The child wakes up at night and screams in hysterics - what to do? Night fears in a child: causes, symptoms, consultation with a psychologist and pediatrician, treatment and prevention of recurrent fears Night fears in children 4 years old

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 caused by 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, a game, a child is not afraid to stay indoors without lighting, and in the middle of the night calls his parents, 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

This is a problem that worries not only ordinary people, but also psychologists. All this is connected with the human subconscious, which has not yet been fully studied. This negative phenomenon is especially evident in childhood. According to experts, adults are less likely to experience nightmares.

The nature of children's night fears

Studies have shown that children experience nightmares as early as one year old. A third of children have terrible dreams between the ages of 3 and. This affects not only the mental health of the child, it worries his parents, because they also have to feel bad, worry, and go to the doctors. This will unsettle even the strongest person.

In addition, similar phenomena are reflected in the development of the child. He becomes depressed, joy disappears, then depression may develop in adolescence. Parents want to know what is the reason for the nightmares of their son or daughter, how to get rid of them? After all, something must be done so that the child sleeps peacefully.

What affects the quality of baby sleep?

It turns out that the child's psyche can suffer not only from unfavorable relations in the family, television and television negatively affect. If nightmares are a rare occurrence, then by the age of 5-6 they usually pass, and then the child sleeps peacefully. It is easy to cope with this, you do not need to show your son or daughter to the doctors. You just need to normalize sleep and rest, and then everything will be fine.

It's important to know: Emotional children with a pronounced fantasy are most often susceptible to nightmares. This usually applies to children aged 3-5 years. It often happens that they even confuse reality with dream.

Nightmares are not only a problem of sleep, that is, at night, they also affect daytime. Such children can roll up during the day, which is the cause of the development of nervous disorders. The child may have a depressed mood, he is afraid to fall asleep. He may even be afraid of his own bed. As a result, he begins to fear being alone.

Video how to get rid of children's nightmares

Causes of Children's Nightmares

As many experts note, nightmares in children arise because their psyche is not yet fully developed, it is highly susceptible to various external factors. The consequence of poor sleep is the cry of the child, he often cries, does not sleep well. But you shouldn't panic because of this, you don't need to immediately contact a pediatrician and, moreover, a psychologist.

Nightmares can appear for a variety of reasons:

1. The kid was very overexcited before going to bed. It seems to parents that a child jumping and having fun in the evening is very good. But it ends with the fact that mom or dad will have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the crying child.
2. A child can get overexcited not only from active games before bedtime, but also from cartoons, and even more from films with elements of cruel scenes. They should never be shown to children in the evening.
3. This can happen if an already established sleep-rest regime is violated. For the baby, this ends in stress, what is unusual for him often ends in terrible dreams. Especially if you had to move to another place of residence, spend the night with other people.
4. As a consequence of a nightmare, such an ordinary phenomenon as a full bladder can also serve. This problem is eliminated very quickly, parents should teach their son or daughter to go to the bathroom before going to bed. But it also happens that the child suffered a head injury. In these cases, he begins to face nightmares. And besides, falling asleep itself will be difficult and problematic.

The diet is also important: when does the child eat in the evening and what kind of food? And if he eats in the evening, what can happen, how will it end? It must be remembered that the digestive system is closely related to the brain. It is necessary to process the received food, therefore certain signals are received from the brain, and it starts to work in an accelerated mode at night. As a result, the child sees nightmares during sleep.

Symptoms of nightmares in children

If a child sees a bad dream at night, which causes fear, this is not a reason to turn to a specialist for help. But when certain symptoms appear, parents need to think about it. What should you pay attention to first of all?

1. Nightmares start to happen more often.
2. If in one night there is not one, but two terrible dreams.
3. When the nightmare lasts not 10-15, but 30-45 minutes.
4. Physical manifestations begin to appear: muscles twitch, foam appears from the mouth.
5. During sleep, the child begins to get out of bed and walks around the room.

It may also be a problem that a son or daughter not only has a bad dream, but also remembers it well, can tell about it even the next day.

