every night, we recommend that you see a pediatrician. The causes could be sleep disturbances or the effects of post-traumatic stress. Furthermore, the constant presence of nightmares could indicate a psychological problem resulting from the environment in which the child lives.