Diagnostics and treatment of night fears in children

To start treating a disease, it must be detected. This means that it will be necessary to diagnose nightmares, monitor the child. If the baby wakes up in tears, starts crying, this is not a cause for serious concern. Parents after that should be more attentive and observe: is this the only phenomenon, or is it repeating itself?

But it may be that the child does not cry, does not wake up, but he sweats a lot in his sleep, turns and turns, his heartbeat may increase. This is a sign that you should start treating your child. But a mother should never be nervous, especially in the presence of a child. Otherwise, his psychological state will worsen even more. He can withdraw into himself, for any reason he will become nervous. As a result, problems will begin not only with the psychological, but also with the physical health of the child.

Treatment for a child suffering from nightmares should not start with the doctor, but with the mother. The psyche of a baby who is growing must go through the stage of growing up. So what can mom do?

1. You need to be able to calm your baby. This can be done by hugging, we must try to convey to him the idea that his mother is nearby, he has nothing to be afraid of.
2. You must not allow bad memories to remain in your child's mind. You need to ask him to tell what he dreamed.
3. Mom needs to stay in the room and make sure the baby falls asleep. It is important that he does not turn and jerk his legs. This is a sign that the nightmare continues.
4. In no case should parents show their child that they are worried and worried. Even if he again begins to raise the topic of what scared him at night, it is necessary to immediately talk about something else.

If you can do this, you should find out what is causing the nightmares. For example, when a child becomes afraid of the dark, it is advisable not to turn off the light at first until he falls asleep. To do this, you need to install a night light; you should not leave general lighting in the children's room.

The normal psychological state in the family plays an important role. This is necessarily reflected in the psyche of the child. If the nightmares continue, this indicates that you need to see a child psychologist. Will the child need medications to take? They are appointed, but in very rare cases and only in extreme situations. It is necessary to take them for a short time so that there are no side effects.

conclusions

A good way to deal with children's nightmares is walking with the whole family, going out into nature. Why don't parents think about going to performances in the children's theater, circus, zoo on weekends? There are other possibilities to make the child even more feel the presence of dad and mom in his life. It is important for him to understand that they love him, care about him. Also, a properly selected mode of games, nutrition, sleep plays an important role.

Attention! The use of any medicines and dietary supplements, as well as the use of any therapeutic techniques, is possible only with the permission of a doctor.

Night terrors in children are a common group of sleep disorders. Any child sooner or later is faced with the manifestation of night fears or horrors. This usually happens a few hours after he goes to bed.

Awakening from a nightmare occurs with screams and chaotic movements. The child cannot calm down for a long time after this, and often in the first moments after waking up, he does not even recognize close relatives.

Many psychologists and somnologists agree that this phenomenon is natural and is due to the completion of the formation of the central nervous system. And only in cases of their frequent repetition, the child needs the help of a specialist.

Children from one to three years old sleep very soundly and the dreams they see are completely erased from memory. Since at this age children actually do not distinguish between reality and sleep, sometimes they can wake up and cry because they are not able to explain to themselves a sudden change of scenery. For example, a child dreamed that he was playing in the sun, and suddenly, suddenly, he is alone in a dark room; finding a mother next to them, the children quickly calm down and fall asleep.

The first night fears in children appear from 3-4 years of age. Around this time, the final stage of neuronal myelination occurs, that is, the brain finally completes its formation and the separation of sleep and reality occurs. The first night fears are associated with an unconscious fear of the dark and the active activity of fantasy - the child's brain draws in its imagination pictures of shadows in the bedroom, which appear to him in the form of terrible monsters from children's fairy tales.

At the age of 5, the main reason for the appearance of fears is the processes of adaptation of the child in society. During this period, children begin to defend their place in the hierarchy of their environment and the recognition of a social group or loved ones is very important for them.

The experiences of babies at this age are reduced to relationships with friends and the implementation of the minimum social functions that they already have at the moment. It can be both joint games, and performing some simple tasks: whether it be a public speech at a children's party or helping mom with housework. Any failures in these simple processes can actually greatly affect the psyche of the baby, which, of course, will negatively affect his restful sleep.

After a school appears in a child's life, the main causes of anxiety and phobias are associated with it. Children at the age of 7 are not always able to control their emotions, especially when they are in a state of severe overload.

In nine-year-old children, the symptoms of fear also change.

At this time, the reasons leading to nightmares are already more global and significant phenomena:

1. Fear of knowing your own death or the death of your parents.
2. Fear of being left alone in a world full of strangers and evil people.
3. Fears of impossibility of social adaptation, lack of confidence in their abilities.
4. Fear of wars, disasters, violence and more.

The fears children experience change with age. As the child grows and becomes acquainted with new manifestations of the world around him, the development of the child's psyche takes place.

Nightmares in children are an unconscious manifestation of the difficulties that a child faces in everyday life.

With the correct reaction of parents to such manifestations of behavior, they will end at the age of 9 to 10 years. However, this figure is highly individual. Often, the process of getting rid of nightmares can take up to 12 years; there is nothing wrong with that. If the problem persists even after this age, in order for the fears and nightmares to end, the help of a specialist is needed.

An important point in understanding child behavior is that childhood fears and nightmares are two different things. Nightmares are of a slightly different nature; in addition, their frequent occurrence leads to hypnophobia - fear of sleep.

The problem of frequent nightmares must be solved with completely different methods than the problem of night fears.

Actually, the manifestations of these two problems are completely different: night fears affect falling asleep, and nightmares come much later, during REM sleep.

The symptoms of fear are as follows:

• the child's unwillingness to go to bed;
• the need for a light source in the room;
• even next to the mother, the child cannot fall asleep for a long time;
• a sleeping baby suddenly wakes up and starts screaming or crying.

During the onset of night fears, even the state of drowsiness is restless; the child is constantly spinning in bed, constantly shifting, sometimes even getting up.

From the outside it may seem that some obstacle prevents him from relaxing and falling asleep. Actually, this is the reason, because if the baby falls asleep and goes through the stage of drowsiness, then he sleeps peacefully until the very moment of morning awakening.

The manifestation of nightmares is completely different: until the onset of REM sleep (about 1.5-2 hours from the moment of falling asleep), everything happens within the normal range. From the moment the nightmare begins, the child's heartbeat accelerates, he breathes heavily, sweating may appear. The child may start to rush convulsively, fight with someone, even get out of bed, but at the same time he continues to sleep and it is difficult to wake him up.

Suppressing children's nighttime fears does not imply an open struggle with them: there is no need to somehow shame the child, or even more so to joke about him. The kid is scared completely sincerely, so the problem can be solved only with the help of goodwill, patience and an affectionate attitude.

In the fight against nightmares, it is necessary to make the child understand that the parents, especially the mother, are always on the same side with him, and he will never be without proper attention and support. This will greatly help the child and will stimulate him to gain courage and not be afraid.

You need to properly respond to attacks of childhood fear, namely:

You also need to remember about preventive measures. First of all, the child needs to be provided with comfortable conditions: a comfortable bed, no extraneous noise or sounds, soft and dim lighting in the form of a night light.

Before going to bed, it is undesirable to expose the child to strong emotional experiences: you should not watch action films or animation before going to bed. And even more so, it is not worthwhile in any way to make the child a witness to the solution of intra-family problems.

Reading children's books before bed is a good option in dealing with fears, and always with a happy ending. Do this constantly and very soon you will see progress in overcoming your fears.

The best way to get rid and prevent night fears and nightmares at all times has been and will be goodwill and a calm, cozy atmosphere in the family. Try to establish and maintain a trusting relationship with your child, do not ignore his problems.

The child's body, starting from the age of 5 years, despite its huge "margin of safety" in terms of physiology, is very vulnerable to mental problems. Sometimes, as a result of dreams, burdened by night cats or even simple fears, a child can develop quite serious health problems.

These include:

• asthma attacks;
• various manifestations of nervous tics, twitching;
• urinary incontinence;
• stuttering;
• feeling of nausea or bouts of vomiting.

If such symptoms appear, you should immediately seek help from specialists - a neurologist or a child psychologist.

The sooner parents can react to such manifestations, the more successful the process of treatment and rehabilitation will be.

“At night my daughter wakes up with hysterical screams, does not recognize and does not hear anyone, calms down herself after five minutes, does not remember anything in the morning. There is no more strength ... " (from comments)

To safely help a baby who wakes up with heartbreaking screams, you need to understand what he has awakened from.

In this article: how night fear manifests itself and its causes, how parents should behave, when and where to seek help.

Night fear is

parasomnia, a condition accompanied by a behavioral disorder at various stages of sleep and during the transition from one phase to another, is caused by the immaturity of the central nervous system (central nervous system), which explains the more frequent cases in children compared to adults.

Parasomnias (from the Latin somnus (sleep) and the Greek para (something)) are unusual phenomena of sleep.

These include nightmares, sleepwalking, sleep-talk, sleep paralysis, etc.

Phenomenon synonyms: Pavor nocturnus, night terror, night horror.

Pavor nocturnus occurs about an hour and a half after falling asleep, when deep sleep dominates.

Children aged three to twelve are susceptible to nighttime fears. Boys are affected more often.

How does the night terror manifest

It is characterized by instant awakening from one's own sharp gestures and screams.

It is accompanied by severe fear, increased heart rate and breathing, reddening of the skin, sweating, and dilated pupils. The kid suddenly sits down and screams uncontrollably, his gaze stopped, his eyes wide open with horror.

At the same time, he does not react in any way to others. If woken up, he will be in complete prostration, without orientation in space and time.

Awakening lasts from several minutes to half an hour, the child himself calms down and falls asleep. The next day he doesn't remember anything.

During an attack, the baby is very active, his behavior may be unsafe for himself and for the environment.

The difference between night fears and nightmares

The behavior of children during episodes of nightmare and nightmare is very similar, but it has a number of fundamental differences that caring parents need to know. The most important difference is awareness on the part of the child.

Nightmare- a terrible dream dreamed of. The child wakes up from him and he can be reassured. In the morning the baby remembers content and details of sleep.

Pavor nocturnus overtakes in the phase of the deepest sleep. Screams, throwing, open eyes - everything happens while the child is fast asleep and remains alone with his fear, shouts at you, but does not feel your presence, cannot ask for help. The next day is yours the child will not remember about night events.

Causes of night fears

• Heredity. More common in children with a family history of nighttime fears or sleepwalking.

• and erratic sleep.

• Feverish states.

• Sleep away from home in a new environment. If you have to spend some time in a strange place, take your favorite toy with you, with which the baby will fall asleep peacefully.

• Traumatic brain injury.

• Medicines.

• Multivitamins. If your child is experiencing nighttime terrors, try to stop taking vitamins. There are cases when they served as a provoking factor.

• Poor sleep quality:
  for example, due to breathing problems during sleep. Pay attention to how your baby breathes when he sleeps.

• Excitement, restlessness, sudden noises, or a full bladder.

• Stressful situation.

• Changed daily routine (brother or sister appeared, school started).

• Physical and mental fatigue.

• Low blood sugar.

How parents should behave

Parents tend to feel helpless, unable to calm their frightened child.

The best way to deal with an attack is wait patiently... Children usually calm down on their own and return to sleep.

Do not try to wake up... Upon waking up, the child will not recognize you, will be disoriented, confused and even more frightened, it will take him much longer to calm down and fall asleep again. Your task is to protect the child so that he does not get hurt.

Only after the episode is over, wake the child up. A quick return to deep sleep can trigger the next episode of fear. Offer to use the bathroom before the baby falls asleep again, if necessary. Make sure he is fully awake to break the vicious chain.

Try to not to discuss with the child and with him events of the night, this can increase the anxiety of the baby.

How to overcome night fears

If attacks of terror occur frequently and at specific times, keep a journal. By analyzing the records, you can wake up a child in 15 minutes until the expected time of the attack, and then put back to bed. By interrupting your delta sleep phase in this manner for a week, you will stop the terror episodes.

Necessary measures.

Parents are really afraid of night tantrums in a 2-year-old child. Komarovsky advises to consult a specialist in case of frequent night tantrums. After all, this indicates that the baby's nervous system is exhausted, perhaps he has something in pain or nightmares (again, against the background of nervous overstrain). There are also single attacks that do not recur. Today we will talk about the causes of nighttime tantrums in a 2-year-old child, which recur stably. We will also learn how to deal with such a problem.

Unstable schedule

The cause of nighttime tantrums in a 2-year-old child may be instability in the daily routine. Babies react especially sharply to an abrupt change in regime. For example, he was just sent to a kindergarten, where everything is scheduled by the hour: classes, games, sleep an hour, walks, and so on. At home, the child had a completely different regime, he could play when he wanted, sleep when he was tired, eat as required, walk only with mom or dad. They are taught to a different routine, and now he plays on the street with the teacher and other kids.

If the child is not attending kindergarten yet, then a schedule must be established. The baby should wake up and fall asleep at the same time. Eat by the hour, walk on schedule. In the future, this will help to easily adapt to the kindergarten regime, and the changes will not affect the baby's psyche.

Adults can easily experience such changes as a shift in lunch or rest, and children still have a very weak nervous system, and any changes are real stress for them.

Another reason for night tantrums in a 2-year-old child can be an increase or decrease in daylight hours. For example, they put him to bed when it was already dark, but here it was light. Or vice versa - they went to bed when it was still light, and now it’s dark around, and against the background of this, the baby may have nightmares or, upon sudden awakening, imagine something.

Eventful evening

Children's nightlife can occur against the background of overwork in the afternoon. Many people like to go shopping, take kids to entertainment centers after a children's daytime sleep. And adults often go to visit in the evening.

The child's rich program should be before naps, in the second half of the day he gets very tired. Advice to parents: at least an hour before bedtime, you need to collect all the toys, persuade the child to play quiet games, take a bath, watch a kind cartoon, read a fairy tale. An hour before bedtime, the baby should calm down mentally. Games in entertainment centers or visiting parties should be completely excluded. If you need to get out of the house at this time, it is better to ask grandmothers, aunts, nannies or other people close to the child to sit with him.

Lack of daytime rest

It is this factor that can provoke nighttime tantrums in a 2-year-old child. Up to this age, children must have a rest during the day. With the onset of the age of two, many mothers and fathers make a mistake: the baby does not ask to sleep, well, let him play, he will fall asleep earlier in the evening and sleep better all night. You cannot refuse daytime sleep. For a child, the whole day is a very long period, the baby's body must necessarily rest for a while.

Many children really do not feel tired, and they refuse to sleep for an hour when their mother calls on them, run away, and may even start to be capricious. It's okay, try to calm the child as much as possible, he will definitely fall asleep.

Diseases

Night tantrums in a 2-year-old child can be triggered by an incipient or existing illness, accompanied by pain or high fever. Assess the baby's condition for the whole day: were there any prerequisites for the disease. Ask if anything hurts, measure the temperature, even if the forehead is not hot.

Stable recurring nighttime tantrums in a 2-year-old child, when there are no signs of illness, the schedule is stable and there is no fatigue, can signal high intracranial pressure or an unbalanced psyche. It is impossible to identify this on your own, you need to see a doctor.

Nightmares

Tantrums at night in a child can be caused by terrible dreams. Cartoons watched before going to bed can cause nightmares in a dream. Today there are a lot of cartoons (especially cartoons) featuring villains, monsters, evil robots and other evil spirits. For a child, especially a two-year-old, watching such programs is harmful and dangerous, they are not displayed in the best way on the psyche.

Do not include cartoons for your baby at night, unless they are stories about Winnie the Pooh or other goodies (with no villains). For example, "Smeshariki", Soviet and Disney cartoons are perfect. And best of all, before bedtime, do not turn on the TV to the baby at all, play a quiet game, read a fairy tale.

Even if the child is just playing, running, do not include action films and horrors. A kid can see something out of the corner of his eye, and his brain picks up screams, shootings and other unpleasant noise, which, as a result, can cause a nightmare and hysteria. Do not watch TV loudly when your baby is sleeping. Any loud sound can provoke a nightmare or sudden waking up of the child, after which tantrums often occur.

Another reason for nightmares: someone abruptly (by accident, or on purpose during the game) scared the baby, jumped out from around the corner, or the child ran a lot, hid, tickled him. Such active games should take place only in the daytime; at least an hour before bedtime, hyperactive pastime should not be allowed.

Unfavorable psychological environment in the family

Children react sharply to the situation in the family. If parents swear, drink, scandals and even fights happen - all this affects the psyche of the child.

A kid can get nervous strain even when parents scold an older brother or sister for a grade obtained at school, while doing homework, for lack of order in the room, and so on.

You can't yell at a two-year-old kid, all the more so to spank him for some pranks or carelessness.

Always, everything and everyone can be explained calmly. Avoid scandals at home, especially in the presence of children, and even more so, do not shout at them. The child's psyche is very weak. At first, nightmares, tantrums may appear, and then more serious psychological disorders.

Conversation with the kindergarten teacher

The reason for night tantrums in a child may be that he is offended in kindergarten. Other children, even nannies and the teacher himself, can become offenders. We do not see what is happening in the kindergarten group, and the teachers may be hiding something.

Take the teacher to an open conversation. Find out if there was any inappropriate behavior on his part (he slapped your child or another in front of him), if the teacher or nanny is swearing. This can be traced. Just stay in the garden for a while, come there in the afternoon or earlier than usual for the child, talk to other parents. It is also necessary to find out if the baby is offended by other children, whether there has been an incident during the games (fell heavily, fought, hit, and so on).

Night hysterics in a child 2 years old: what to do?

So, you put the baby to bed, went about your business, or also went on vacation. And suddenly, in the middle of the night, a heart-rending cry is heard. What to do in a situation when the baby does not react to the fact that you have already come, breaks out of his hands and continues to scream violently? Specialist advice for a night tantrum in a 2-year-old child will help parents quickly recover and calm the baby down.

1. In no case yourself do not give in to panic, because this condition is transmitted to the child, and we do not need to aggravate his condition. Pull yourself together, because at the moment you are the guide of the baby from a nightmare to a calm reality. Start talking to your child, but without anxiety, calmly and measuredly.
2. Show that the baby is not alone, remember some of his favorite fairy tales or a funny incident, calmly talk to the baby.
3. Skin-to-skin contact can also help calm a frightened child. Hug the baby, gently stroke the back, lie down next to him.

What to do after the first tantrum?

If this was an isolated case, then do not rush to resort to the help of drugs. Pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky advises generally using medications as a last resort. According to him, the normalization of sleep is not a drug treatment, but a correction of conditions.

Install a soft-lit night light in your child's bedroom and ventilate the room before bed. Do not overfeed your baby before bed, but do not go to bed when hungry. Food should be light, yogurt, milk with cookies, or a glass of sweetened kefir / fermented baked milk are perfect.

Medication solution

In case of night tantrums in a 2-year-old child, only a specialist should prescribe medication and only after establishing the cause of the disturbed sleep. You should not prescribe pills to your baby on your own, they can only harm.

Usually, to improve sleep, they prescribe a course of "Magnesium B6", "Glycine", soothing teas, for example, "Evening Fairy Tale". All these funds will not harm the baby, but still you cannot start giving them to the child without a doctor's prescription, who will establish the correct dosage and frequency of administration.

Folk remedies

How to save a 2-year-old child from night tantrums? Drugs may not be required at all, because there are many popular ways to improve children's sleep and get rid of nightmares.

1. Aromatherapy. Before going to bed, bathe your baby in warm water, add a few drops of lavender oil to the bathroom. This remedy has long been used for deep and restful sleep. The same oil can be dripped onto the back corner of the baby's pillow or blanket. After a couple of hours, it will begin to smell sweet, giving the baby a restful sleep.
2. "Sleepy tea" can be bought at the pharmacy, or you can make it yourself. Brew 0.5-1 tablespoon of hop cones in a glass of boiling water, let it brew and cool, and before going to bed, let your baby drink a third of the glass.
3. "Sleepy cocktail" will please those with a sweet tooth. Grind a banana with half a glass of milk (lukewarm) and half a glass of chamomile tea. Add two drops of motherwort and a spoonful of honey.